tion of the eye, which is
a silent speech of emotion, has always been regarded as powerful in
fascination, but those who are not by nature gifted with it cannot use
it to much good purpose. That emotional, susceptible subjects ready to
receive suggestion can be put to sleep or made to imagine anything
terrible regarding anybody's glance is very true, just as an ignorant
Italian will believe of any man that he has the _malocchio_ if he be
told so, whence came the idea that Pope Gregory XVI had the evil eye.
But where there is _sincere_ kindly feeling it makes itself felt in a
sympathetic nature by what is popularly called magic, only because it
is not understood. The enchantment lies in this, that unconscious
cerebration, or the power (or powers), who are always acting in us,
effect many curious and very subtle mental phenomena, all of which
they do not confide to the common-sense waking judgment or Reason,
simply because the latter is almost entirely occupied with common
worldly subjects. It is as if someone whose whole attention and
interest had been at all times given to some plain hard drudgery,
should be called on to review or write a book of exquisitely subtle
poetry. It is, indeed, almost sadly touching to reflect how this
innocent and beautiful faculty of recognizing what is good, is really
acting perhaps in evil and merely worldly minds all in vain, and all
unknown to them. The more the conscious waking-judgment has been
trained to recognize goodness, the more will the hidden water-fairies
rise above the surface, as it were, to the sunshine. So it comes that
true kindly feeling is recognized by sympathy, and those who would be
loved, cannot do better than make themselves truly and perfectly
_kind_ by forethought and will, and with this the process of
self-hypnotism will be a great aid. For it is not more by winning
others to us, than in willing ourselves to them that true Love
consists.
Love or trusting sympathy from any human being, however humble, is the
most charming thing in life, and it ought to be the main object of
existence. Yet there are thousands all round us, yes, many among
our friends or acquaintances, who live and die without ever having
known it, because in their egotism and folly they conceive of close
relations as founded on personal power, interest or the weakness of
others. The only fascination which such people can ever exercise is
that of the low and devilish kind, the influence of the cat
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