Chapter IV: Part 4

He is broad and tolerant--merciful and forgiving--devoid of Hate, Envy and Malice--free from Fear and Worry. He minds his own business, and grants you the same privilege. He is full of Love, and radiates it to all the world. He goes through Life in his own sunny way, meeting cheerfully the things that drive others to Despair and Misery--somehow things seem to be smoothed out for him, and he passes over the stony road, unharmed. His Peace comes from within--and all who meet him feel his presence. He does not _seek_ after friends or love--Friendship and Love come to him as a right--he attracts them. People are glad to see him come, and sorry to see him go. Little children and animals are drawn to him, and know him as their friend and lover. He is as much at home in the tenement of the laborer as in the palace of the wealthy--both places seem home to him, and their occupants on a level. Brother to both Saint and Sinner is he, and he loves one as much as the other, for he somehow feels that each is doing his best. He looks for the good in the Sinner--not for the sin in the Saint--although he knows that both exist. He is not a Pharisee--he recognizes within himself all that is within both Saint and Sinner--he knows that he is not without sin, so he dares not cast the first stone. The outcast recognizes in him a brother--the woman who has passed through the fiery furnace trusts him and is not afraid, for she knows that he understands. He, being near the Sun, knows that it shines alike on Saint and Sinner--he feels that when God withholds his Sunbeams from his most disobedient child, then may he withhold his love from his most degraded brother or sister. Until that time comes he sees fit to love them. He does not Condemn--he lets God exercise that prerogative, if he sees fit--he does not feel fit to act as Judge. He believes that the Universe is conducted on sound business principles--that God knows just what he is about and does not require any gratuitous advice from Man.

He works, and works well. He finds Joy in his work--pleasure in the humblest tasks. He likes to Create things--and he is proud of that desire, for he feels that it is an inheritance from his Father. He does not seem to hurry--nor is he rushed. He has plenty of time--Eternity lasts a long while, and he is in it NOW. He is not afraid of Death--or even Life--he knows them as one.

He goes about his way--doing his best--and letting the other fellow alone.

He has an abiding Faith in the Absolute--he believes in Infinite Justice and Ultimate Good. He does not fear his Father--he cannot find room for Fear where Love abides. He does not believe that there is a bottomless pit into which his loving Father intends to plunge him--he has too much confidence in his Father to think that. He believes that there is enough Hell on earth to burn away the mistakes and ignorance of Man. And he believes that all the burning ones will eventually emerge purged of their dross. He knows that his Father is near him, for he has felt the pressure of his hand. In the darkness of the night he has felt the Father's presence--by the glare of the lightning flash he has seen His form, for a moment, and that memory is burned into his brain. He faces the Sun--this man with the "Southern Exposure."

He is Simple, Loving, Kind. He is of the Elect. He is a prophecy of the Future. And he is on the increase. On the Tree of Life are many promising buds, which the Sun of the Spirit is nursing into beautiful blossoms that will yet fill the world with the delicious fragrance of Love.

There are certain people who have come into our midst silently and without announcement. They have found places waiting for them. They have come to prepare the way for their brothers and sisters who are in the womb of the future--they are working quietly to prepare a home for their unborn brothers and sisters when they come. They are the forerunners of the Coming Race. Smiled at--sneered at--persecuted--reviled--pitied--it matters not. God has sent them--they have his message to deliver--that's why they are here. The world may raise its eyebrows--shrug its shoulders--tap its forehead significantly--but these new people smile, they know, they know. They see the misunderstanding multitude as mere babes in the Spiritual knowing--many of them babes unborn--and they heed them not.

Take notice of these people--they are making their presence felt. They are wielding a silent powerful influence, and are molding public opinion far more than are the blatant reformers, the boastful leaders, the bespangled figures strutting at the front of the stage. The people who are thus being used--instruments in God's hands--are these quiet men and women who are facing the Sun--these people with the "Southern Exposure."

If you feel the call to join the ranks of these people--do not resist, but answer cheerfully "I hear; I obey; I come." Allow the seed to grow into the plant, the plant to put forth leaves--bud and blossom. When you feel the impulse, do not resist--open yourself to the Sun--receive its vibrations--and all will be well. Be not afraid--have within you that Love which casteth out Fear--place your hand in that of the Absolute and say "Lead Thou me on." After long ages of wandering, you are coming Home.

A FOREWORD.[1]

An individualist--Wearing no ticket or label--No one has a corner on Truth--Enough to go around--The Infinite Power back of all things--The Real Self is Spirit--The Law of Attraction--Fearthought--The Brotherhood of Man.

* * * * I generally call myself a Mental Scientist, and am so known to my friends, but I merely use the term because it is broad and comprehensive, not because I bear the ticket of any particular school of the New Thought--not because I wear the badge of any special leader. I am an Individualist. I believe in the right of every man to think his own thoughts--to find his way to the Truth by whatever road he may see fit, even if he prefers to cut across fields in getting there. I believe that whilst all men are brothers, and each a part of a mighty Whole, still each one must stand squarely upon his own feet--must work out his own salvation--must do his own thinking. I believe that Truth is everywhere--in everything, and that we may uncover a bit of it wherever we may happen to dig. I do not believe that any person has a corner on the Truth--a monopoly of Knowing. I do not believe in Popes, in or out of the New Thought. Each of us will uncover his own little bit of the Truth, but we must not imagine that we have the Whole Thing. There's enough Truth to go around--and to spare.

[1] An extract from the article of this name in which the
author introduced himself to the readers of the magazine
"New Thought," upon assuming the position of co-editor, in
December, 1901.

I believe that there is an Infinite Power in, and of, all things. I believe that, although to-day we have but the faintest idea of that Power, still we will steadily grow to comprehend it more fully--will get in closer touch with it. Even now, we have momentary glimpses of its existence--a momentary consciousness of Oneness with the Absolute. I believe that the greatest happiness consists in maintaining toward the Absolute the attitude of the trusting child, who, feeling no doubt of the parent's love--no doubt of his wisdom--places his little hand in that of the parent, and says: "Lead Thou me on." I believe that he who feels towards the Absolute, the trustfulness of the babe which places its little tired head close to the breast of the mother, will also be conscious of the tender answering pressure, as the babe is drawn just a little closer to the mother heart. I believe these things--I have felt them.

I believe that Man is immortal--that the Real Self is Spirit, which uses mind and body as its tools, and manifests itself according to the fitness of the tools. I believe that Man is rapidly growing into a new plane of consciousness, in which he will _know_ himself as he is--will recognize the I AM--the Something Within. Many are having glimpses of the Truth every day--the first glimpses of the light of the great Dawn are even now being perceived by those who are awake and watching.

I believe that the mind of Man contains the greatest of all forces--that Thought is one of the greatest manifestations of energy. I believe that the man who understands the use of Thought-force can make of himself practically what he will. I believe that not only is one's body subject to the control of the mind, but that, also, one may change environment, "luck," circumstances, by positive thought taking the place of negative. I know that the "I Can and I Will" attitude will carry one forward to Success that will seem miraculous to the man on the "I Can't" plane. I believe that "thoughts are things," and that the Law of Attraction in the thought world will draw to one just what he desires or fears.

I believe that Fearthought is the root of more misery, unhappiness, disease, crime, failure and other undesirable things than any one thing in the world. I intend to attack this monster most vigorously, through these columns. I intend going for him with the grace of God in my heart, and a good hickory club in my hand. I will cause many of you to tear out Fear by the roots--you don't need it about you. I will preach the gospel of Fearlessness. There is nothing in the world (or out of it) to fear except--Fear.

I will also preach the gospel of Backbone to you--will insist upon your inserting a steel-rod vertebra in the place of that india-rubber affair that some of you are carrying around with you. You doubt this, do you?--well, just you wait and see.

I believe in the Brotherhood of Man. I believe in being Kind. I believe in everyone minding his own business--and allowing everyone else the same privilege. I believe that we have no right to condemn--"let him who is without sin cast the first stone." I believe that he who Hates, is an assassin; that he who Covets, is a thief; that he who Lusts, is an adulterer; that the gist of a crime is in its desire. Seeing this--looking into our own hearts--how can we Condemn? I believe that Evil is but Ignorance. I believe that "to know all is to forgive all." I believe that there is good in every man; let us help him to manifest it. I believe in the absolute equality of the Man and the Woman--sometimes I think that the odds are slightly in favor of the Woman. I believe in the Sacredness of Sex--but I also believe that Sex manifests on the Spiritual and Mental planes, as well as on the Physical. And I believe that to the pure all things are pure.

I also believe in the gospel of work--in "hustling." I believe in the I DO, as well as the I AM. I know that the man who will take advantage of the Power of the Mind, and who will manifest that power in action, will go forward to Success as surely and as steadily as the arrow from the bow of the skilled archer.

PARTNERSHIP.

Next to marriage, partnership is the most important association--Mental partnerships--Be careful whom you choose as your mental partners--Get into partnership with the best thoughts--Dissolve partnership with the other kind--"I Can, I Will; I Do, I Dare."

Next to marriage, a partnership arrangement is the most important association into which a man or woman may enter. Its consequences are far-reaching and difficult to escape, and to a very considerable extent one is bound by the acts of his partners. This being the case, it is of the utmost importance that one should exercise the greatest diligence and care in selecting partners. If any of my readers were to contemplate entering into a partnership agreement with others, he would be sure to select those who were possessed of the most desirable qualities, and those most conducive to success. He would carefully avoid those possessed of Lack of Confidence, Fear, Worry, Discouragement and others of the "I Can't" class. He would seek out the Courageous, Confident, "I Can and I Will" men. He would keep away from those in whom Hate, Malice, Jealousy, Envy, Bigotry and other traits of Ignorance were strongly manifest. He would, in short, choose those who possessed to the greatest possible degree the qualities most conducive to Success and would as carefully avoid those possessed of opposite qualities. There is no doubt of the truth of what I have just said--every one of you will admit it.

Now, I do not purpose telling you about business partnerships of the ordinary kind--you know all about those--but I will call your attention to the fact that you are every day forming partnerships of a most important character and far-reaching in their effects, but of which you probably have been unaware. When your attention is once called to the matter, many things will seem clear to you that have heretofore appeared quite dark, and you will be able to avoid mistakes, in the future, that have been quite common in the past. This is an important lesson, and I trust that you will give heed to what I say.

I have stated, in previous articles, that your mind is a mighty magnet, attracting to itself the thoughts emanating from the minds of others. Like attracts like in the world of Thought, and the prevailing character of your thoughts will be manifested in the character of thought waves drawn to you from the great ocean of thought. Your thought mingles and coalesces with thoughts of a corresponding nature sent out from the minds of others, and both you and the other senders are strengthened in the mental attitude by reason of the joining of forces. _You are entering into a mental partnership_ with those unknown thinkers, and attracting them to you, and you to them. Why do "birds of a feather flock together," in business and everyday life? Simply because they are irresistibly drawn to each other by the Law of Mental Attraction. The people with whom you are brought in contact are those of the same mental key as yourself. You may not agree with this statement, but a close analysis will prove it. The pushing, "hustling," wide-awake man will attract to himself thought-partners of the same stamp, while the man who is afraid is always sure to find himself surrounded by people having the same defects. And not only is this true in the sense that the Law brings you into actual contact with people of the same mental key, but you are connecting yourself with hundreds of others who are thinking along the same lines, although you may never actually come in physical contact with these people. You are going into partnership with them, and will share in the firm's profits and losses, just as you would in case of an ordinary business partnership. And it is easy to foretell upon just what side of the firm ledger the balance will appear.

When you approach a man on business, with your mind laden with thoughts of Fear, Lack of Confidence, etc., you strike a similar keynote in that man, and he instinctively feels that he has no confidence in you or your business, and if he is a man whose predominant note is Courage, he will feel the inharmony and get rid of you as soon as he can. If, on the contrary, he is also a "I Can't" man he will feel a fellow feeling for you, but it will do you no good; it will be a case of "misery loves company," and the first thing you know you will find yourself and that man in an earnest conversation about "dull times," "poor crops," "the country is going to the dogs," "no chance for a man nowadays," "we're all going to the poorhouse," etc., etc. I've seen it happen many a time, haven't you?

But if you are an "I Can and I Will" man, and he is the same, see how different things are. He will warm up to you and will feel that he understands you, and sooner or later you and he will do business with each other, in fact, the arrangement is begun with your first meeting. If you can get yourself in something like the same mental attitude of a man with whom you wish to do business, you will get along with him, never fear.

When you have something in mind upon which you are working, and you are at the same time maintaining the proper mental attitude, you are placing yourself in psychic touch with every other man in the same line who is holding the same mental attitude. You draw inspiration from them, and both parties to the mental partnership share in the profits. Both will share, to a certain extent, in each other's progress and both will draw largely from the mental stock of those who are working along the same lines, but who are holding a negative mental attitude. In fact, the whole store of knowledge and progress along those lines will be tapped by these partners holding the positive mental attitude. New plans, ideas, combinations, schemes, devices will spring into being in their minds, and they will not only help each other, but will draw upon the less positive people. This seems a hard law, but it is like all of Nature's laws, so severe that we are forced sooner or later to learn the lesson. We learn by experience only. This operation of the Law of Mental Attraction is a good example of one of the meanings of that saying, so dark to many: "To him that hath shall be given; to him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he hath." At any rate, that is the way the law works.

And it is not only in the matter of Success that this mental partnership works. Its operations are manifest everywhere. You will notice that the negative emotions draw to themselves people, thoughts and things upon which they can feed. Let a man or woman manifest Jealousy, and, lo! as if from the earth spring apparent causes for that jealous feeling. All sorts of things seem to conspire to feed "the green-eyed monster" into a state of fatness. And let a man or woman get a notion that people are trying to "slight" them, and let them continue to hold this thought, and it will soon seem to the poor victim of Fearthought as if everybody in the world was determined to snub, slight and tread upon him and hurt his feelings. If he persists in this attitude, life will become a burden too heavy to bear, and there will be no possible relief for him except a change of mental front. Let one imagine that everyone is trying to cheat him, and he will be a lucky man if he does not find that the things he feared have come upon him. Let a man cherish thoughts of Hate and Malice, and sooner or later he will become involved in all sorts of hateful, malicious schemes and occurrences, with his partners whom he has drawn to him. "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword," is proven every day. He who thinks every man is a rogue will see enough rogues to justify him in his belief, and will probably end up by having people think of him as a rogue--he will draw all sorts of roguish people, things and circumstances to him.

Did you ever start in the morning feeling cross and crabbed? Well, if you did you probably found that after the inevitable domestic row over the buckwheat cakes and coffee--after you had left your wife with tears in her eyes, and the children in good shape to get into trouble in school--that everyone seemed to "have it in for you." Some fellow in the train seemed to deliberately tread on your pet corn, another jostled you, and so on. When you got down to business, everything went wrong, and unless you brought yourself up with a short turn you had a dreadful time of it all day, and were glad when night came that you might sleep it off. You will always find that there are plenty of people waiting to go into mental partnership with you in such cases. If you are looking for fight, you will get it.

I tell you, friends, that people are all more or less in psychic touch with each other, and the sooner we recognize this fact the better it will be for us. This Law of Mental Attraction works either good or bad for us, according to the uses we make of it. If we run contrary to the law we will be taught lesson after lesson, until we learn something. But if we fall in with the workings of the law we will reap the benefits that come to Man when he masters and controls any of Nature's great forces.

Now, don't make partnerships of an undesirable kind. If you do you will have to bear the consequences. If you have already formed such a partnership, dissolve it at once and go into liquidation. After a while you will have cleared up the old debts and straightened matters out and will begin to do business on another basis. And I want to tell you right here that you can get into the best mental firms in the world if you only go about it right. They will not object to you if you are a fit member, and, in fact, they could not keep you out even if they wished. The doors will open at the magic touch of the spoken word backed up by the proper mental attitude. Cut loose from the old thought associations and form new connections. Get in touch with the right kind of thought-waves, people and things. Cultivate the proper mental attitude and demand an entrance to the firm you wish. Good men are scarce in all branches of business, trades and professions. There's room for you--away up at the top, too. Get what belongs to you; do not be cheated out of your heritage. Assert yourself. Join to-day that good, hustling firm, whose name on the signboard reads: "I CAN, I WILL, I DO, I DARE."

THE SEEKERS.

The secret of life--The riddle of existence--Sought now as ever--The whyness of things--Attempts to answer the riddle--The Seekers--Fantastic creeds and queer philosophies--Revamping old ideas--The story of the man and the stars--The answer to be found within the soul.

"I laugh at the lore and the pride of man,
At the sophist schools and the learned clan,
For what are they all, in their high conceit,
When man in the bush with God may meet?"

--Emerson.

Man is trying to reason out now as in the past, the secret of Life--the riddle of Existence. He seeks to know from whence he comes, whither he goes, and what is the object of his existence. He wants to know the _whyness_ of things--what it all means. He is like the squirrel in the cage, which exhausts itself in traveling the long road of the wheel, only to find itself at the end of its journey just where it started. Or worse still, like the newly-caged wild bird, he dashes against the bars of his prison, again and again, in his efforts to regain his freedom, until at last he lies weak and bleeding, a captive still.

It has ever been so, from the childhood of the race until the present time. Sages, seers, prophets and philosophers have endeavored to reason out the problem, but their labors have availed nothing, and the riddle remains unanswered. Man has traveled over and over the circular road of thought, only to discover that it has no beginning--no ending. He thinks that he has explained things, but he has merely given them names. All the scientific research, all the theological and metaphysical speculation, has failed even to explain the sprouting of the mustard seed. Life and Death is a mystery to the most brilliant man of this civilization, as it was to the ignorant creature of the stone age. Races, nations, civilizations rise and fall; creeds are born, grow strong, weaken and die, but the secret remains a secret still.

The present day seems to have reawakened the latent desire of man to see behind the veil. The pendulum which carried so many thinkers to the materialistic extreme is beginning to swing in the opposite direction, and is causing a strange and wonderful revival of ancient creeds and philosophies. Those who have long since turned their backs upon the accepted creeds now find themselves in the company of those who still claim allegiance to the church, but who feel themselves cramped by the creeds fashioned for them by their fathers.

The leader of the New Thought, reaching the top of the mountain, often finds himself face-to-face with a scientific _savant_ who has reached the same place by climbing up the other side of the hill. And the scientist and the New Thought man need not be surprised to find a leader of advanced religious thought claiming a foothold on the top of the same hill. But the trio, after they have congratulated themselves upon reaching the summit and ending their journey look around them, and lo! their mountain is but a foothill, and far above them, towering higher and higher, rise range after range of the real mountains, the highest peaks being hidden among the clouds!

One has but to look around him to see how strenuous has grown the search for the answer to the riddle. New creeds, philosophies, cults and schools confront us at every turn. The past has been ransacked for its discarded philosophies, which have been renovated and trimmed anew for modern use. The dust has been brushed off many an old and almost forgotten creed, which is pushed to the front under a new name and with new trimmings. Plato is worked overtime to furnish the twentieth century creed promoters with material to be done over. The wildest dreams of the ancients are toned down a little, and boldly offered to the eager multitude as the long sought for solution of it all. Priests and teachers of all the religions of all lands are among us vying with the priests and priestesses of the new philosophies and creeds of our own land, and bidding for public favor. And these new home-made philosophies, how frightfully and wonderfully are they made! The old philosophies of Greece and Rome are skilfully dovetailed with the creeds of the Orient, and the result is a thing differing from anything ever seen before by gods or men.

Brahmins, Buddhists, Confucians, Mahommedans and Sun Worshippers claim thousands of followers in our land, and Isis and Osiris will before long again be given a place and duly installed in the new Pantheon. Thor and Odin will doubtless be revamped, and the rites of the Druids revived. We are looking every day for the arrival on our shores of the advance agent of the Joss propaganda from the Celestial kingdom.

And the home product is, if possible, more fantastic and _bizarre_ than the imported article. The wildest claims and statements are made with an air of authority, and are accepted as "gospel" by the adherents of the several sects. One does not know whether to sigh or weep as he watches some of the modern prophets and prophetesses strutting their little stage and cutting fantastic capers before high heaven, thus adding to the gayety of the nations. The demand for these things has been created, and nothing seems too highly spiced for the devotees of the latter day creeds.

And the followers of those strange prophets, what of them? Many of them are mere excitement hunters; others that class of people possessed of a consuming thirst for something new; some are honest seekers for the Truth; and others are those who have cut away from their old moorings and are drifting about, rudderless and without an anchor, at the mercy of any stray current which may sweep them along. There are thousands of people who never heard of the philosophies and creeds of the ancients, who are now dazzled by the revamped doctrines expounded by the modern prophets, and who, being impressed with the strangeness and novelty of the (to them) new truths, accept them as inspired and emanating from the ABSOLUTE. New gods have arisen and also new devils. The "Malicious Mental Magnetism" of the Christian Scientists is as much a devil to them as was the orthodox devil of one hundred years ago to our forefathers.

The new cults usually begin by performing cures by means of the power of the mind and other natural laws, which they attribute to the principles and teachings of their particular sects. Many of them now, however, frankly admit that they are past the healing stage, and look down upon the mere healing of disease as a thing too nearly allied to the detested "material" plane to be seriously considered. The time of the leaders is now principally occupied in announcing and elucidating wonderful, high, spiritual truths for the seekers, soaring away up in the clouds of transcendentalism, leaving their followers behind, gaping upwards like a crowd at a country balloon ascension.

Once upon a time there was a reformer who attended a public meeting, and took part in an exciting debate on an important question of the day. At last, heated, wearied and disgusted by the fruitless struggle, he left the hall and started for home. It was a beautiful, cold winter's night, and the heavens were studded with stars shining bright through the clear frosty atmosphere. Pausing for a moment in his rapid walk, he glanced upward. The stars were twinkling away merrily. They did not seem to be at all disturbed by what had been going on in the meeting. They appeared just the same as when, in years past, as a boy he had looked at them with wondering eyes. As he gazed, a peaceful calm came over him, and his worry, doubts and fears seemed very petty. At last one little star appeared to notice him, and he thought he could see it cast a good-natured glance downward, saying, in a cheerful voice, "Why so _hot_, little man?"

When we feel cast down with doubt, torn with anxiety, weak from loss of faith, faint with fear, let us look aloft at the stars. When we see those distant points of light, knowing them to be centers of solar systems, knowing that beyond, beyond and beyond are countless other suns and world, let us pluck up a little courage and realize that we are a part of a mighty Law, a stupendous plan. Let us know that the Power which called these things into life, and which is able to manage them, and even greater things, has us in charge and will not allow us to be destroyed. Let us know that we are but in the kindergarten stage of existence and that we shall go on and on and on, from plane to plane, ever onward and upward in the scale, until at last we shall be able to spell out the lines of the primer of Life, and learn the multiplication table of the Universe.

Let us in the meanwhile live on in trust and hope; one day at a time; living our own lives; doing our best work; getting the joy which comes from the simple, human life; lending a helping hand. Let us abolish Fear and Hate, and replace them with Courage, Confidence and Love. Let us look for Good rather than Evil. Let us know failure as merely a lesson in Success. Let us look upon Death as Birth. Let us do the best we can with this world, knowing that the next world will find us prepared for its task. Let us know that we are in Eternity right NOW. Let us know that God is not so far away as we have been taught, for is it not true that in Him "we live and move and have our being!"

Let us preserve our sense of humor--for it will guard us against many a fear, many a folly, many a delusion.

And, finally, let us keep out of the throng which is rushing wildly hither and thither, after leaders, prophets, sages, seers. Let us look within ourselves and see the little flame which burns steadily there. Let us know that we have within us the Light of the Spirit which naught can extinguish. And let us say with good old Newman:

"Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead thou me on.
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
Lead thou me on."

MENTAL PICTURES.

"I hang bright pictures in my mind"--Bright pictures encourage one; gloomy ones depress--Get rid of your old gloomy mental pictures--Make a bonfire of them--Get rid of the particularly miserable one, first of all--Then put bright ones in their places.

"I now hang bright pictures in my mind," said a friend to me, recently. Her remark explained to me without the necessity of further words, the cause of her bright, cheerful and happy disposition, so greatly in contrast with that of the despondent, fretful woman I had known a few months ago. The change seemed so remarkable that one would have almost expected her to have claimed some startling occurrence as the cause of the wondrous transformation, instead of giving so commonplace an explanation.

But just think how much there is in this thought: "I hang bright pictures in my mind." Stop a moment, and let the thought sink deep into your inner consciousness. "Bright pictures in the mind," why not, indeed? If we wish to make a chamber, or office, bright and cheery, we see that nothing but pictures representing bright, cheerful subjects are hung there. They may be the choicest engravings or paintings, or they may be some little inexpensive things, but just so they are bright and cheery the purpose is accomplished, and the room somehow seems a happier, more joyous place than before.

If we were preparing a new room for the occupancy of some dear one, would we place there any but the brightest picture? Would we hang there pictures of pain and misery, hate and murder, jealousy and revenge, sickness, suffering and death, failure and discouragement? Would we do this thing I ask you? Would _you_ do it? And if not, why not, pray? Simply because you instinctively feel that the gloomy, hateful subjects would react upon the loved one. And you know, is the same way that the bright, cheerful, inspiring subjects are likely to uplift, stimulate, encourage and make better the occupant of the chamber.

Have you ever noticed that some rooms always seem to exert a beneficial effect upon you, while others seem to depress you? Certainly you have. Well, the next time you go into these rooms, look around a little and see if the explanation of your moods is not to be found in the character of the pictures on the walls. You may not have specially noticed them before, but your sub-conscious mental faculties have taken up the impression, and the reflex action has affected you. Who can resist the "fetching" qualities of a bright, baby face, smiling from a little picture on the mantel, or on the wall? Not I, for one. And who can help feeling the sense of comradeship for the kindly St. Bernard whose great, affectionate eyes look down upon you from the engraving on the other side of the room. And on the other hand, who could--but, now I'm not going to describe the other kind of pictures in this article.

But now to get back to the "pictures in the mind." If the gloomy pictures on the wall affect people, what do you suppose will be the effect of carrying around gloomy, fearful, hateful, jealous, envious, despondent mental pictures? Can any good come of lugging this trash around with you? Come, now, be honest. Why don't you bundle up these horrible chromos of the mind, and then make a bonfire of the lot. Now is the time for a mental house-cleaning--get to work and clean out these miserable daubs, and replace them with nice bright, cheerful, happy, sunny, mental works of art. Do it to-day. You can't afford to put it off until to-morrow--indeed you can't.

Oh, yes, I know that you have grown attached to some of these old mental pictures--you've had 'em around so long that you hate to part with them. There's that particular miserable one at which you're so fond of looking--you know which one I mean. You see, I know all about it. You've been in the habit of standing before it with folded hands, and gazing, and gazing, and gazing at it. And the more you gazed, the more miserable you grew, until at last you felt that you would like to lie down and die, only that there was some work to do around the house, and you couldn't spare the time. Yes, _that's_ the picture I mean. Take it down and put it on top of the bonfire pile, and touch off the whole lot. Then go back into the house and hang up all the new ones to be found, and the brightest one of the lot must hang in the place of that dear old miserable one that you threw out last--that one which was so hard to part with (the meanest one in the lot, always).

And after you have done these things, how good you will feel. See how bright and cheerful the sun is shining; how pure and fresh the air seems--take a good long draught of it; look out the window and see the fleecy white clouds floating across the sky; the sky itself--how blue it is; and just listen to the bluebirds down by the old gate--Spring must be coming. Ah, how good it is to be alive!

DON'T RETAIL YOUR WOES.

A miserable habit--It grows as it is fed--A nuisance to friends and neighbors--It brings to you more of the same kind--You will get what you look for--Looking for trouble brings it--Don't imagine that you are being "put upon"--Don't retail your woes.

Don't retail your woes. Do you think that it does you any good to go around with a long face, telling your tale of woe to everyone whom you can induce to listen to you? Do you think that it does you any good? Do you think it helps you to overcome your troubles, or makes your burden any lighter? No, I don't believe that you think any such things. All your experience teaches you that people do not like to listen to long-drawn-out tales of your troubles--they have enough of their own. Even those who are always ready to lend a helping hand and to give what aid they can to one who needs it resent being made targets for a continuous fusillade of troubles, woes, griefs, etc. And you know very well that a constant repetition of your own woes will only make them seem greater and more real to you. And then the chronic retailer of woe grows to be like the journalist--develops a keen scent for matter to be dished out to others--she needs it in her business. When one gets into this habit of carrying about tales to her friends, she runs out of ready material, and eagerly looks around for more with which to supply the demand. She becomes quite an adept at discovering insults, sneers, double-meaning remarks, etc., on the part of her friends and relatives, where nothing of the kind was intended, and she rolls these things over and over in her mind like sweet morsels before she serves them up with appropriate trimmings, to her listeners.

You will notice that I say "her," in speaking of the victim of this demoralizing habit, and some of my readers of that sex will undoubtedly take me to task for blaming it on the woman instead of the man. Well, you all know my ideas about the equality of the sexes--about their being different, but one being as good as the other, with the odds a little in favor of the woman. But I feel justified in saying that this habit is one that seems to have a special liking for women, and it generally picks out a woman for its victim in preference to a man. When a man acquires this habit, he becomes such a nuisance to his friends and associates that sooner or later he will notice that they avoid him, and the chances are that some blunt fellow will tell him that he has no time for listening to tales of this kind, and that if he, the complainer, would display the same energy in attending to his business that he does to peddling around tales about how badly he has been used, he would not need any sympathy. But woman, God bless her, does not like to hurt the feelings of others in this way--she suffers the infliction in silence, and then tells her friends how she has been bored. She will listen to her woe-retailing friend, and seem to sympathize with her, and say, "Oh, isn't it dreadful;" "how could she speak so harshly of you;" "you poor dear, how you must have suffered;" "how could he have treated you so unjustly," and other things of that kind. But when the visitor goes, she yawns and says, "Dear me, if Mrs. Groan would only try to say something more cheerful; she gives me the horrors with her tales about her husband, her relatives, her friends, and everybody else." But Mrs. Groan never seems to see the point, and she adds to her list of people who have "put upon her," as she goes along, her tired-out friends being added to the number, as their patience wears out.

And then the effect upon the woman herself. You know the effect of holding certain lines of thoughts; of auto-suggestion; of the attractive power of thought, and you can readily see how this woman makes things worse for herself all the time. She goes around with her mind fixed upon the idea that everybody's hand is against her, and she carries about with her an aura that attracts to her all the unpleasant things in the neighborhood. She goes around looking for trouble, and, of course, she gets it. Did you ever notice a man or a woman looking for trouble, and how soon they found it? The man looking for fight is generally accommodated. The woman looking for "slights" always gets them, whether the giver intends them or not. This sort of mental attitude fairly draws out the worst in those with whom we come in contact. And the predominant thought draws to itself all the corresponding thought within its radius. One who dwells upon the fancied fact that everybody is going around trying to injure him, treat him unkindly, sneer at him, "slight" him, and generally use him up, is pretty sure to find that he has attracted to him enough people who will humor his fancy, and give him what he expects.

In "Thought Force" you will remember, I tell the story of the two dogs. The one dog, dignified and self-respecting, whom no boy ever thinks of bothering. The other dog, who expects to be kicked by every passing boy, and who draws himself up, and places his tail between his legs, and actually suggests the kick to the passing boy. Of course he gets kicked. It's wrong for the boy to do it, I know, but the dog's attitude is too much for the nature of the average boy. And "grown-ups" are built upon the same plan. These people who are going around in the mental attitude which invites unkind treatment, generally manage to find someone who will have his natural meanness drawn out to such a convenient lightning rod. And, in fact, such people often generate harsh feelings in persons who scarcely ever manifest them. Like attracts like in the world of thought, and one draws upon him the things he fears, in many cases.

But one of the most regrettable things about this woe-retailing woman, is the effect the habit has upon her own mind and character. When we understand how one is constantly building up character, adding a little every day, and that our thoughts of the day are the material which are going into our character-structure, it will be seen that it is a matter of the greatest importance what kind of thoughts we think. Thoughts are not wasted. They not only go out in all directions, influencing others--attracting persons and things to ourselves--but they have a creative effect upon our own mind and character. Thought along a certain line will develop certain brain-cells to a great extent, and the cells manifesting the contrary line of thought are allowed to dwindle away and shrivel up. Now, when we have our minds fixed upon the thought that we are long-suffering mortals, and that everyone else is trying to do mean things to us; that we are not appreciated, and that those who should care most for us are only biding their time until they can hurt us; we are building up our minds along that line, and we find ourselves in the habit of looking for the worst in everybody, and we often manage to bring it to the surface, even if we have to dig hard for it.

Some of this class of people seem to take a particular delight in bringing upon their head the harsh words and "slights" of others. Now, I really mean this. I have seen people go around with that "I'm a worm of the dust, please tread on me" air, and the same expression as that in the eyes of the dog which expected to be kicked. And when somebody would be nagged into saying or doing something that they would not otherwise have thought of, the woe-seeker's eyes would assume an expression of "I told you so," and "It's only poor me," and "It's all I can expect, everybody wishes to crush me," and a few other assorted thoughts of that kind. And then she will go to her room and moan and weep, and dwell upon her miseries until they seem to be as large as a mountain. And then the first chance she gets she will run around the corner to a friend, and will retail all the new stock of woes which she has accumulated, with fancy trimmings, you may feel sure, and the friend will try hard to avoid showing that she is bored at the tale she has so often heard, but will say nice little things, until the mourner is sure that the whole world sympathizes with her, and she feels a glow of righteous indignation, self-pity and martyrdom. Oh, the pity of it all! These people go through the world, making things harder for themselves, their friends, their relatives, and everyone else with whom they come in contact. They are constantly seeking to keep their stock fresh and attractive, and display more energy in their retailing than the average man or woman does in business.

This thing of looking for trouble is a very unfortunate thing in families. As a rule, I think that woman gets the worst of it in family troubles. The economic position places her at a disadvantage, and she often suffers all sorts of horrible things, rather than have her troubles made public. But I must say that _some_ women bring upon themselves all that they get. I have known them to get in a frame of mind in which they could see nothing but unkindness, where the utmost kindness was meant. Man is not an angel--far from it--but the attitude of some women is enough to bring out all the qualities other than angelic. They assume that they are "put upon" and live up to that idea. Every word that the man says is twisted and distorted into something entirely different from what he intended. The mental attitude produces moral astigmatism, and things are seen at the wrong angle. All the little things that happen are promptly retailed to some mischief-making neighbor, who is in the game for the excitement it affords her, and who laughs at the wife behind her back, and talks about her in turn to some third person. And the wife fairly draws upon herself all sort of things that never would have happened otherwise. She knows that her neighbor is waiting for to-day's budget of news, and she, almost unconsciously, shapes things so that the facts justifying the news are forthcoming. Did you ever notice that woman who keeps her troubles to herself does not have nearly as much bickering and strife in her household as the one who has acquired the retailing habit?

Don't retail your woes. Keep them to yourself, and they will die, but spread them, and they will grow like weeds. You are making things worse for yourself--are drawing things to you--and are spoiling your mind, disposition and character by this miserable business of retailing woes.

LIFE.

There is in each of us a potential Something for expression--The Something Within--The plant of life--No use trying to repress it, for develop it must--Life has a meaning--Growth, development and unfoldment--The lesson of life.

There is in each of us a potential Something, pressing forth for expression and growth in the direction of ultimate Good--casting off sheath after sheath in its progressive development and unfoldment--impelled by the impulse imparted by the Primal Cause--attracted upward by the Absolute.

Failing to understand this impulse of the growing Something--seeking relief from its steady pressure--we look upon it as an intruder, and instead of allowing it to develop and grow naturally, we endeavor to kill it, or to train its growth after our own petty notions. We fail to see that this Something is like unto the plant which grows on steadily and surely, from seed to blossom, until its potentialities are fully expressed. We do not realize that this Plant of Life should be allowed to grow as does the lily, freely and without restraint, unfolding leaf after leaf, until the plant stands in its complete beauty, crowned with its divine flower.

We would train the plant into some fantastic shape--dwarf it as the Chinese do the oak, that it may become the pretty ornament of the parlor instead of the noble monarch of the forest. We would have it grow _our way_, not according to the law of its being. We fancy that we know what is best for it, losing sight of the fact that deep down in the subconscious depths of its being reposes that which directs its every effort toward the Good--forgetting that its attraction toward the Absolute is drawing it steadily and irresistibly in the right direction. We forget that the plant will fulfill these impulses so long as there remains in it one atom of life. The seed in the ground will express itself in its little shoot, often moving weights a thousand times heavier than itself in its efforts to reach the rays of the sun. The sapling may be bent and confined to the ground, but its branches, following the laws of its being will instinctively shoot upward. Restrict the growth of the plant, if you can, but, nevertheless, it will move along the lines of least resistance and grow toward the sun, in spite of your efforts.

And so it is with the Plant of Life--the Something within us. We are afraid to allow it to grow according to the laws of its being, but wish to model it and shape it in accordance with the theories of ourselves or others (more frequently the latter, for most of our ideas on the subject are borrowed). We seem to imagine that the Intelligence that thought the plant into existence did not understand its business, and we are afraid that without the assistance of our mighty intellect the poor thing will grow into a misshapen and unsightly thing. We would alter the shape designed by its Maker, and would twist it into the form approved of by the passing fashion of the hour. We would substitute for the beauty and symmetry of Nature, our own fantastic ideas of form.