beginning I
brought it to pass to perfection. What I mean by an easy beginning
is not to will or resolve _too_ vehemently, but to simply and very
gently, yet assiduously, impress the idea on the mind _so as to fall
asleep while thinking of it as a thing to be_. My next step was to
_will_ that I should, all the next day, be free from any nervous or
mental worry, or preserve a hopeful, calm, or well-balanced state of
mind. This led to many minute and extremely curious experiences and
observations. That the imperturbable or calm state of mind promptly
set in was undeniable, but it often behaved, like the Angel in H. G.
Wells' novel, "The Wonderful Visit," as if somewhat frightened at, or
of, with, or by its new abode, and no wonder, for it was indeed a
novel guest, and the goblins of "Worry and Tease, Fidget and Fear,"
who had hitherto been allowed to riot about and come and go at their
own sweet mischievous wills, were ill-pleased at being made to keep
quiet by this new lady of the manor. And indeed no mere state of
mind, however well maintained, can resist everything, and the
mildest mannered man may cut a throat under great provocation. I
had my lapses, but withal I was simply astonished to find how, by
perseverance, habitual calm not only grew on me, but how decidedly it
increased. I most assuredly have experienced it to such a degree as to
marvel that the method is not more employed as a cure for nervous
suffering and insomnia.

But far beyond perseverance in labor, or the inducing a calmer and
habitually restful state of mind, was the Awakening of the Will, which
I found as interesting as any novel or drama, or series of active
adventures which I have ever read or experienced. I can remember when
most deeply engaged in it, re-reading DE QUINCEY'S "Confessions of an
Opium Eater." I took it by chance on my birthday, August 15, which was
also his, and as I read I longed from my very heart that he were
alive, that I might consult with him on the marvelous Fairyland which
it seemed to me had been discovered--and then I remembered how Dr.
TUCKEY, the leading English hypnotist, had once told me how easy it
was for his science to completely cure the mania for opium and other
vices.

And this is the discovery: Resolve before going to sleep that if there
be anything whatever for you to do which requires Will or Resolution,
be it to undertake repulsive or hard work or duty, to face a
disagreeable person, to fast, or make a