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 '-°-^., 
 
EMANCIPATION 
 
MENTICULTURE 
 
 THE A-B-C OF TRUE 
 LIVING 
 
 BY 
 
 HORACE FLETCHER 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 A. C. 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 CHICAGO \ p 
 
 McCLURG & COMPAN^^ 
 l8 95 
 
& 
 
 Copyright, 1895 
 IY HORACE FLETCHER 
 
2- 7¥ 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Theory 13 
 
 A Personal Experience - - 25 
 
 A Discussion 47 
 
 Plymouth Church Club and Armour 
 
 Institute 59 
 
 Diagnosis and Remedy ... 65 
 
 A Prescription 73 
 
 Scraps of Evidence 77 
 
 First Principles Overlooked - 113 
 
 Slaves or Freemen — Which? - 123 
 Organization .... 139 
 Hope 145 
 
This little paper; being a Kindergarten 
 presentation of a theory of menticulture 
 through the elimination of the germs of the 
 evil passions; proven to be of practical 
 benefit by a personal experience in every-day 
 life; was read before a gathering of Mental 
 Scientists at New Orleans. At the request 
 of a number of my friends I have had it put 
 into printed form for them. 
 
 I have added the substance of a discussion 
 which followed the reading of the paper, a 
 diagnosis, a prescription, some scraps of evi- 
 dence from influential sources which have 
 come to me, some suggestions relative to the 
 tendency to far-away search for happiness, 
 and a ray of hope that it can be found near 
 at hand, through Emancipation. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Medical science had struggled for 
 centuries with the repression and 
 amelioration of physical disease before 
 it discovered the possibility of pre- 
 vention by killing the germ. 
 
 Mental science pursued the same 
 course of attempted repression in this 
 country until quite recently it was 
 found that mental afflictions have 
 germs also, and it naturally follows 
 that any who are interested in the 
 subject should try to discover, not 
 only the germs themselves, but methods 
 of getting rid of them. 
 
 The discovery that I have made is 
 not new, as Christ, Buddha, Aristotle, 
 Omar Khayyam and many others, 
 have all suggested that the elimi- 
 
 9 
 
10 PREFACE 
 
 nation of the evil passions is entirely 
 possible; but my special analysis of 
 them, and the easy method of de- 
 feat that I have found possible to 
 myself, have excited such interest, 
 that I have been induced to publish 
 them, without attempting to follow 
 the subject beyond the elementary 
 stage. 
 
 The theory that I have built up is 
 based on a proper estimation of the 
 limitations of mental weaknesses, a 
 discovery that they have roots, and 
 also that they can be "pulled out 
 by the roots" and disposed of just 
 like any other weeds ; only that the 
 task, being mental and not physical, 
 can be more easily performed. 
 
 Literary grace has been sacrificed 
 in the belief that redundant reference 
 to the germs will be effective in bring- 
 ing them into contempt. 
 
THEORY 
 
EMANCIPATION 
 
 THEORY 
 
 All of the evil passions are trace- A 
 
 . Anger and 
 
 able to one of two roots. , xr 
 
 Worry are 
 
 Anger is the root of all the aggres- Q erras 
 sive passions. 
 
 Worry is the root of all the cow- 
 ardly passions. 
 
 Envy, spite, revenge, impatience, 
 annoyance, selfishness, prejudice, un- 
 rest, and the like are all phases of 
 anger. 
 
 Jealousy, fear, the belittling of self, 
 the blues, and all the introspective 
 forms of depression are the children of 
 worry. 
 
 Anger and worry are the most un- 
 profitable conditions known to man. 
 While they are in possession of the 
 mind, both mental and physical growth 
 are suspended. 
 
 13 
 
14 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 . Anger and worry are thieves that 
 
 Anger and , J 
 
 steal precious time and energy from 
 
 Thieves llfe * 
 
 Anger is a highway robber and 
 
 worry is a sneak thief. 
 
 Anger and worry are the most 
 potent forms of self-abuse, for the 
 reason that in many cases anger is 
 the result of misunderstanding, and 
 in most cases worry's prophecies never 
 come true; or, if they do, the fulfil- 
 ment is generally caused by the worry 
 itself. 
 
 Anger and worry do not stimulate 
 to any good end. 
 
 Anger and worry not only dwarf 
 and depress, but sometimes kill. 
 
 Anger and worry are bad habits of 
 the mind and not necessary ingredients. 
 
 Anger and worry are no more 
 necessary than other passions civilized 
 man has learned to control, and it is 
 only needful to realize that they are 
 unnecessary in order to make it impos- 
 sible to feel, much less to show them. 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 15 
 
 Anger and worry cannot be elim- , 
 
 inated through process of repression Worr are 
 any more than a weed can be killed by p aras jt es 
 cutting down the stalk, or a cancer 
 can be cured from the surface, or the 
 drinking habit can be gotten rid of by 
 " tapering off." Germ eradication is 
 not only the easiest, but the only sure 
 cure for all physical diseases and men- 
 tal handicaps. 
 
 The dispossession of anger and 
 worry does not cause indifference or 
 encourage indolence. 
 
 The natural tendency of the eman- 
 cipated mind is towards growth, both 
 intellectual and spiritual, just as the 
 tendency of plant life is towards vig- 
 orous growth and perfect blossoming, 
 if it is kept free from the gnawings 
 of cankerous worms. 
 
 Anger and worry are as much para- 
 sites as are the cankerous worms that 
 attack plants. The intelligent horti- 
 culturist knows that the worms are 
 parasites, picks them off his plant, 
 
1 6 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 and throws them away too far to re- 
 turn. The intelligent menticulturist 
 Dissipation °f tne f uture W M treat anger and worry 
 in the same intelligent manner. 
 
 It is not necessary to engage in 
 battle the small army of lesser passions 
 if you concentrate your efforts against 
 anger and worry, for they are all chil- 
 dren of these parents. Oppose them 
 with a bold front ; make one heroic 
 stand against them and they and all of 
 their children will fly. Disown them 
 once and the ability to re-adopt them 
 will have disappeared with them. 
 
 Anger and worry, especially worry, 
 are the cause of most of the drunken- 
 ness and other dissipations which are 
 the curses of the age. Excuse for them 
 or temptation to them is found in the 
 desire to smother the depression which 
 they themselves cause. 
 
 Anger and worry are creations of 
 the mind, and can be dispelled by the 
 same power that gave them birth. 
 
 Anger and worry are caused by 
 
Phantoms 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 17 
 
 phantoms that we create within our- 
 selves and whose only strength is 
 that with which we endow them. 
 
 Anger and worry are like echos ; 
 they do not exist until we call for 
 them, and the louder we call, the 
 louder is their response. We can 
 never drown them ; yet, if let alone, 
 they drown themselves. 
 
 Fear is possibly the truer name for 
 the cowardly root-passion than worry ; 
 but as they are synonymous, and as 
 anger and worry are more frequently 
 used together, and worry has a less 
 formidable sound, I have chosen to 
 present it for attack under that title. 
 
 While the evil passions align them- 
 selves into two classes, as the offshoots 
 of Anger and Worry; they are, in fact, 
 all growths from one root. Worry (or 
 fear) is the male principle, as it were, 
 without which, all the others wither 
 and die. For instance; if we do not 
 worry, we do not fear; and if we 
 do not fear aggression, or insult, or 
 
18 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 slight, we do not become angry. We 
 quarrel most frequently with what we 
 Disarms f ear * s thought or intended by our 
 adversary, and least frequently with 
 what he actually does or thinks. On 
 the other hand our adversary endows 
 us with intentions which he himself 
 creates, and each puts his own fuel 
 on the fire, to increase the heat of the 
 controversy. 
 
 In Emancipation there is no fear, 
 (or worry) and consequently no fuel 
 for discord. 
 
 Emancipation is a disarmament 
 which disarms others, but adds strength 
 to itself. 
 
 To the Emancipated every mo- 
 ment is a delight, or a moment of 
 calm, during which he is susceptible 
 only to good impressions, and the best 
 interpretation of everything, no matter 
 what the external conditions. Even in 
 cases of sickness, the tendency of the 
 emancipated mind is so inclined to 
 gratitude for the limitations of the 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 19 
 
 calamity, that it has little if any room 
 left for regret. Its thankful apprecia- 
 tion of a half loaf of blessings, leaves 
 no place for disappointment that it is 
 not a whole one, and it certainly has 
 no desire to question the wisdom of 
 the process of evolution to which it is 
 related. 
 
 To question or to regret the inevita- 
 ble seems to the emancipated mind the 
 greatest folly imaginable. It certainly 
 is as foolish as barking at the moon. 
 
 " Sweet sorrow " must not be classed 
 with the depressing passions. It is the 
 tenderest expression of love. If tears 
 of love or of sympathy spring to the 
 eyes, do not repress them ; do not be 
 ashamed of them ; they are like dew 
 from Heaven and promote the growth 
 of the soul. 
 
 Neither must friendly rivalry, nor 
 ambition to excel, be classed as ag- 
 gressions; as they are phases of growth. 
 
 The disposition of the Emancipated 
 is to switch the current of the Divine 
 
 " Sweet 
 Sorrow' 
 
20 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 Spark (which is the energy of man) 
 es on to wires that connect with motors 
 belted to good acts, and good thoughts, 
 and worthy appreciation, and to cut out 
 the circuits of worry and anger and their 
 branch lines entirely, leaving them to 
 rust and decay through disuse. It is a 
 matter of voluntary selection. The 
 same effort of thought can be made 
 to bless or to curse ; can stimulate to 
 good or stimulate to bad ; can propel 
 or retard ; can aid or obstruct ; can 
 nourish or kill. 
 
 Nature uses the same atoms to per- 
 form many services of widely differing 
 purpose. Where she is inanimate the 
 blind and dumb law of the "survival 
 of the fittest" rules supreme. In her 
 lowest forms of life this law begins to 
 be modified by selection, and protection 
 from without. In the higher forms of 
 animal life memory, and selection, and 
 division of labor, and provision, and 
 gratitude, show a degree of develop- 
 ment that is beautiful indeed ; but it 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 21 
 
 is left to man to perfect this develop- p er f ect ; on 
 ment within himself. To him is given - s 
 the power, through cultivation, to pro- Divinity 
 mote, without limit, growth towards 
 Perfection, which is the evidence of 
 Divinity in him. 
 
 Soft mist, down-falling, from its cloud domain, 
 Bathes all the thirsty land with gentle rain ; 
 Again, to Heaven ascends, by sunbeams wooed, 
 Then plunges back to earth in torrent mood. 
 
 As gentle rain it swells the softening seed ; 
 In torrent force, it wrecks with demon greed ; 
 Now, like the radiance of a loving heart ; 
 Now, like the scorching of a lightning dart. 
 
 The self-same atom, hidden in a tear. 
 May shine with love, or 'note a potent fear ; 
 When bound to others form the flintiest stone ; 
 Or, floating freely, bear the subtlest tone. 
 
 Thoughts are like atoms, fashioned by the will ; 
 Each has a mission, charged with good or ill ; 
 Sometimes to bless ; anon to desolate ; 
 Love's messenger; or harbinger of hate. 
 
 In Nature's hands, one atom plays two parts, 
 As may be needed in her several arts ; 
 In man alone, should love forever shine ; 
 Displacing hate ; proclaiming man Divine. 
 
 Love, and Appreciation, and Grati- 
 tude, — the ever-present and ever- 
 
22 
 
 MENTICULTURE 
 
 Emancipa- 
 tion not 
 Pharisee- 
 
 faithful handmaids of Emancipation, — 
 are the natural and only conditions 
 favorable to growth ; they are the less 
 assertive but stronger attributes which 
 are always waiting to occupy the places 
 left vacant by anger and worry, and 
 to fill the "void which Nature abhors." 
 Born of them is that other Divine at- 
 tribute called Help or Charity, and 
 together they stimulate to good action 
 and good thought, and lift into life 
 that plant of the soul, the Divine 
 Responsibility of each member of the 
 human family. 
 
 Anger and worry are the rankest 
 forms of Egotism. 
 
 Emancipation is the reverse of 
 Phariseeism. Phariseeism is self-suffi- 
 ciency ; while Emancipation shows its 
 desire for growth, through the prepara- 
 tion of its mental and spiritual entity 
 for unimpaired growth, by clearing it 
 of the weeds of egotism. 
 
A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 
 
 23 
 
A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 
 
 It was my privilege one evening to g rnest 
 be with Prof. Fenollosa in his Japan- F ranc j scc 
 esque apartment in Boston. Almost Fenollosa 
 every article in view was the product of 
 some Japanese artist who had been the 
 friend of Prof. Fenollosa in Japan. 
 The odor of incense added perceptibly 
 to the calming influence of the envir- 
 onment. 
 
 Many years ago we had met in far- 
 off Japan amid similar surroundings, 
 and had discussed theories of true 
 living that had been a source of great 
 pleasure to me, and whose influence 
 had been with me to many countries 
 and climes, helping me to enjoy more 
 fully than I otherwise could, the beau- 
 ties of nature, and of art, and of life. 
 
 We were exchanging the experi- 
 ences of the intervening years, and I 
 became acutely interested in his ac- 
 25 
 
26 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 count of the wonderful degree of cult- 
 ure and self-control attained by some 
 of his Japanese friends through the 
 practice of the Buddhist discipline. 
 
 It was all so interesting and beauti- 
 ful, that under the spell of the recital 
 and the surroundings, I longed to taste 
 some of the sweets of the calm he pic- 
 tured, and begged him to tell me the 
 process of the discipline, so that per- 
 chance I might follow it and reap some 
 of the benefits. 
 
 The philosopher saw that I was 
 serious in my desire, and his face lit 
 up with approval as he said, " It is not 
 easy to communicate at a sitting what 
 took me years of study to learn, but I 
 can at least put you in the way of a 
 start. I can tell you where to begin to 
 grow. You must first get rid of anger 
 and worry T "But," said I, "is that 
 possible?" "Yes," replied he, "it is 
 possible to the Japanese, and ought to 
 be possible to us. 
 
 I was startled at the suggestion of 
 
Get rid of 
 
 Anger 
 
 Worry 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 27 
 
 the possibility of the entire repression 
 
 of anger and worry. I knew that their „ 
 
 11 j u /~l • Anger and 
 repression was counselled by Chris- w ° 
 
 tianity and Buddhism, and presumably 
 by all codes of religion and ethics; but 
 I had never considered getting rid of 
 them as a human possibility, except 
 under conditions of health and wealth 
 and ease, to which few, if any, ever 
 attain. 
 
 On my walk back to the Parker 
 House, a distance of fully two miles, I 
 could not think of anything else but 
 the words, "get rid" "get rid;" and 
 the idea must have continued to pos- 
 sess me during my sleeping hours, for 
 the first consciousness in the morning 
 brought back the same thought, with 
 the revelation of a discovery, which 
 framed itself into the reasoning, 
 " If it is possible to get rid of anger 
 and worry, why is it necessary to have 
 them at all ?" I felt the strength of 
 the argument and at once accepted the 
 reasoning. The baby had discovered 
 
28 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 that it could walk. It would scorn to 
 creep any longer. 
 
 From the instant I realized that 
 
 Anger and 
 
 Worry 
 
 Instantly 
 
 Removed these cancer spots of worry and anger 
 were removable, they left me. With 
 the discovery of their weakness they 
 were exorcised. From that time life 
 has had an entirely changed aspect. 
 
 Although from that moment the 
 possibility and desirability of freedom 
 from the depressing passions has been 
 a reality to me, it took me some months 
 to feel absolute security in my new 
 position; but, as the usual occasions for 
 worry and anger have presented them- 
 selves over and over again, and I 
 have been unable to feel them in the 
 slightest degree, I no longer dread or 
 guard against them, and I am amazed 
 at my increased energy and vigor of 
 mind; — at my strength to meet situa- 
 tions of all kinds, and at my disposition 
 to love and appreciate everything. 
 I have had occasion to travel more 
 
Wonderful 
 Photo- 
 graphic 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 29 
 
 than ten thousand miles by rail since 
 that morning ; North, South, East and 
 West, with the varying comforts and 
 discomforts, as they used to be. The J 
 same Pullman porter, conductor, hotel 
 waiter, peddler, book-agent, cabman, 
 and others, who were formerly a source 
 of annoyance and irritation have been 
 met, but I am not conscious of a single 
 incivility. All at once the whole 
 world has turned good to me. I am 
 sure the change is not so much in the 
 world as in me. I have become, as it 
 were, sensitive only to the rays of 
 good, as some photographic films of 
 recent invention are sensitive only to 
 certain single colored rays of light. 
 If we are wise we never leave 
 school. When the academy and the 
 college have put us through their cur- 
 riculum, we have still before us the 
 example of Nature, and the walks of 
 Science, and Art, and Brotherhood, in 
 which to search for suggestions to be 
 
30 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 Sensitive a PP^ e( ^ ' n menticulture. May we not 
 only to l earn a lesson from the newly discov- 
 
 Good ered film ? 
 
 Should not the chemical condition of 
 selection be more difficult than a similar 
 voluntary mental accomplishment? In 
 comparison with a similar process in 
 physics the more pliable material of 
 the mind ought to be fashioned with 
 greater ease. 
 
 I could recount many experiences 
 which prove a brand new condition of 
 mind, but one more will be sufficient. 
 Without the slightest feeling of annoy- 
 ance or impatience I have seen a train 
 that I had planned to take with a good 
 deal of interested and pleasurable an- 
 ticipation, move out of a station with- 
 out me, because my baggage did not 
 arrive. The porter from the hotel 
 came running and panting into the 
 station just as the train pulled out of 
 sight. When he saw me he looked as 
 if he feared a scolding, and began to tell 
 of being blocked in a crowded street 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 3 1 
 
 and unable to get out. When he had * 
 finished, I said to him, " It doesn't p ortuna t e 
 matter at all, you couldn't help it, so rj} sa p. 
 we will try it again to-morrow. Here pointment 
 is your fee, I am sorry you had all 
 this trouble in earning it." The 
 look of surprise that came over his 
 face was so filled with pleasure that I 
 was repaid on the spot for the delay in 
 my departure. Next day he would 
 not accept a cent for the service, and 
 he and I are friends for life. The 
 sequence of this incident has no bear- 
 ing on its value, but it has a signifi- 
 cance. Had I taken the train I 
 missed, I would have been caught in a 
 wreck in which two persons were 
 killed and several wounded, while my 
 stay over in Cleveland proved to be 
 both pleasant and profitable. 
 
 During the first weeks of my expe- 
 rience I was on guard only against 
 worry and anger ; but, in the mean- 
 time, having noticed the absence of 
 the other depressing and dwarfing 
 
32 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 passions, I began to trace a relation- 
 ship, until I was convinced that they 
 are all growths from the two roots I 
 have specified. 
 
 I have felt the freedom now for so 
 long a time that I am sure of my rela- 
 tions toward it; and I could no more 
 harbor any of the depressing and 
 thieving influences that once I nursed 
 as a heritage of humanity than a fop 
 would voluntarily wallow in a filthy 
 gutter: and the strength of the position 
 is reinforced by the experience of 
 others. 
 
 There is no doubt in my mind that 
 pure Christianity, and pure Buddhism, 
 and the Mental Sciences, and all Reli- 
 gions, fundamentally teach what has 
 been a discovery to me; but none of 
 them have presented it in the light of 
 a simple and easy process of absolute 
 elimination. All of the religions 
 seemed to me to hinge principally on 
 some other life, with the usual features 
 of punishment and reward, and with 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING S3 
 
 incidental satisfaction or fear in this 
 life. But as life reveals itself to me in 
 my present condition of mind, this 
 world, these fellow men, the blush 
 of Spring, the blossom of Summer, 
 the flame of Autumn, the sparkle 
 of Winter, and the violet-softened 
 refulgence of every waking moment 
 yield a never failing succession of 
 delights. 
 
 At one time I wondered if elimina- 
 tion of the passions would not lead to 
 indifference and sloth. In my experi- 
 ence the contrary is the result. I feel 
 such an increased desire to do some- 
 thing useful that it seems as if I were 
 a boy again and the energy for play 
 had returned. I could fight as readily 
 as, (and better) than ever, if there were 
 occasion for it. It does not make one 
 a coward. It can't, since fear is one of 
 the things eliminated. 
 
 That fear is gotten rid of with 
 worry is proven in many ways. I no- 
 tice the absence of timidity in the 
 
 Fear 
 Eliminated 
 
34 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 5 llfnfl . presence of any audience I am called 
 Modified on to f ace > whereas I had never before 
 conquered a tendency to partial paraly- 
 sis on such occasions. Timidity re- 
 sulting from a shock has been cured 
 also. When I was a boy I was 
 standing under a tree which was 
 struck by lightning and received a 
 shock, from the effects of which I 
 never knew exemption until I had 
 dissolved partnership with worry. 
 Since then lightning, and thunder, and 
 storm clouds, with wind-swept torrents 
 of rain have been encountered under 
 conditions which formerly would have 
 caused great depression and discom- 
 fort, without experiencing a trace of 
 either. Surprise is also greatly modi- 
 fied, and one is less liable to become 
 startled by unexpected sights or noises. 
 Temperaments may differ, but Eman- 
 cipation strengthens all. 
 
 It has been suggested to me, in 
 argument, that in Nature there is sun- 
 shine and shadow, and that every 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 35 
 
 height must have a corresponding de- 
 pression, and that immunity from the 
 black or shadowy passions is an un- 
 natural condition. This is not true. 
 In the process of growth and evolution, 
 conditions that once were natural, are 
 changed to other conditions equally 
 natural. Weeds are pulled up by the 
 roots to clear the fields for the grow- 
 ing grain. Why should not mental 
 weeds be pulled up by the roots also, 
 and the mind cleared for growth ? 
 
 My experience teaches me that the 
 natural evolution of the emancipated 
 mind is dominant calm, varied by sea- 
 sons of exaltation, but never of depres- 
 sion. It is a healthful succession of 
 energy and rest, all blessed with loving 
 appreciation, which finds expression 
 in ever-present gratitude. 
 
 One morning recently I heard my- 
 self audibly thank the clock for strik- 
 ing the time for me, and each awaken- 
 ing is as if on a much desired holiday, 
 no matter what the conditions of the 
 
 I thanked 
 the clock 
 
Heaven 
 
 Here hand ' 
 
 36 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 weather or the comforts of life at 
 
 Contentment and happiness and 
 gratitude and Heaven are generally ac- 
 cepted as synonymous terms; but Eman- 
 cipation embraces them all, and in it 
 only can they all be found. 
 
 As far as I am individually con- 
 cerned I am not bothering myself at pres- 
 ent as to what the result of this emanci- 
 pated condition may be. I have no doubt 
 that the perfect health aimed at by 
 Christian Science may be one of the 
 possibilities, for I note a marked im- 
 provement in the way my stomach 
 does its duty in assimilating the food 
 I give it to handle, and I am sure 
 it works better to the sound of a 
 song than under the friction of a 
 frown. Neither am I wasting any 
 of this precious time formulating an 
 idea of a future existence or a future 
 Heaven. The Heaven that I have 
 found within myself is as attractive as 
 any that has been promised or that I 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING tf 
 
 can imagine; and I am willing to let 
 the growth lead where it will, as long R fi . 
 as anger and worry and their brood 
 have no part in misguiding it; but I 
 feel the value of Mental Emancipation 
 to be so great that I long to spread the 
 news of the discovery of an easy and 
 immediate means of attaining it. 
 
 The practical benefit of the eman- 
 cipated mind to the individual, and of 
 the emancipated individual to the com- 
 munity, can not be over-estimated. 
 In every walk in life Emancipation is 
 invaluable to the worker, and the 
 most potent aid to success. The 
 emancipated peanut vender will have 
 more customers than his worm- 
 eaten neighbor. The emancipated 
 merchant will find that trade will pass 
 the door of his calamity-howling rival 
 and come to him. The emancipated 
 writer will find writing an easy and 
 pleasant task as compared with that of 
 his moody confrere, and that if he has 
 occasion to dip his pen in vinegar he 
 
38 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 can wield it better under the influence 
 of judicial calm than he can between 
 
 the gulps of rebellious indigestion. To 
 Woman ° r . ° 
 
 woman Emancipation means every- 
 thing. Any other condition to her is 
 like an ill fitting garment, and every 
 lapse from it is like adding a blotch 
 to her complexion which succeeding 
 smiles can never entirely efface. 
 Each expression of a shadowy passion 
 leaves a scar. The Emancipation of 
 woman would mean the Emancipation 
 of the race. The adoption of the 
 germ cure will be woman's means 
 to that end, and Emancipation will be 
 her Heaven and man's Heaven at the 
 same time. 
 
 The influence of emancipated indi- 
 viduals in a community could be 
 made so great that if there were only 
 one in ten, and they should organize 
 in clubs for the purpose, they would 
 attract or rule the rest for good, 
 and something better than the social 
 Utopia pictured by Edward Bellamy in 
 
Emanci- 
 
 All Ills 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 39 
 
 "Looking Backward " would follow as 
 a natural sequence, and save us from the 
 threatened battle between capital and J. 
 labor, which otherwise seems inevita- 
 ble. The horrors of such a conflict 
 cannot be imagined; and, unless the 
 germ cure is sought to avert it, it is 
 sure to come. 
 
 The germ cure of the evil passions 
 in the individual, followed by the germ 
 cure of social clumsiness in the body 
 politic, form the only hope of Emanci- 
 pation from the evils which beset the 
 social structure. For these there is no 
 real necessity. There is already such a 
 surplus of mechanical energy, such a 
 surplus of creature comforts, and such a 
 surplus of luxuries on our planet, that 
 a moderately sensible distribution 
 of them, would render every inhab- 
 itant comfortable and happy. Among 
 the Emancipated the desire to make 
 a generous distribution of these sur- 
 plus stores would be as natural as 
 is the habit of recognizing "the rule of 
 
40 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 _, . the road " anions us all to-day. So 
 
 Thirty . , & . , J 
 
 , also, the vast amount of surplus energy 
 
 years ol t r °- 7 
 
 Travel DOrn of Emancipation would find a nat- 
 ural outlet in the arts. 
 
 In suggesting the possibility of a 
 Social Paradise or Community Heaven, 
 it is presupposed that education along 
 the lines of both intellectual and man- 
 ual training will have become universal, 
 and that every one shall render service 
 to his fellows according to his strength; 
 also that idleness, when one should 
 work, and deception in trade, will have 
 come to be classed as crimes, and not 
 as evidences of " shrewdness." 
 
 It has been my good fortune to 
 travel to and fro over the earth's sur- 
 face for thirty years, years of exper- 
 ience passed among the people of 
 many different nations. I have made 
 quick comparisons of the habits 
 and customs of them all; and I 
 have observed how easily some do 
 things that others perform clumsily. 
 The standard measure ot my com- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 41 
 
 parison has always been Japan. I 
 could not help observing there less 
 crime, better appreciation of art and 
 nature, more physical dexterity and 
 skill, fewer notes out of harmony, and 
 more general happiness, gentleness, 
 and consideration for fellows and ani- 
 mals ; less (almost no) religious or 
 sectional prejudice; a universal patri- 
 otism and respect for authority (as 
 good children are respectful of the 
 authority of beloved parents); a love 
 of life, but no fear of death ; and many 
 other qualities that have commanded 
 the respect of the world under the 
 bright light of recent events. 
 
 Brave, gentle, artistic, lovable little 
 Japan, which, thirty odd years ago, 
 was nursing in quiet seclusion a beauti- 
 ful flower of artistic civilization, has been 
 rudely but providentially forced into 
 the community of nations to teach the 
 rest of the world a great lesson in 
 the art of true living. By the exer- 
 cise of judicious but resistless courage 
 
 Brave 
 Little 
 Japan 
 
42 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 she has laid the Oriental Colossus 
 
 who attacked her at her feet ; and 
 
 if the bulldog and buzzard nations of 
 
 r> r . the West, do not unite their forces to 
 Religions 
 
 obstruct her inclination, she will lift 
 her fallen foe from a condition of 
 slavery to barbarous aliens to a con- 
 dition of tranquillity and happiness. 
 She will do this through the introduc- 
 tion of reforms in government and 
 administration which she has gathered 
 from the best experience of all the 
 world. What a missionary Japan is ! 
 A missionary of the art of true living. 
 A missionary of harmony. The con- 
 tact of Japan with the other nations 
 made the World's Congress of Relig- 
 ions possible ; and what this means to 
 the advancement of man on the road to 
 harmony and happiness, was recently 
 stated by Prof. Max Muller, when he 
 prophesied that this event would come 
 to be appreciated as the greatest civil- 
 izing influence of the Nineteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 
 
 43 
 
 May the example of Japan set the 
 boors of the world to thinking, cause 
 them to take their fore feet out of the 
 trough, look up to the sun and the 
 light of dawning civilization, accept 
 the simple teachings of Christ and 
 Buddha and common sense, and start 
 a Heaven here on earth. Steam and 
 electricity have brought the extremes 
 of our earth together ; the telescope 
 has let us into the secrets of the neigh- 
 boring worlds, and logic and common 
 sense may find in the possibility of 
 Emancipation a means of bringing 
 Heaven to us in this life. 
 
 Extremes 
 
 Brought 
 
 Together 
 
A DISCUSSION 
 
 45 
 
A DISCUSSION 
 
 WHICH FOLLOWED THE READING OF THE 
 FOREGOING PAPER 
 
 "Can anger and worry be entirely 
 
 eliminated from the human mind? " 
 
 „,, i -iiiii. Advocated 
 
 Yes; they are simply bad habits - 
 
 of the mind, parasites, unnatural, and 
 therefore uncivilized conditions, nursed 
 by false ideas of pride or necessity; and 
 their elimination is a purely mental 
 process within the control of every 
 intelligent person who has sufficient 
 self-respect to recognize within him- 
 self the reflection of the Divine 
 Image." 
 
 " In what does the germ cure of 
 mental ills differ from the Christian 
 method of repression through answer to 
 prayer ? ' ' 
 
 " Christ clearly advocated the germ 
 
 47 
 
48 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 ^ cure. He did not say ' Try to do un- 
 
 Emancipa- , , , , 
 
 tion not to otners as y ou would have others 
 Weakness ^° unto y ou >' Dut ^° unto others,' 
 etc. ' Be ye perfect as your Father in 
 Heaven is perfect.' In all of his 
 teachings do and be were the com- 
 mands. Most of the creeds, however, 
 endow man with a weakness which 
 is self-condemning. The prayers are 
 offered perfunctorily, and sometimes 
 without belief in their efficacy, while 
 the passions are nursed privately in 
 full belief that they are essential attri- 
 butes of fallen man." 
 
 "May not the elimination of anger 
 and worry take away some of the stimu- 
 lation to effort that is necessary to human 
 progress?" 
 
 " Assuredly not. The absence of 
 anger and worry is an evidence of 
 strength and not of weakness. So- 
 called righteous anger is a weakness in 
 the presence of judicial calm. Without 
 anger and worry one is stronger to 
 ward off a blow, administer a correc- 
 
Evidence 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 49 
 
 tion, or protect a principle. The eman- 
 cipated mind is as eager for effort as a 
 child is for play. Freed from anger ; 
 and worry one can shovel more dirt, 
 plough more furrows, perform every 
 duty better, and with less fatigue, than 
 if under their influence." 
 
 "Are there examples in every -day life, 
 among' every-day people, that prove the 
 possibility of superiority over anger and 
 worry? " 
 
 " Yes. Habitually profane men do 
 not swear in the presence of ladies. 
 Vicious men are gentle when among 
 those whom they respect. The pas- 
 sions are subservient to the will 
 under conditions that reverence or 
 fashion prescribe. If they are subser- 
 vient under any conditions they can be 
 controlled under all conditions. Nothing 
 for instance, could make you angry 
 while we are talking on this subject, 
 because you would feel ashamed to 
 show slavery to a condemned and 
 unmanly weakness." 
 
Why not 
 
 Always 
 
 Known 
 
 50 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 "If it is possible to get rid of the 
 depressing passions, and they are so un- 
 profitable, why has not mankind become 
 emancipated long before this?''' 
 
 " This question can best be an- 
 swered by asking others. Why were a 
 personal devil and witches and filmy 
 ghosts considered possibilities as late 
 as the beginning of this century? Why 
 was human slavery believed to be a 
 divine institution by the majority of 
 the world's inhabitants as late as fifty 
 years ago? Why are the divine right of 
 kings, and the assumption that the sov- 
 ereign can do no wrong, possibilities of 
 the present? Why is it possible that 
 a Supreme Court of the United States 
 can be divided on questions of political 
 significance, and the points of difference 
 of opinion be in harmony with the pre- 
 vious political affiliations of the jus- 
 tices? Politics represent the selfish in 
 human contact as at present managed, 
 while justice is supposed to be spot- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 51 
 
 Iessly unselfish ; yet the former un- 
 blushingly invades the sanctuary of the 
 latter, because selfishness is held to 
 be a necessity." 
 
 " Is not the condition of Emancipation 
 selfish? Is it not selfish not to worry 
 for one s friend, even if self -worry is 
 eliminated? " 
 
 " Emphatically, no ! Emancipation 
 puts one in a condition to be unselfish. 
 Suppose his friend need aid or sympa- 
 thy ; will worry furnish either ? With 
 the extirpation of the depressing pas- 
 sions comes the strength, and the abil- 
 ity, and the desire, to give to others, 
 the aid and sympathy they may be in 
 need of. Actu al, or even metaphori- 
 cal, wringing of hands, is not the sort 
 of sympathy that soothes. It is like 
 the " blind leading the blind," or rather, 
 the weak trying to assist the weak. 
 Better try to help with the strength 
 born of Emancipation than with the 
 weakness of the enervating passions." 
 
 " / can easily understand how anger 
 
 Emancipa- 
 tion not 
 Selfish 
 
52 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 ^ , can be classed as a sin, because it is 
 Une s . 
 
 First <^SS resswe an d affects something outside 
 Dutv °f us; as a s * n > ^ can see ^ ow H ou ght to 
 be cast out; but as worry deals only with 
 one s self, I do not believe it can be 
 called a sin ; then why is it necessary to 
 eliminate it, especially as it may be an 
 incentive to action, to prevent the causes 
 of the worry? " 
 
 " This whole question has been an- 
 swered before in the presentation of 
 the theory, but as it has not carried 
 the force of impression that I intended, 
 I will take it up piecemeal, and try to 
 be more clear. 
 
 " In the first place, one's first duty is 
 to one's self in the matter of cultiva- 
 tion and care ; this, not on account of 
 egotism or selfishness, but in order to 
 fit him to be strong and useful and a 
 good member of his circle. As a 
 parent, he should make himself the 
 most perfect progenitor and example 
 possible; as a member of Society he 
 should aim to be the most able and 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 53 
 
 useful; and as the custodian of the... 
 
 T ^. . ' ..... . . ..Woman 
 
 Divine bssence within him, he should ~ 
 
 not harbor or encourage weeds of the tun j t 
 soul, whether visible to others, or with- 
 in the secret corners of his own 
 heart. 
 
 " As to worry ever being an incentive 
 to wise or good action, I will repeat a 
 section of the theory. ' Worry's pro- 
 phesies are seldom realized, and if they 
 are, the realization is generally caused 
 by the worry itself.'" 
 
 "How can emancipation be secured 
 for the community?" 
 
 "Through the influence of the eman- 
 cipated individual; chiefly through the 
 influence of the emancipated woman. In 
 the crossing of sabers she cannot assist; 
 but in a war against the enemies of the 
 mind, when love is the weapon, she 
 can and will occupy a place in the 
 front rank. She can make anger and 
 worry unfashionable, as she already has 
 made profanity and obscenity unfash- 
 ionable. 
 
54 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 " To accomplish this, let clubs be 
 tion Clubs formed in each community and in each 
 church, and let each church become a 
 club-house as well. Introduce health- 
 ful amusements such as make other 
 clubs attractive, and place in large 
 letters over the portal and the altar 
 
 GROWTH 
 
 EMANCIPATION 
 
 HELP. 
 
 You will have then constantly before 
 you the only cure for mental cancers, 
 and the essence of all religions ex- 
 pressed in three words ; you will have 
 touched the button of the Divine cam- 
 era within you whose film is sensitive 
 only to the rays of good. Love and 
 growth will do the rest. The teachers 
 of morality and religion will do abler 
 work under the realization that not 
 only the ' old Adam,' but the Divine 
 Essence as well, have seats in each 
 human soul, and that, when the good 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 55 
 
 is appealed to in terms of confidence ~. . . 
 
 , , ,. ., ... . Christian 
 
 and understanding, evil will be cast out c . , . 
 , m Societies 
 
 instantly, without a lifetime of contro- 
 versy, and without waiting for eternity, 
 or even for the death-bed to unloose 
 the fetters. 
 
 As a result of organization on 
 the basis of Emancipation, and when 
 it has become an accepted fact that 
 anger and worry are only bad habits 
 of the mind, no clergyman can show 
 them and retain the respect of his 
 congregation ; no King's Daughter 
 can entertain them and be worthy of 
 her badge ; no member of the Christ- 
 ian Endeavor Society can harbor 
 within himself the arch enemies of 
 Christianity which the Master com- 
 manded his disciples to cast out, and 
 be loyal to his cause ; and no individual 
 in the pursuit of duty, or even of sel- 
 fish pleasure, can afford to carry such 
 weighty handicaps and hope to win the 
 race." 
 
PLYMOUTH CHURCH CLUB 
 
 AND 
 
 ARMOUR INSTITUTE 
 
 57 
 
PLYMOUTH CHURCH CLUB AND 
 ARMOUR INSTITUTE 
 
 A good example of a church club 
 is that which forms a part of Plymouth 
 Church in Chicago. Plymouth Club 
 was founded by Dr. Scudder and is 
 warmly encouraged by Dr. Frank W. 
 Gunsaulus, the present pastor of the 
 church. Dr. Gunsaulus is also presi- 
 dent of Armour Institute, where man- 
 ual training is taught side by side with 
 letters and the sciences to men and 
 women alike. In these two eminently 
 practical organizations most of the 
 conditions favorable to growth are 
 already furnished. Add to these 
 Emancipation as the motto of the 
 club, and as the requisite mental ac- 
 complishment for admission to the 
 school, and the conditions will be per- 
 fected to the highest degree. 
 
 59 
 
 Frank W. 
 Gunsaulus 
 
60 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 The word Emancipation has a very 
 
 formidable sound because it is asso- 
 Presidents .... . . 
 
 ciated with a great war; but its attain- 
 Respon- ° 
 
 ment through germ eradication is a 
 
 simple and easy accomplishment. 
 
 The presidents of great mental and 
 manual training institutions know that 
 the depressing and dwarfing phantoms 
 of the mind are merely bad habits — 
 weeds that can be rooted out — and 
 that anger and worry are the roots. 
 
 They have provided commodious 
 buildings, learned professors, the most 
 perfect chemical and mechanical appli- 
 ances, and thousands of books, to aid 
 mental and manual culture; and yet, 
 they fail to apply the first principle of 
 all their sciences to the preparation of 
 the pupil. In horticulture they do not 
 tolerate worms or weeds; in chemistry 
 they first examine into the purity of 
 the ingredients; and in mechanics the 
 greatest care is taken to avoid friction. 
 Anger and worry are conditions of ex- 
 treme mental friction, which, during 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 6l 
 
 their presence, stop the progressive 
 action of the mental machine. 
 
 It would impose no impossibility, 
 neither would it entail any hardship, 
 to require of students that they should 
 subscribe to the following: 
 
 Science teaches, and experience corrob- 
 orates the fact, that the depressing or 
 evil passions are bad habits of the mind, 
 and not necessary ingredients. 
 
 Anger and worry are the roots of the 
 evil passions and can be pulled out. 
 
 In order to promote the best possible 
 growth it is required that Emancipation 
 should be the rule of life of the student. 
 
 Under the suggestion of the possi- 
 bility of Emancipation from undesira- 
 ble mental enemies, emanating from 
 so respected a source as the faculty 
 of a chosen college, the student would 
 acquire the prerequisite condition of 
 "faith"; while the absorbing work of 
 college life, surrounded by fellows 
 working in sympathy with him, would 
 strengthen the faith into a belief; and 
 
 A Rule 
 of Life 
 
62 MENTICULTURE 
 
 the immediate recompense of harmony 
 
 would be evidence of its value as a 
 tion will i r it 
 
 rule of lite. 
 
 From the school the student would 
 carry the rule back into the family, and 
 into all walks in life; and with the aid 
 of present means of communication 
 the influence would spread the world 
 over, disarm the prodigious prepara- 
 tions for struggle that are being made, 
 and distribute the palm branch to take 
 the place of the sword. 
 
 Will not the great educators whom 
 the world respects so highly, and in 
 whom it has so much faith, try the 
 experiment? The promised fruit is 
 worth the trial. 
 
DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY 
 
 63 
 
DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY 
 
 It is believed b}' many, that Society Degenera- 
 and Politics, at the present time, are tion 
 badly diseased. Mr. Max Nordau's 
 diagnosis of them, which he entitled 
 Degeneration, has met with general 
 approval. Legislative (especially mu- 
 nicipal) corruption, and the degrada- 
 tion of some of the courts, are open 
 evidence of the fact. Statesmanship 
 and Politics have been divorced, and 
 are already strangers to each other. 
 The marriage of Might and Right, has 
 been sanctioned by popular consent. 
 Power is no longer used as a lever with 
 which to uplift the weak, but has been 
 transformed into a social crushing ma- 
 chine. Caste, ostentation, dissipation, 
 and insincerity, are the established 
 idols that lure the present generation 
 towards greedy ambition. 
 65 
 
66 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 It is also believed, and is perhaps 
 
 Break 
 
 true, that the social ulcers have been 
 so irritated by ostentatious rivalry, and 
 the commercial ulcers are so distended 
 with the pus of ruinous competition 
 and corruption, that they must soon 
 come to a head, and that convalescence 
 and cure may be possibilities of the 
 future. 
 
 While these symptoms of disease 
 are visible to all, and are tolerated as 
 necessary evils, they fortunately do not 
 cover the whole body politic; but yet, 
 they seriously disfigure its face, and 
 grievously affect the healthy action of 
 its heart. 
 
 In the political world, many agents 
 are actively at work to effect cure of 
 the evils which flaunt unblushing in the 
 face of the public. The Committee of 
 Seventy in New York, The Civic Fed- 
 eration in Chicago, and the National 
 Municipal Reform League of the United 
 States, are all doing good temporary 
 work, but they do not reach the root 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 67 
 
 causes of the evils they aim to correct; 
 and it is doubtful if the reforms they 
 accomplish will be any more permanent 
 than were those of their equally zeal- 
 ous predecessors. 
 
 In the moral and religious world, 
 much the same futile methods of cure 
 through repression are in use that ob- 
 tained during the Dark Middle Ages. 
 
 In the individual, phantoms of the 
 imagination, whose presence impose 
 stagnation and disease, are created 
 and clothed with the authority of mas- 
 ters, under the belief that they are the 
 curses which bind fallen men to earth ; 
 and this in contradiction of every 
 assurance and promise of Christ ; in 
 opposition to all intelligent methods 
 of culture used in connection with ani- 
 mals and plants ; and contrary to com- 
 mon sense. 
 
 These are strong statements, but 
 they are indisputable ; and if they are 
 true, what then, is the remedy? 
 
 As previously stated, the only cure is 
 
Task not 
 
 68 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 the germ cure; and, beginning with the 
 Difficult individual. 
 
 The task is not a difficult one. 
 Appreciation of the limitations of the 
 power of the depressing passions, and 
 one's strength to extirpate them, and 
 to be superior to them, are the only 
 necessary prerequisites to victory. 
 There is no tedious discipline, as in the 
 various methods of repression in 
 vogue; and dividends are immediately 
 and continuously collectable on the 
 fair face of the investment. No rule 
 of conduct is necessary; for, out of 
 Emancipation, only good conduct, to fit 
 environing circumstances, can be ex- 
 pected ; and yet, every Christian, every 
 Jew, every Buddhist, every Moham- 
 metan, every Free Mason, and every 
 Odd Fellow, can accept Emancipation 
 as a rule of life, without renouncing 
 his other faiths and affiliations, be- 
 cause it is the fundamental principle of 
 them all, expressed in terms of present 
 knowledge, and unclouded by the 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 69 
 
 shadows of ignorance and superstition, 
 which gave the name of Dark Ages to Skeptii 
 a period of our history. 
 
 And outside of these devotees, 
 there is the great mass of men, the so- 
 called Skeptics, who claim to adhere 
 to logic, and scientific sense, for their 
 light on spiritual, as well as on material 
 subjects. To these, Emancipation will 
 be a haven of repose for their spirit- 
 ual yearnings; and, unimpeded growth, 
 under Divinely natural conditions, 
 "will do the rest" for them all. 
 
PRESCRIPTION 
 
PRESCRIPTION 
 
 One grain of the assurance of Christ 
 that man is made in the image of God. A Simple 
 
 One grain of respect for the respon- R - 
 sibility of the care and culture of the 
 Divine Essence with which we have 
 been entrusted. 
 
 One grain of the command of Christ 
 (implying a possibility) " Be ye per- 
 fect, as your Father in Heaven is per- 
 fect." 
 
 One grain of the example of Buddha 
 that man can grow to perfection through 
 the elimination of anger and worry 
 and their brood of dependent pas- 
 sions. 
 
 One grain of the wisdom of Aris- 
 totle which declared that the passions 
 are habits of the mind, and can be got- 
 ten rid of as physical habits are gotten 
 rid of. 
 
 73 
 
The 
 
 Ever-full 
 
 Never-full 
 
 74 MENT1CULTURE 
 
 One grain of the assurance of Omar 
 Khayyam that Heaven and Hell are 
 within ourselves. 
 
 One grain of the assurance of Christ 
 that "the Kingdom of Heaven is at 
 hand." 
 
 One grain of common sense applied 
 to an analysis of mental handicaps and 
 the discovery of their limitations. 
 
 One grain of the to-day experience 
 of the author that anger and worry are 
 the roots of all the passions which de- 
 press, and can be eliminated. 
 
 DIRECTIONS. 
 
 Take: and then let 
 
 The ever-full, never-full bounty of love, 
 Sing a song, tell a tale, strike a chord, from above, 
 Soften strife out of life, find a pleasure in giving, 
 Sound the kev-note on earth, of the Art of True Living. 
 
SCRAPS OF EVIDENCE 
 
 75 
 
SCRAPS OF EVIDENCE 
 
 Early in life I was fortunate enough E v :^ ence 
 to acquire the belief that, what seemed $ OU ght 
 to be the consensus of opinion of the 
 learned in any art or science, ought 
 to be true; and, accepting their dictum, 
 I have tried to grow up to an appre- 
 ciation of their intelligence or taste 
 in the subjects of their study, without 
 combatting it with my own callow im- 
 pressions. In this way I have enjoyed 
 an early appreciation of the classics 
 in music and in art, much in advance of 
 the ordinary experience derived from 
 personal contact. In this spirit of in- 
 vestigation I have collected some 
 scraps of evidence which all prove my 
 theory. No one has denied the possi- 
 bility of Emancipation, but every one 
 has found a pleasure at once in the ray 
 of hope it suggests. 
 
 Since my attention has been direct- 
 
 77 
 
sician 
 
 78 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 A p, r ed to the possible total emancipation 
 from the depressing passions, I have 
 taken occasion to interview every man 
 who seemed to enjoy unclouded hap- 
 piness, as to the secret of his happi- 
 ness. In almost every instance I have 
 learned that the emancipated condi- 
 tion has dated, not from infancy and 
 inheritance, but from some incident in 
 later life that exposed the passions to 
 ridicule, or showed them to be a cause 
 of danger; such as death as the result 
 of worry, or crime as the result of 
 anger ; some object lesson which 
 proved the danger of permitting the 
 passions to absorb one. I enquired of 
 
 A PHYSICIAN 
 
 who has recently been selected by 
 vote of the members of his profes- 
 sion to a position of honor among 
 them, and who is conspicuous for 
 his enjoyment of such healthful recrea- 
 tion as only much younger men usu- 
 ally enjoy, whether he did not consider 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 79 
 
 anger and worry habits of the mind, 
 and not as necessary ingredients. "Cer- 
 tainly," said he, "and I know it to be 
 true by the best possible evidence, the 
 evidence of experience." After some 
 further questioning I was able to get 
 from him the following story: "When 
 I was a boy I had an ungovernable 
 temper which brought from, my neigh- 
 bors the prediction that I would come 
 to some bad end. At school I was 
 known as one of the four or five 
 'roosters.' There was scarcely a day 
 that a ring was not formed, and some 
 of us 'roosters' did not engage in a 
 fight. I followed my studies pretty 
 closely, however, in pursuance of a 
 natural inclination to be ' on top,' but 
 without any laudable ambition in con- 
 nection with them, and finally gradu- 
 ated in medicine and began practice. 
 I suffered great annoyance from horses 
 and servants, and quarreled with them 
 constantly, and got mad at my patients 
 if they showed any unreasonable ten- 
 
 Possessed 
 of Devils 
 
80 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 £ manc j.dencies; until one day it came to me 
 pation as a sudden revelation, that, what most 
 Assures hindered them from getting well, was 
 Success the very thing that possessed me the 
 greater part of the time, and made me 
 disagreeable to myself and others; and 
 I resolved to master myself as I had 
 tried to master others. From that 
 time I date my success in life, and 
 certainly my happiness. I will not al- 
 low anything to worry me. If a driver 
 or other servant does not please me, 
 I do not quarrel with him, but pay 
 him off, and let him go with the best 
 of feeling. I have a collector who is 
 very faithful, and very candid at the 
 same time. When he fails to collect 
 an account that is due, I sometimes 
 ask him the reason, and he repeats to 
 me what my patient has said. One 
 day I questioned him about an account 
 that had been long overdue, against 
 a patient whom I met cordially every 
 day at the club, but who was evidently 
 'short' at the time and suffered annoy- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 8 1 
 
 ance from collectors. 'What did he 
 say?' said I. 'He said, sir, "Tell the L 
 doctor to go to hell," replied the honest * 
 collector. Most men would have taken 
 offense at the message, and prosecuted 
 his patient for the debt, or 'cut' him, 
 or expressed anger in some way; but I 
 simply didn't go where he had ordered, 
 and never referred to the matter with 
 him. We are the best of friends now, 
 and he is one of my warmest advo- 
 cates." 
 
 A MANUFACTURER 
 
 The president of one of the largest 
 manufacturing corporations in the 
 country, having properties in a dozen 
 states, related to me the following 
 story : 
 
 "Some years ago I journeyed south 
 with a railroad magnate who stood 
 very high at the time in the railway 
 world. We came to a river crossed 
 by his road. The bridge had been 
 washed away, and, while it was rebuild- 
 
82 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 ing, trains were ferried to the further 
 a shores. Owing to some accident there 
 was no boat on hand to transport the 
 official's car across the stream. He 
 became so angry that he flew into a 
 wild passion, and cursed and dis- 
 charged the subordinates in charge of 
 the division without inquiry as to the 
 cause of the delay. He learned after- 
 ward that the accident to the boat 
 was unavoidable, and that none of the 
 employes whom he had insulted so 
 grossly and discharged so unfairly 
 were responsible for it ; but he was too 
 proud to apologize. 
 
 "The incident made such an impres- 
 sion on me, that I resolved never to 
 show anger again before my em- 
 ployes ; and I have kept my resolve. 
 It has led to my renouncing the habit 
 altogether, and for many years anger 
 has ceased to be a component part 
 of my nature. I am sorry that I did not 
 discharge worry at the same time, as 
 results have proved that it has had 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 83 
 
 no real cause to exist ; and it has, as _ . , 
 
 , ... Did not 
 
 you say, stolen much precious time -^ , 
 
 and energy out of my life." Angry 
 
 A MADMAN T 
 
 Another example of the possible 
 control of the passions, and a most 
 important one, is told by another 
 friend. One of the chums of his 
 youth had fits of anger during which 
 he was possessed with an insatiable 
 desire to kill the object of his wrath, if 
 it happened to be a living being, or to 
 break it if it were inanimate. During 
 his seasons of calm he deplored his 
 weakness, and resolved not to permit 
 it to take possession of him. He 
 stopped being angry because he was 
 afraid of the consequences. He did 
 not dare to be angry. As a result he 
 has lived a life filled with charity and 
 consideration for others, which has 
 been a blessing to himself and those 
 about him. 
 
84 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 MR. DANA 
 
 Mr. Charles A. Dana once sent a 
 member of the staff of the New York 
 
 Hard 
 
 Work 
 
 Never ^ un to l earn > ^ possible, what was 
 
 Kills tne probable cause of the death of 
 some men of high standing in the 
 financial world who were reported to 
 have hastened their death by over- 
 work. Mr. Dana did not believe that 
 hard work could kill. The result of 
 the inquiry in each instance was to 
 the effect that these men were the 
 victims of worry, which was as unne- 
 cessary, as it was unprofitable and fatal. 
 
 AN AUTHOR 
 
 One of the most prolific, observing, 
 and interesting writers of stories and 
 descriptive articles for the magazines, 
 a war correspondent and one time jour- 
 nalist, has endorsed and practiced the 
 theory presented in this paper, and has 
 done me the honor to write approv- 
 ingly as follows : 
 
 "I have succeeded in entirelv rid- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 85 
 
 ding myself of the cancers, and am 
 amazed at the ease with which it was 
 done. You are certainly an apostle of e 
 sweetness and light, and I shall never 
 be able to thank you enough for letting 
 me into your noble secret." 
 
 He notes especially an improved 
 digestion, and feels younger each day 
 as he progresses in the new life. 
 
 A GENERAL MANAGER 
 
 The Southern General Manager of 
 one of the largest British Insurance 
 Companies is a tried convert, and finds 
 health and happiness which had never 
 been attained while under the thraldom 
 of worry, which was his only former 
 affliction. 
 
 AN AUTHORESS 
 
 The author of a novel which has just 
 come before the public, and which 
 is one of the purest and most ingenious 
 stories ever published, is an ardent con- 
 vert to the belief that she is superior 
 to the depressing passions, and her 
 
Germ Cure 
 Logical to 
 All 
 
 86 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 naturally religious temperament finds 
 great solace in it. 
 
 A LAWYER 
 
 A leading lawyer of New Orleans, 
 of very old family, religious by nature, 
 but not sectarian, found comfort in the 
 idea of the possible elimination of the 
 passions, and the unrestricted growth 
 of the God-given faculties, in substance 
 as follows : 
 
 "The germ theory of cure must ap- 
 peal to all persons in a greater or less 
 degree, especially to such as find it dif- 
 ficult to believe in a personal Deity who 
 receives directly and directly answers 
 prayer as a special dispensation. They 
 can find logic in the cultivation of the 
 Divine Spark which has been breathed 
 in to them, and feel that in its growth 
 toward perfection the Laws of Nature 
 are being assisted and not violated; 
 while to such as find faith in a personal 
 God and comfort and help in prayer, 
 the ability to be superior to sinful 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 87 
 
 thoughts will give stimulation to their 
 faith, and be a fulfilment of the Ex- 
 
 " Get Thee 
 
 Behind me 
 ample, which taught : Get thee behind s atan » 
 
 me, Satan r 
 
 A SOUTHRON 
 
 I was traveling with a friend from 
 the South who is one of the best fel- 
 lows that I know. He is kind, consid- 
 erate, chivalrous, and all that char- 
 acterizes a Southern gentleman; but he 
 has a false idea of dignity in some re- 
 spects, and precipitates controversy 
 sometimes without cause, and when he 
 himself is to blame in the matter. We 
 were discussing the theory of Emanci- 
 pation, and he agreed with me on almost 
 all of the points at issue, in fact to such 
 an extent that I felt that he absorbed 
 the idea fully, when he said: "Yes, 
 it is true, and I believe in it, and I 
 think I have practiced it somewhat ; 
 but I can't stand impertinence from 
 niggers ; they rub up against me all 
 the time, and annoy me terribly, espe- 
 
"Superior 
 to Nig- 
 gers" 
 
 88 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 cially these Pullman porters." "Yes," 
 said I in reply, " you have attained 
 pretty good self-control and have rea- 
 son to be proud of it ; you are pretty 
 nearly a perfect man ; the only thing 
 you are not superior to is a nigger." 
 The rebuke impressed him as a truism 
 that had never occurred to him in that 
 light before. 
 
 The truth of the matter is, and I 
 have had both experiences to prove it 
 to my own satisfaction, antagonism in- 
 vites antagonism. A fostered dislike 
 or an anticipated friction sends out a 
 shaft in advance which rebounds and 
 rebounds with quickening vibrations. 
 If one is looking for impertinence from 
 any source he will be pretty sure to 
 find it; but if he carries a mind and 
 heart free from prejudice, which is the 
 condition of Emancipation, the shaft 
 will not be unloosed, and the disturb- 
 ing vibrations will not occur. I do not 
 believe that Pullman porters were ever 
 discourteous to Phillips Brooks, or Ed- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 89 
 
 ward Everett Hale, or Professor Swing 
 
 K r 
 
 or men of their caliber of mind; or if 
 they were, I do not believe that the 
 impertinence made any impression on 
 them except to excite pity. 
 
 FEAR DISPELLED 
 
 The most remarkable evidence in 
 support of my theory that fear is dis- 
 pelled with worry, and which corrob- 
 orates my own experience, comes from 
 an old friend who once had a shock 
 from a stroke of lightning, and who, 
 on account of it, has for years suffered 
 wretchedly from a depression akin to 
 involuntary fear whenever the weather 
 has indicated an approaching storm. 
 He has accepted the possibility of 
 Emancipation and enjoyed deliver- 
 ance from the passions, but strangely 
 enough has also now immunity from 
 any uncomfortable feeling during elec- 
 tric storms. 
 
90 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 TIMIDITY DISAPPEARS 
 
 Another convert states that he has 
 Psychic ,'"„...... , 
 
 lost all timidity, in the presence 01 an 
 
 audience, which formerly he could not 
 
 overcome. 
 
 THOMSON J. HUDSON 
 
 Mr. Thomson J.Hudson, in his Law 
 of Psychic Phenomena, has marshalled a 
 great array of authentic evidence, 
 gathered from the researches of many 
 Psychological Societies, which all 
 prove the power of the mind over 
 itself and over the body, and its 
 amenability to suggestion, under the 
 receptive condition of faith. One can 
 not read this able work without becom- 
 ing convinced that Emancipation is 
 entirely possible. Any one who wishes 
 to learn something of the power stored 
 within him, will do well to read the 
 Law of Psychic Phenomena. 
 
 The success of the Keeley Cure in 
 conquering the habits of drinking, 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 91 
 
 opium, and tobacco, is proof of the 
 efficacy of germ treatment where the ... w . , 
 germs are sensual, or mental. If bi- 
 chloride of gold can cure such dread 
 y passions of the appetite, may not bi- ( 
 chloride of common sense cure the bad 
 
 yhabits of the mind that cause them? 
 
 i 
 
 A MASTER WORKMAN 
 
 And now, comes a scrap of evi- 
 dence that is valuable because it is 
 furnished by a man whose experience 
 is wide among the people who make 
 the wealth which we all enjoy ; to 
 whom we are directly indebted for 
 the comforts and luxuries of life ; 
 and whose endorsement of an idea 
 or reform is necessary to make it be- 
 come a feature of our system or 
 government. He went west many 
 years ago from New York, a mechanic 
 by trade, and found employment in 
 the shops of one of the great rail- 
 roads. In time he was advanced 
 to the position of foreman. In private 
 
92 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 life he is now a Baron Bountiful 
 
 in the service of everybody within 
 
 ~ his reach. As Masterworkman of La- 
 
 Comfort 
 
 bor Organizations, he has urged the 
 
 just cause of his confreres with the 
 success that follows earnest conviction. 
 In the intimate confidence of his em- 
 ployers, he has presented their side of 
 a controversy to the men without any of 
 the misrepresentation of a demagogue. 
 He is the President of a sound 
 Building and Loan Association, with- 
 out salary, not to make money for him- 
 self, but for the purpose of helping his 
 men to build and own homes; and 
 those who have felt his assistance in 
 that direction, and owe him debts of 
 gratitude for various benefactions, are 
 numbered by the hundreds. When- 
 ever there is sickness, he brings solid 
 help and the sunniest of comfort; and 
 when there is death, he knows just how 
 best to serve the afflicted family with 
 those delicate attentions which relieve 
 them from repulsively material de- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 93 
 
 tails, his presence always bringing com- _ 
 
 f , .... Emancipa- 
 
 fort even under circumstances in which 
 
 1 i 1 it- tion Ap- 
 
 people want most to be alone. His 
 
 sympathy is universal, and reflects itself 
 
 into the hearts of all with whom he 
 
 comes in contact. 
 
 To such a man, one would naturally 
 think the depressing passions were 
 strangers, and that he must have been 
 born without them; but he assures me 
 that he was a slave to them for many 
 years, and that he was frightened out of 
 harboring them by a physician, and that 
 whatever good he has accomplished in 
 his humble sphere (as he calls it) he 
 attributes to the partial Emancipation 
 which his doctor's warning led him to 
 enforce upon himself. The story that 
 follows was elicited on hearing an out- 
 line of the theory of possible Emanci- 
 pation as presented in these pages. 
 
 "Stop right there: don't go any 
 farther till I have talked with you about 
 that part of it. It is as true as gospel, 
 but I never knew what it was- I have 
 
94 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 "The Old ^ a d an ex P ei *i ence which makes me 
 Gentleman ^ now th at lt 1S true > but I didn't know 
 Needs it" tne reason f° r it- When the doctors 
 told me that I must quit worrying and 
 take it easy, or medicine would do me 
 no good, and I would die, why didn't 
 they tell me that anger and worry were 
 not necessary, and that it was they that 
 I was suffering from? I would have 
 understood it better, and I wouldn't 
 have had so much trouble about fearing 
 I would have them back some time in 
 spite of myself. Why didn't the preach- 
 ers tell me this when I was a boy, and 
 let me begin to live then, instead of 
 waiting till I got to be an old man or 
 pretty near to it? You can bet that 
 my boys will know this thing right 
 away, and live it too, and I want my 
 men to know it. It is the only thing 
 they need to complete their happiness. 
 The old gentleman needs it, and Mr. — , 
 
 and Mr . (mentioning a number of 
 
 well known men who are their own 
 worst enemies, who harm no one but 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 95 
 
 themselves, but whose abuse of self, _ 
 . . . .11 "Got to be 
 
 through worry, is as merciless as the c 
 
 e 1 t • • • \ 11 bupenn- 
 
 torturesot the Inquisition ); and what a tenc j ent » 
 
 blessing it would be for the women! 
 See here, I want a hundred of those 
 books as soon as they are published, 
 and I know where they will do a heap 
 of good. They will be better than the 
 medicine of all the doctors, and do a 
 lot of good besides. I'm going to com- 
 mit what you have told me to memory, 
 so as to tell people about it if I haven't 
 got a book by me. You see that I 
 know all about this, for I have had an 
 experience. When I was a youngster, 
 I was naturally ambitious, and pretty 
 smart with the tools, and 'took' with 
 my employers, and finally got to be 
 superintendent. Then I got to be more 
 ambitious, especially after I was married 
 and the children came. I wanted them 
 to have a good education and be fitted 
 to be gentlemen, which I knew their 
 mother's, and I might remark incident- 
 ally, my own blood entitled them to be. 
 
g6 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 T ry I was pretty sensitive, and was always 
 
 a Habit standing up for my rights. I was too 
 apt to worry. I had not heard what 
 you have told me and thought worry 
 necessary. If I had not worried I 
 would not have got angry. 
 
 " When I got to be superintendent I 
 thought that one of the things that I 
 had to do was to be sure and maintain 
 my dignity, and show it by occasion- 
 ally making believe mad at something. 
 At first I did not feel it half as much 
 as I showed it ; but I thought it 
 was part of the business of a boss 
 to get mad, until finally it got to be 
 a habit, and grew on me till I was in a 
 state of anger most of the time. I 
 also thought that I had to worry about 
 things, or I would not show the proper 
 respect for my responsibilities. It was 
 the way I had of letting myself feel that 
 I was carrying a terrible burden and 
 earning my salary. The trouble was 
 that, while it was partly play-acting at 
 first, it came to be habit, and worked on 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 97 
 
 my health in the end. The doctors t( F . , 
 dosed me with all sorts of medicine. I ened out Q £ 
 was a regular pigeon, and gave up many m Wits >> 
 a hard-earned dollar to them for no 
 
 good at all. One day Dr. L , to 
 
 whom I went as a last resort, for I was 
 beginning to have dizzy spells and 
 twitching in the face that was serious, 
 asked me a lot of questions about 
 myself and my habits and duties. I 
 told him frankly, and when I had done 
 so he said : ' There is no use giving 
 you any medicine, you have got to quit 
 worrying and take it easy ; that is the 
 only trouble with you. If you keep on 
 with your worry I will have to give 
 your family a certificate of death; so, if 
 you don't want me to do that, you just 
 quit your worrying and take life easy. 
 Whatever you do, don't get into fits of 
 anger, for that is more wearing to a 
 man in your condition than anything 
 else.' Well, to 'fess up and tell you 
 the truth, I got frightened out of my 
 wits. I hadn't got near enough to 
 
98 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 Anger and ei S ht y ( m y limit ) to think about d y in g> 
 and I didn't want to do it right then, 
 especially as I hadn't got Mary and 
 the boys well enough fixed to leave. 
 The other doctors had made a monkey 
 of me, and took my money, and told 
 me that I would be all right in a few 
 days ; but this honest German told me 
 the truth and set me to thinking. I 
 didn't say a word to anyone, but made 
 up my mind I would take his advice. 
 At first I thought that I was shirking 
 some of the duties of a superintendent, 
 when I quit getting mad and worrying; 
 but I squared it with myself by saying 
 to myself, ' Better be a tame donkey 
 for the company than a dead one.' 
 Well, I didn't know it at the time ; 
 that is, I didn't know the cause of it, 
 but from that time I have just had 
 luck under my wing all the time. I 
 have pleased my employers, and I have 
 pleased the men, and things have been 
 coming my way in great shape, and 
 they are still a-coming. Why, I see it 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 99 
 
 all as plain as the nose on your face. 
 Those little devils that keep a man 
 back, and keep him from being happy, G , 
 have no business there by rights; and all Ndgiibors 
 you have got to know is that they are 
 poachers, and all you have got to do is 
 to tell them to 'git.' And just see how 
 it would work if everybody knew this 
 as I see it. If you knew that your 
 neighbor knew that Emancipation was 
 possible, you would know at the same 
 time that he was no fool, and that, 
 knowing it, he had become Emanci- 
 pated, of course, and there would be a 
 trustful sympathy established at once, 
 and you would pull together and never 
 apart after that. If his fence accidentally 
 encroached an inch on your land, you 
 would be glad of it; or, if your fence 
 had been set on his side of the legal 
 line, he would not object; and so it 
 would go on between you, and you 
 would be happy and good neighbors to 
 each other. Why, I would rather my 
 men would have that secret and day's 
 
:oo MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 "Looking 
 Backward' 
 from 
 Emanci- 
 pation 
 
 wages, than a million of dollars without 
 it ; and my boys, if I don't leave them a 
 cent, I will leave them full of this secret, 
 and won't worry about their future hap- 
 piness. I was much interested in that 
 book you gave me several years ago 
 called ' Looking Backward.' What the 
 author said about co-operation, and all 
 that, was all right and very beautiful; 
 but I didn't take much stock in it be- 
 cause I had such a poor opinion of 
 human nature, that Ididn't think peo- 
 ple could quit grabbing and get down 
 to brass tacks in a co-operative way. 
 But if you can spread the idea of Men- 
 tal Emancipation as you have told it to 
 me (and I don't see what can help its 
 spreading like wildfire as soon as it 
 gets out), the social paradise pictured 
 in ' Looking Backward ' will come as 
 a matter of course ; and I see it a-com- 
 ing If you take off a brake I can see 
 how a car can run down a hill, but 
 with the brake on I couldn't see how 
 you could push it down. 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING IOI 
 
 "The more I think of this thing the 
 bigger it gets, and it is a sure winner. 
 Now suppose my family, and the B. Ma ' 
 family on the corner, and the N. family ° 
 next door had found out the secret, cl P at 
 anybody that couldn't grasp it couldn't 
 live in the street, he would feel so un- 
 comfortable. In fact, if there were such 
 an one, we could put him down for a 
 crazy man or an idiot, and treat him 
 with the same consideration we treat 
 such weak people. 
 
 " Or suppose the men over in the 
 shops were the joint possessors of the 
 secret; why, the first thing you would 
 know they would all be at work on 
 some co-operative plan for themselves. 
 Not that any of us have anything 
 against the employers we work for, for 
 there are no better in the land; but it 
 is the blamed stupidity of the system 
 that makes men work hard for small 
 wages to feed the flames of ruinous 
 rivalry. Look at the brains locked up 
 in the pates of lawyers which have 
 
I02 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 nothing better to do than to mix things 
 up so that they will get the job of un- 
 Prostituted mixing them. Think what would hap- 
 pen if all that education and all that in- 
 genuity were turned towards invention! 
 Most of the tangles they are employed 
 to unravel should never have existed, 
 and would not have existed in a com- 
 munity where the secret of Emancipa- 
 tion had been told. In all of the clum- 
 siness of competition, and the expense 
 of pullback methods, labor, the source 
 of all we have, pays the whole freight 
 in one way or another; and the reason 
 it does so is because of the little par- 
 asite devils that are sawing wood and 
 hatching eggs in the minds of each 
 individual worker and producer. With 
 these little devils at work in him he is 
 suspicious, selfish, jealous, and what 
 not else, because he thinks his neighbor 
 and fellow workman are similarly pos- 
 sessed, and he must be so too to get 
 along. Under this condition cohesion 
 is impossible, and schemers prey upon 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 103 
 
 the separateness of the producing com- _ 
 
 ... 1 r 1 Emancipa- 
 
 munity to rob it of as much of the 
 
 product of its labor as possible. Suppose p 
 that the secret of possible Emancipa- R kt> ery 
 tion should become general (and for 
 the life of me I cannot see how it can 
 fail to do so), there would be confidence, 
 trustfulness, cohesion, ambition to be 
 useful, and the energy of the healthy 
 child for play-work would return to the 
 rejuvenated man, and he would play 
 work under those conditions and not 
 feel that it was a mark of servitude 
 and necessity, and the land would sing 
 with the sound of willing industry." 
 
 My friend had become eloquent under 
 the inspiration of the possible estab- 
 lishment of a Heaven on earth to which 
 he could invite his friends. Do not 
 think that this is not a true report of 
 a conversation in real life. My friend 
 is a real character; is well read and 
 educated by observation and exper- 
 ience, and could succeed in almost 
 any position in life except in such as 
 
104 MENTI CULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 did not give "value received" for the 
 Emancipa- . . . T T . . . 
 
 service rendered. He is one ot those 
 
 "Noblemen by Nature" to whom the 
 Eloquence wor ld owes so much, but pays so little; 
 but he is happy in doing good, and the 
 field he works in is one of the richest 
 for that harvest, and the compensation 
 he prizes most highly, is the happiness 
 he is able to give others. He had 
 the secret of True Living forced on 
 him, in spite of the example of the 
 world, without knowing the true cause 
 or value of his good fortune; but his 
 happiness was increased many fold 
 when he learned that it was his birth- 
 right; was a possession of which no 
 one could rob him; and would re- 
 main his as long as he lived. And as 
 he has faith in the Eternal Evolution of 
 everything, he feels that, freed from the 
 depressing passions, there will be no 
 end to his growth; that, at the so-called 
 middle age of human tenure, he is but in 
 the beginning of life; or, if not that, 
 that each day is a wealth of joy unto 
 
Heaven is 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 105 
 
 itself in spite of any external conditions; 
 
 for he has found that "the kingdom of .„ , 
 
 Heaven is at hand" and that a branch 
 
 of it has been established in his own 
 
 heart. 
 
 All men are not constituted alike. 
 In the economy of Nature it is her pur- 
 pose that no two things are made alike. 
 In a million years a million men could 
 not count the spears of grass in the 
 fields, or the hairs of the heads of men; 
 yet no patient investigator has been 
 able to find any two of them that did not 
 differ from every other one when put 
 under the lens of the microscope One 
 thousand millions of humans inhabit 
 this earth. Each has essentially the 
 same form, the same two eyes, the 
 same mouth, the same ears and hands 
 and arms; and yet even in the case of 
 twins, where the nearest approach to 
 similarity comes, the mother never can 
 mistake the one for the other. If 
 you are unlike others, it is because na- 
 ture chose to cast you in a different 
 
106 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 mould to serve some wise purpose; and 
 
 s with that form, comes the God-given 
 
 essence of the Divine, whose presence 
 ner-stones , , ., , , 
 
 and growth are evidenced by an innate 
 
 yearning for spirituality. Much spir- 
 ituality lifts a man above his less 
 spiritual fellows and makes of him a 
 cornerstone, or a keystone, or some 
 other important segment of the so- 
 cial structure; and lack of it con- 
 demns him to be a bit of rubble, 
 or an atom of filling. The corner- 
 stones and the keystones help and 
 support each other in the stately arch, 
 while the rubble and the atoms fall 
 apart and become dirt, when allowed 
 to find their level. Which shall we 
 choose to become: the keystone of the 
 arch, or some of the dirt of the earth 
 beneath it? Which shall we choose: 
 happiness, health, growth, usefulness, 
 rest, and a fitting relationship to the 
 Divine, or the reverse? Each is what 
 God made him plus what he can attain 
 by growth. Through eradication of 
 
than a king 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 107 
 
 the cankerous passions; through the 
 extirpation of the mental weeds; the £ 
 dwarf may grow to be greater than the ^ 
 king; and all can freely and fully enjoy 
 life and growth, when they have learned 
 the A-B-C of True Living. The 
 grammar, and the rhetoric, and the 
 poetry, and perhaps a higher intelli- 
 gence than we know of now may fol- 
 low, and are sure to follow; but they 
 will be but brighter phases of hap- 
 piness already attained. 
 
 A CHURCHWOMAN 
 
 In searching for corroborative evi- 
 dence of the possibility of Emancipa- 
 tion, I was fortunate in meeting a lady 
 whose acquaintance with the several re- 
 ligions and metaphysics is exceptional ; 
 and whose clear intelligence regarding 
 the value of menticulture, makes her a 
 rare critic in questions of this kind. 
 From her I received the most valued en- 
 couragement. She is a devout church- 
 woman, but has studied along the sev- 
 
A Devout 
 Church- 
 woman 
 
 108 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 eral lines of psychology in search of 
 additional light and strength. She 
 had read my simple presentation of 
 the theory of germ cure, and found in 
 it a ray of hope, the effect of which 
 she described as follows: "The sensa- 
 tion that was produced in me by the 
 suggestion, I cannot describe. It was 
 as if a great flood of light had burst 
 upon me, and I saw the possibility of 
 an immediate realization of my spiritual 
 ideal; and I have prayed to God con- 
 stantly, that it may not leave me. 
 There have been unusual occasions for 
 worry and annoyance since then. I 
 have just moved to a new city ; into a 
 new house; and my husband and I are 
 beginning life anew in an untried field. 
 All of my past associations are broken 
 up, and new sympathies among stran- 
 gers are to be formed. My husband's 
 health has been poor, and mine has 
 been wretched, so that we have been 
 compelled to seek climates more favor- 
 able, at the expense of financial con- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING log 
 
 siderations; yet, the cloud that hung _. , 
 
 . . . Simple 
 
 over our prospects has been miracu- T 
 
 lously dispelled, and my days and sre ^- ient 
 nights are soothed with a calm con- 
 tentment and happiness which I have 
 never known before. My religion 
 seems more precious to me than ever. 
 It seems as if one simple little ingre- 
 dient that it lacked has been found ; 
 and that now it is perfect. I have 
 always been possessed of a desire to 
 accomplish one act in life which should 
 be conspicuous for its usefulness to 
 some one ; and if I can ever succeed 
 in giving to one person the light and 
 comfort that this revelation has given 
 to me, I shall feel that my ambition 
 has been attained." 
 
 Her discovery of a simple little in- 
 gredient, in the theory of germ cure, 
 led to a new appreciation of the idea 
 of simplicity in connection with it, 
 which has been amplified in the suc- 
 ceeding chapter. 
 
FIRST PRINCIPLES OVER- 
 LOOKED 
 
FIRST PRINCIPLES OVERLOOKED 
 
 Simplicity and harmony are the 
 
 ultimate conditions to be attained in Sl 
 
 all things. In literature, and in music, ar 
 
 , . , . . . j . mony are 
 
 and in oratory, and in painting, and in T „ . 
 
 . . , • it • i. . . Ultimate 
 
 mechanics, and in lire, simplicity is at 
 
 once the greatest charm, and the best 
 evidence of merit. In mechanics, a 
 simple little device usually perfects the 
 great labor-saving machine. In chem- 
 istry, a simple little ingredient may give 
 culminating power to a world-building 
 or a world-destroying compound. In 
 oratory, a simple and impassioned appeal 
 is most potent to move the multitude 
 to action ; and in menticulture, the 
 simple and direct application of the germ 
 cure, may be able to effect a millennium 
 in social evolution within a generation. 
 Stranger things have happened ! Be- 
 cause it has not happened, is no reason 
 113 
 
114 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 why it should not happen. In fact, 
 Germ Cure . , . , 111,. 
 
 t TT , there are logical reasons why the habit 
 not Under- .11,1 
 
 of repression should have smothered 
 
 any idea of germ cure, till Science 
 placed an analogy in physics before 
 our eyes ; especially because the false 
 hypothesis of original (or natural) sin, 
 has been persistently advanced as a 
 law of our being. 
 
 Christ taught the germ cure, and 
 hinted at no other as an alternative. 
 In the sermon on the mount; in his 
 talks by the Sea of Galilee; and in 
 his rebuke of the devil in the desert, 
 there was no note of indecision sug- 
 gested. Do and be and get were unmis- 
 takable commands. But these com- 
 mands were given in a gentle manner, 
 to half-doubting disciples, and faintly 
 echoed by them to an incredulous 
 world, that had not learned the power 
 of mind over matter, or over itself; 
 and hence the world waited for Science 
 to prove even greater possibilities, 
 before giving heed to the simple com- 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 115 
 
 mands of the Great Teacher in the 
 manner he commanded. 
 
 One of the great weaknesses of the 
 age in which we live is the ignoring of 
 first principles, and a reaching out for 
 the remote or unattainable. In the 
 matter of home responsibilities, and 
 in menticulture, this is most apparent. 
 The order of responsibility is — the 
 mind, — the body — the mind of the 
 child — the body or health of the child — 
 and so on in the sequence of relation- 
 ship in the family, in the community, 
 in the nation, and in the world ; not 
 with selfish discrimination against the 
 more remote, but with zealous care of 
 the nearer relationships. This order, 
 however, is rarely observed. We weed 
 the garden, but do not weed the mind. 
 We pass laws to punish any who strike, 
 or rob, or corrupt a citizen, but there 
 is no law to protect the abused or neg- 
 lected children of drunken or incom- 
 petent parents, except in extreme 
 cases. Breeders of fine animals take 
 
 Order of 
 Responsi- 
 bility 
 
Laissez 
 Faire 
 
 Il6 MENTICULTURE ; OR, THE 
 
 the greatest pains to guard all the con- 
 ditions surrounding their stock, and at 
 the same time encourage family alli- 
 ance with consumptive plutocrats. 
 
 The antiquated and primitive doc- 
 trine of laissez faire, has been replaced 
 by those of Division of Labor, and of 
 Protection, in the cases of the strong 
 who have demanded them, or who 
 have purchased them through leg- 
 islative cupidity; but still obtains in 
 the cases of the weak and non-as- 
 sertive. 
 
 The truant subjects of great nations, 
 scattered in foreign lands, are hedged 
 about with protection equal to an im- 
 perial guard ; and thousands of men 
 and millions of money are sacrificed to 
 revenge an insult to, or protect the 
 property of a claimant citizen at the 
 Antipodes ; while hundreds and thou- 
 sands of the producers at home are 
 starving and dying, because of the 
 maladministration of the first princi- 
 ples of economies, and the laissez faire 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 117 
 
 license given to selfish and unscrupu- 
 lous competition. ProteLd 
 
 Arrogant commerce, and the al- We , 
 ready-powerful, have no end of pro- ij n p ro . 
 tection; but the mind, the health, the tected 
 child, and the producer, are left to 
 the tender mercy of chance, or are 
 hampered by crushing conditions of 
 abuse and neglect contrary to every 
 law of growth ; and thus it must be ; 
 until we adopt the germ cure, as a 
 principle of menticulture, and Eman- 
 cipation, as the first evidence of intelli- 
 gence and respectability. 
 
 In self-administration, the far-away 
 habit is quite as prevalent as in the 
 administration of Society. Men and 
 women slave and save, to furnish 
 means for sending missionaries to 
 India, to release the Indian mind of 
 imagined evils, while they crawl about 
 servile to anger or worry, or both 
 anger and worry. They set their 
 ideal of happiness at an indefinite 
 height, always out of reach. They 
 
Il8 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 hide their Heaven behind the curtain 
 
 6 of death, and refuse to look for it 
 Precious .... . . . . , 
 
 ~. within the precincts of their own heart. 
 
 Time r 
 
 They waste precious time in speculat- 
 ing as to the form and attributes of 
 the Cause of all things, its residence 
 and disposition, while they smother 
 under the pall of inappreciation, the 
 best evidence of its existence, and the 
 most potent workings of its power, 
 within themselves. And all this be- 
 cause they work from the wrong end, 
 and are dull to the efficacy of growth 
 from the basis of Emancipation. 
 
 Their method of life is like the un- 
 raveling of a snarled skein from the 
 middle. They fumble futilely at the 
 snarl, and accomplish little, if any- 
 thing, when they ought first to release 
 the end within themselves, and follow 
 the cord from that beginning, along 
 the line of growth and organization, 
 to the condition of unrestricted free- 
 dom, and usefulness, — the condition 
 of Emancipated Brotherhood. 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING IIQ 
 
 Religions are founded, fraternal 
 
 • .. r j • Nations 
 
 societies are formed, armies are mar- 
 shalled, and nations are grown about . 
 
 , . . . 1.11 About an 
 
 a sympathetic idea, to which the ma- . 
 
 jority subscribe. The aim is always 
 the same : growth, protection, har- 
 mony, happiness, Heaven. But the 
 growth is slow, the protection is only 
 partial, the harmony is incomplete, 
 perfect happiness is impossible, and 
 Heaven is indefinite and remote ; 
 because their organization tolerates 
 selfishness as a necessary " mark of 
 Cain," instead of being built on the 
 foundation of Emancipation. 
 
 All true calculation must recognize 
 a unit of value ; in menticulture the 
 only true unit is Emancipation. 
 
 In harmony, instruments cannot be 
 tuned from several standards; there 
 must be one key-note; and harmony in 
 menticulture can only come from the 
 key-note — Emancipation. 
 
SLAVES OR FREEMEN-WHICH? 
 
Overcome 
 
 SLAVES OR FREEMEN 
 
 Within the memory of many now 
 living, Society was dominated by the 
 belief that human body-slavery was a ~ 
 Divine institution. 
 
 Thirty-five years ago a great war 
 was waged against the institution in 
 this country, at the expense of hun- 
 dreds of thousands of lives, and thou- 
 sands of millions of dollars worth of 
 property. 
 
 That war resulted not only in kill- 
 ing the institution itself, but also in the 
 extirpation of the idea of its Divine 
 origin. 
 
 It is no longer a question of debate 
 in any part of the civilized word, but 
 an established international under- 
 standing, that slavery is not only 
 unjust to the enslaved, but an evil, the 
 effects of which are shared by the 
 master. 
 
 123 
 
124 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 Negro slavery in America was, how- 
 ever, a mild and beneficent institution, 
 
 Mercenary 
 
 Fashion a 
 
 Cruel as compared to the voluntary servitude 
 
 to Mercenary Fashion, which enthrals 
 so many at the present time. Merce- 
 nary Fashion places burdens on rich 
 and poor alike, and costs Society more 
 lives and property yearly, than all that 
 was wasted during the war of the Re- 
 bellion. 
 
 Most of the masters of the negro 
 were kindly and considerate, and not 
 a few of the negro uncles and aunties 
 now living, regret the "good old times 
 when marster and missus did all the 
 plannin' and pervidin', and all we uns 
 had to do was work, and sing and 
 dance." 
 
 On the other hand, Mercenary 
 Fashion has headquarters in Paris, 
 in London, in Vienna, and in Berlin; 
 and sets its traps all over the world, 
 baited with styles of such absurd 
 taste and uselessness that interest in 
 them can only be brief. It is part of 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 125 
 
 its deliberate policy, not to suggest 
 any form or style that has merit suffi- 
 cient to make it desirable a second 
 
 Ostenta- 
 tion Pan- 
 season. It avoids any approach to the Fac 
 simple and beautiful and comfortable 
 drapery used by the ancient Greeks, 
 because of fear that its trade will be 
 ruined by the stability of the wares. 
 Ostentation is the ever-ready victim 
 to take the poisonous bait; and then, 
 there is a mad rush of the mimicking 
 slaves, to assume the fetters which 
 bind them to constant toil. Dishonor, 
 infamy, and shame, are braved by men 
 and women alike, in following the 
 allurements of Mercenary Fashion. 
 
 Fear (of criticism) and Envy are 
 the two phases of the root passions, 
 that are the most powerful and active 
 agents in securing victims for Merce- 
 nary Fashion; but, if Emancipation 
 were the established rule of life, 
 these agents would not exist; Osten- 
 tation would not be followed; and 
 Taste, and Usefulness, and Perma - 
 
126 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 nence, would be the leaders instead; 
 
 and a state of cooperation which might 
 
 „ j properly be named Good Fashion, or 
 Freedom v \ ' . ' 
 
 God fashion, would succeed the 
 
 tyrant of the present; and Fashion, 
 under such conditions, would be a bles- 
 sing instead of a curse as at present. 
 Mercenary Fashion has met with a 
 formidable adversary in the bicycle. 
 The absurd costumes inflicted by it on 
 a servile world, seem as ridiculous 
 when mounted on a bicycle, as if 
 they were placed on the David of 
 Michael Angelo, or on the Venus de 
 Milo. Bicycle costumes for women 
 may not displace all others; but, with 
 the freedom of movement enjoyed on 
 the wheel, in a costume suitable to 
 the unhampered action of a biped; 
 with the constant restraint of position 
 rendered necessary by the wearing of 
 skirts removed, woman may soon be- 
 come free to move and act as Nature 
 designed that she should move and act, 
 and enjoyment of this new freedom 
 
Make 
 Freedom 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 127 
 
 will greatly modify her slavery to Mer- 
 cenary Fashion. 
 
 Fashion (or mimicry) is good, if " 
 properly led. able 
 
 If it were fashionable to believe 
 that anger and worry were unnecessary 
 weeds of the mind, were blemishes 
 that could be removed from the dispo- 
 sition, were habits that were unbecom- 
 ing to civilized man, and were handi- 
 caps to energy and happiness that 
 could be put aside at will, the world 
 could follow that fashion to a state of 
 Emancipation, with all the enthusiasm 
 it could muster, and benefit itself by 
 being fashionable. 
 
 And, should a just appreciation of 
 the power within us become fashion- 
 able, the tendency to mimicry; which is 
 now the connecting link of resemblance 
 between us and the monkey from 
 which we have evolved, would become 
 an element of strength, instead of an 
 element of weakness. 
 
 We, as individuals, support the 
 
Plows with 
 a Stick 
 
 128 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 fashions, but we do not suggest them. 
 We support waste and discomfort, for 
 the benefit of mercenary and designing 
 fashion-makers, with the product of 
 never-ending toil, because we ape 
 Ostentation, cringe before Fear, and 
 encourage Envy as an attribute of 
 Pride. 
 
 We are slaves indeed! not only in 
 the matter of clothes, but in the matter 
 of the distribution of the necessities 
 and luxuries of life and comfort. We 
 do some things more cleverly than the 
 rest of the world, but in others we 
 excel in clumsiness and inconsistency. 
 In Mexico (our nearest neighbor), a 
 sharpened stick is still used for plow- 
 ing; but, that is not nearly as crude, of 
 its kind, as some of the business 
 methods that we support in this coun- 
 try are of their kind; and in matters 
 of utmost importance, too. For in- 
 stance: in the city of Montgomery, Ala- 
 bama, there is a square, or rather a 
 diamond, around which, and within a 
 
Convention 
 
 A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 129 
 
 block of which, there are eight or nine _ 
 1 TL . '. Druggists 
 
 drug stores. 1 his may not be an 
 
 unusual bunching of druggists, but, as 
 Montgomery is a meeting point of 
 several terminal railroads, and trains 
 from all directions are usually detained 
 there one or two hours, I have had 
 abundant opportunity to study this 
 constellation of red and green lights, 
 that blink and stare at all who visit 
 the park they look on. They all seem 
 to be full fledged, and fully equipped 
 drug stores, and not devoted to special- 
 ties, as one would suppose as a reason 
 for there being so many of them. 
 
 As it is, there are eight stores, eight 
 stocks of goods, eight sets of clerks, 
 eight insurance policies, eight compu- 
 tations of interest, eight gas or electric 
 light bills, and probably eight many- 
 other items of expense chargeable to 
 the profits on the sales, and supported 
 by the public, when one establishment 
 would serve all the people of Mont- 
 gomery better than the eight do now. 
 
130 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 Mont- If these stores were scattered about 
 gomery, the city, the matter of convenience 
 Alabama could be urged for their existence. To 
 support such prodigality, profits rang- 
 ing from one hundred to one thousand 
 per cent, have to be charged, and the 
 public evidently pays them, for their 
 existence from year to year is evidence 
 of support from some one. Suppose 
 the Corporation of the City of Mont- 
 gomery were to vote an appropriation 
 of fifty thousand (or perhaps only 
 twenty thousand) dollars, for the pur- 
 pose of establishing a first-class dispen- 
 sary of medicines, etc., and should put 
 it in charge of a competent chemist, 
 who would know what medicines were 
 good, and what compounds were not 
 good? The patronage of the citizens 
 would support such an establishment 
 on a ten per cent, basis of profit, and 
 pay ten per cent, interest on the invest- 
 ment without doubt, and the citizens 
 would not be at the mercy of chance 
 or imposition, in a matter of prime 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 131 
 
 importance to health, as they are liable 
 
 to be, under any but the most perfect ... 
 
 , . . 1 ,. • Waste 
 
 system of selecting and dispensing 
 
 drugs and patent medicines. 
 
 This is a single instance among thou- 
 sands, of the unintelligent application 
 of the doctrine of laissez /aire to 
 matters of vital social interest; and is 
 given here to illustrate a form of slav- 
 ery to inconvenience and waste, that 
 would be cleared away like mist before 
 the sun, as the result of evolution, 
 from the standpoint of Emancipation. 
 
 It required a million guns, and the 
 assistance of several million men, 
 with all the waste and blood which 
 war carries with it, to free the negro; 
 and the advance of humanity the 
 world over, was a fruit, worth the cost 
 of the war; but slavery of the individ- 
 ual to the parasite passions, will not 
 enlist the rescue of arms, although 
 it entails greater hardship than was 
 ever suffered by the average negro 
 slave. Each individual must gain for 
 
132 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 The himself this freedom ; no one else can 
 Martyr a *d n ^ m except through suggestion 
 and moral help. It is his birthright 
 however, and awaits his call. 
 
 The face of the martyr glowed 
 with radiant happiness, when he ex- 
 claimed to his jailers from the con- 
 fines of his chains, "You have bound 
 my body, but you cannot bind my soul! 
 Kill my body if you like ! it will only 
 give greater freedom to my soul." 1 But 
 the so-called free citizen of to-day; 
 who smothers himself under the blan- 
 ket of worry; or, who spits angry in- 
 justice at a self-created-phantom-cause 
 for resentment, is a weak and pitiable 
 wretch, as compared with the bonden 
 martyr or negro of long ago. 
 
 Emancipation, or, a perfectly de-an- 
 gered and de-worryized mind, can only 
 be secured through conviction of its 
 possibility, and not simply through an 
 intellectual admission of its possibility. 
 Faith is the pre-requisite of every suc- 
 cessful accomplishment in life. An 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 133 
 
 axiom of the circus ring warns an 
 acrobat, or a gymnast, never to 
 attempt a feat, unless he has perfect 
 confidence in his ability to perform it 
 successfully. Knowledge and the ap- 
 preciation of the power of the mind 
 over phantoms of its own creation, 
 and confidence to expel them, is as 
 necessary in menticulture as is the con- 
 fidence of the gymnast in performing 
 wonderful feats of menti-physical skill. 
 The condition required for growth to 
 Emancipation, is that of perfect faith 
 and confidence, born of knowledge 
 of the power God has given us to 
 "cast out evil," and in that condition, 
 Emancipation, when attained, can be 
 anchored safely, protected from any 
 of the battling and surging elements 
 of discord from without. 
 
 The researches of many scientific 
 societies along the lines of Psychic 
 Phenomena, endorsed by every utter- 
 ance of Christ, reveal the fact that 
 faith is a pre-requisite to subjection, or 
 
134 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 control, of the mind. The best sub- 
 jects in scientific hypnotism are the 
 strongest minded (who believe through 
 knowledge), and the weakest minded 
 (who believe through credulity); while 
 the creatures of vacillating impulses, 
 are hopeless dolts in the hands of the 
 hypnotist, and will be those who will 
 have to acquire Mental Emancipation 
 because it is fashionable, and not be- 
 cause it is sensible. 
 
 The condition of Emancipation is 
 one of faith in the beginning ; but, as 
 soon as it is attained, there is no desire 
 to replant mental weeds, and no strug- 
 gle to repress them, for there are no 
 roots or seeds from which to grow them. 
 
 Faith must precede, but examples 
 of Emancipation are sure to develop 
 in every community, and soon the at- 
 mosphere will be pregnant with the 
 possibility of it. Then it will be easy 
 to follow the fashion and dismiss anger 
 and worry; and, after a little, shame 
 will attach to the possession of them. 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 135 
 
 Growth and happiness will result from „, 
 
 ,...,, r Tottering 
 
 the elimination or the germs or stnre; „ ( 
 
 n House or 
 
 natural cooperation will follow natural c an > t 
 growth; and we will catch up with Mr. 
 Bellamy's prophecy, long before the 
 time specified in "Looking Backward," 
 by the simple unraveling of a silken 
 skein of endless possibilities from the 
 free end within ourselves. 
 
 Fear that individuality will be lost 
 in cooperation, is one of the hot-shot 
 missiles of mendacity, that is being 
 fired at Cooperation from the citadel 
 of the condemned passions, by the 
 slaves of the tottering house of Can t, 
 but will fall, harmless, before the 
 armor of Emancipation. 
 
 Does it lessen the individuality of 
 the gardener to weed his soil? Does it 
 weaken the individuality of a patient to 
 cut out the root of his cancer? Does 
 it militate against the power of a cause, 
 to rid it of its faults? Will the runner 
 run less swiftly, or the jumper jump 
 less far, if they remove the handicap? 
 
ORGANIZATION 
 
 137 
 
ORGANIZATION 
 
 While Emancipation in the individ- q ._ 
 ual is worth more than all the wealth zation 
 of the world to him without it, organ- rj es i ra bl e 
 ization about the idea is desirable for 
 the purpose of aiding others ; and, 
 (through cooperation and the most 
 perfect economics) lightening the bur- 
 den of compulsory labor, in order that 
 there shall be more time to devote to 
 recreation and recreative labor. 
 
 Organization on the basis of Eman- 
 cipation is sure to be the next great 
 movement of reform and growth, in 
 the light of whose strength, the puny 
 efforts of the past will seem like the 
 light of a tallow dip beside an electric 
 cluster. 
 
 This will come ; not because I have 
 discovered it for myself and am pub- 
 lishing an account of the discovery to 
 139 
 
thing 
 Takes 
 Nothing 
 
 140 MENTICULTURE; OR, THE 
 
 my friends, but because the world has 
 learned something of the powers at its 
 command ; has learned the possibility 
 of germ cure in physics ; has learned 
 the efficacy of mental therapeutics in 
 matters of both mind and body ; and 
 is ripe for it. When I tell my friends 
 my experience and deductions, they 
 are prepared at once to accept them 
 with credence. And so it will be with 
 them and their friends, for logic and 
 self interest are merits to commend 
 it to all intelligent persons ; and, 
 in the immediate future, it is not 
 unreasonable to hope that Emanci- 
 pation, as a basic condition favorable 
 to growth and Brotherhood, may not 
 be an uncommon accomplishment and 
 requirement. I believe that it is one 
 of the first steps urged in Christian 
 Science and rendered possible by the 
 belief, as it is in the Buddhist Disci- 
 pline and Christian formula, and in 
 the circle of my acquaintance there 
 are already many believers in the 
 
A-B-C OF TRUE LIVING 14I 
 
 possibility of Emancipation, who are No End t 
 enjoying its benefits; who find that it Growth 
 is the one little ingredient necessary to 
 perfect their established beliefs, and 
 strengthen their present affiliations ; 
 and to whom it adds everything and 
 from whom takes nothing. 
 
 All the members of religious sects; 
 all the members of fraternal socie- 
 ties, as well as many of the disconnected 
 seekers after intellectual and spiritual 
 growth, should be eager to enroll 
 themselves under the banner of Eman- 
 cipation ; and if this should happen, 
 the wished for Utopia of the most fer- 
 tile imagination, would not be as re- 
 mote as it has seemed to be in the past. 
 
HOPE 
 
HOPE 
 
 When one has attained the condi- 
 tion of Emancipation, let him be sure 
 that it is only the elementary stage of 
 growth, the happy childhood of true 
 life (no matter what the physical age 
 of the body), and that there is a possi- 
 bility of development to a point of un- 
 selfishness, whence one can view one's 
 own individuality from without, and 
 direct its action from an impersonal 
 standpoint. Then each of us can will 
 himself to act as he would like to have 
 a beloved friend or relative act in any 
 given situation. 
 
 I believe that this is true, and en- 
 tirely possible to the emancipated 
 mind; but, as I have aimed to present 
 only a personal discovery and experi- 
 ence, I will leave a deeper consideration 
 of the subject to the test of a longer 
 acquaintance with the new-found life. 
 145 
 
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