than a single man. You can get an army of the best intellects the world has ever known to help you fight your battles, and, in order that you may get the utmost benefit from their aid, you are so placed in regard to them that you must plan and think for yourself how to make use of their brains and experience. Think of it! You are alone and struggling. As soon as you will you can summon to your side a tireless army-battalions of picked men, every one of them a genius, and all of them willing and waiting to help you with the full force of their powers. However strong you may be, you will grow stronger still with every one of these that you call to your side, and the number that you summon depends only upon your own industry and capacity for using them. Is it not worth while to start in a small way, by securing the help of one of these, so that you may face the world fully equipped and perpetually strengthened?

That is the right point of view from which to regard the necessity for study. It is not a hardship, but a privilege, and the man who is not willing to spend a little time to buy so great a power when he knows it is available, deserves the losses, both mental and material, which will be his as a consequence of his own mental laziness.

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CHAPTER VIII

CULTURE AND CHARM

"To fireside happiness, and hours of ease

Blessed with that charm, the certainty to please.”

ROGERS.

T is certainly our duty to give pleasure to others. We are to make the world a better and a brighter place by our presence in it, and we have the sure promise that in meting out our measure of good it will be meted out to us again. The kindly smile brings back the cheerful, glad wish, just as surely as the scowl begets black looks and evil sentiments. According to modern beliefs advanced by those who are well competent to judge, we should never allow our minds to create harmful thoughts and send them against people we dislike. Bad thoughts are said to have a corresponding physical effect upon ourselves, just as good thoughts exhilarate the body while they uplift the soul. We all like those people who like us, who seem to bring sunshine into a room with them, and make us feel happier by their very presence. Who so happy as the lover whose love is returned? For him the sun shines in the darkest places and

the air is filled with heavenly harmonies. We should get those same inspiring sensations if we felt only good-will towards all our fellows. Do you think the man who is consumed with hatred or malice can feel the gladness of the spring in his blood, or thank God for the glories of a perfect summer day? The nearer we get to the real source of the joy of life, the more real will become the beauties of the earth. those who see only the good in their fellow-creatures the bright and beautiful things of the world shine in their sublimest splendour. There are no dark or gloomy thoughts to dim the radiance of earth and heaven.

For

The first essential of that charm which attracts others is a belief in the innate goodness of humanity, and a strong desire to help it forward. Many a friendship has been broken by a loan of money, but friendship was never broken by understanding sympathy and practical help. Out of a constant recognition of the good in others, and a persistent blindness to the faults and shortcomings of other folk, grows sympathy and tact. Many an action that seems harsh is seen to be necessary when all the circumstances of the case are known. Learn to make allowances and to judge others not from the standpoint of mental or moral superiority but of equal weakness. That is the way sympathetic natures are made. Did not a London magistrate say that he

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never saw a prisoner in the dock without feeling that but for the grace of God he himself might be standing there? Opportunity is a fine thing," but it can also be a bad thing. The man who is born into a well-to-do family has no temptation to steal. The man who is busy from morning to night, and goes home tired out, has small temptation to vice. Remember your advantages, and be sure you turn them to account. Learn to appreciate the disabilities of others. The man with a perfect digestion does not realise how difficult it is to be good-tempered when one is suffering from dyspepsia. There is no virtue in being good when you are not tempted, or in being happy and cheerful when you have nothing to worry you. Virtue is a positive state of the mind, and consists of active resistance to the difficulties of daily life.

This is all by way of proving that sympathy is not an instinct which some are born with and others can never acquire. It is a gift easily to be cultivated and one which we should all cultivate. From sympathy we get tact, which is the oil that makes the wheels of life go smoothly. A tactless person is a selfish person. Forget yourself, and think of the likes and dislikes and of the comfort of others, and you will be tactful. Get sympathy first, then you will surely be tactful, and with these two qualities you will acquire hosts of friends, and learn the vital

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secrets of success in everything that is really worth having in life.

Without these saving graces of the soul all the culture in the world is worth nothing, but as culture gives an added charm to good feeling and good manners, it should be sought on that account. The secret of happiness is the power to appreciate the beauties of the world and of the characters of its inhabitants, joined to the ability to share the joy of knowledge with others. The lonely man does not get the same pleasure out of his books as the man who is able to discuss their subjects and style with his friends. Hidden in all sorts of places are numberless points of interest the discovery of which adds infinitely to the zest of life. If we can find some of these for others, they, too, will discover some for us. Man is an imitative creature. The tendency is to save one's best thoughts and most diverting experiences for those who can appreciate them. You would not write of love to a woman-hater, or of humour to a person deficient in the sense of fun. But be humorous and bright in your correspondence and talk, and people will instinctively be amusing when they come into contact with you. If you write a good letter instead of a bad one, you are cultivating your gifts of observation and are enriching the treasures of your mind. Our habits react on each other. Let all your thoughts and