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\ OR THE •/ y 



ONE HUNDRED 



POINTS 91 CHARACTER 



OTHERWISE CALLED THE 



SCHOOL 91 CHARACTER 



CONSTRUCTED BY 



EDMUND SHAFTESBURY, 



ISSUED BY THE 

RALSTON PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
Washington, D. C. 



80762 



Library of Conqre«a 

Two Cones Receweo 
NOV 26 1900 

Copyright entry 

SEC0N0 COPY 
Oelivered to 

ORDER DIVISION 

NOV 27 1900 



Copyrighted, 1900, 
by the 

RALSTON PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
All rights reserved. 



DEDICATED 

To that most estimable and most to be desired 
of all persons: 

"QUI NE CHANGE PAS," 

After entering the White Citadel. 



"Thus would I double my life's fading space; 
ror he that runs it well, twice runs his race. 

And in this true delight, 
These unbought sports, this happy state, 
I would not fear, nor wish, my fate, 

But boldly say each night, 
'To-morrow let my sun his beams display, 
Or in the clouds hide them; I have lived to-day/" 



Citadel of Character. 



/ Q) HAEACTEE is what a man is, not what he is reputed to be. 

V Eeputation is not always based upon character, but 

more often npon a concealment of character. The 
usual inquiries concerning this attribute are intended to ascer- 
tain if the person in question is honest as far as lying and steal- 
ing are concerned, or is morally strong in matters of tempta- 
tion. These are but two points only in the development of char- 
acter and form but two per cent, of the whole scope. 

Looking for a broader understanding of what is meant we 
find quality after quality rising before us in a procession of 
essential traits. The person who does not lie, who does not steal, 
who keeps all the commandments, may be a very disagreeable 
individual. He may be mean in scores of ways, weak in scores of 
ways, and a very undesirable friend or companion. T\ T e know 
of men who are morally perfect, as far as earth is concerned, yet 
who are shriveled in all other departments of their being. We 
know women who are probably chaste, but are never chased; who 
are truthful, yet unable to hold the contents of their knowledge; 
who would rather die than steal, and yet who are as weak in pur- 
pose as a jelly-fish is weak in body. 

This may lead you to believe that purpose is character. It 
is no more so than a window is a house. "Were you to seek a 
correct definition, there would be some difficulty in making it 
accurate, and more in making it complete. A man marries a 
woman for her beauty, her sweet and gentle ways, possibly her 
winning ways; but, in a year or so, his love has waned because a 
temple cannot rest upon air. It is a common remark that love 
must be founded upon respect; that this latter quality must pre- 
cede the permanent establishment of the former; and that which 
commands respect must be character. This is probably true. 
But there is no one thing that commands respect. The hero who, 
for love of the water, leaped into a yard-deep pond and saved a 
millionaire's daughter from a liquid grave, won the profoundest 
temporary respect of the maiden, accepted her hand and incident- 

(5) 



6 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



ally a check from her father. That was what the world would 
call respect; an admiration for the heroic or sportive qualities 
of the young man. But it had no other hasis. A house stand- 
ing on one leg may be suitable for birds, but not for human lovers. 
When they were married, the wife found nothing to further ad- 
mire in the hero of the shallow pond. Even his fondness for 
water was confined to outdoor bathing in open weather. 

Then would arise the question of cleanliness as a strong trait 
of character, likely to arouse respect. It has been said that this 
quality is next to godliness; but there are other things that are 
next to godliness also; like radii of a great center; and it is 
surely true that, while uncleanly people are extremely obnoxious, 
some of the most cleanly are vixenish, waspish, narrow and re- 
pulsive in other traits. We make these remarks to show that 
character is not a quality, not a trait, not an attribute; but a full 
rounded structure composed of many essential parts, and designed 
to give to mind, body and soul a fit dwelling-place on earth, with 
an absolute assurance that such a life must open a most glorious 
existence hereafter. 

So numerous are the parts that make the stronghold that 
the prospect widens as we give it study. There is no other line 
of development that can be compared with it. There is more 
of real self to be seen, more of life to be conned, more of value 
to be attained, more of advantage to be gained in this pursuit 
than in any other. Health has been the theme of our earlier 
books, and health is everything, in the sense that a solid founda- 
tion is all-important in the erection of a great castle; but who 
cares for the foundation without the structure? Who wishes for 
nothing but health, as a horse might have? Health without 
mental ascendency is an unbuilt wall. Mind without health is a 
fragile garret. Perfect health and greatness of mind, without 
character, is like a roof on a foundation with no place to dwell. 

There is no attainment so complete as this. It requires not 
one, but every part of the structure. Eoofless it would be lack- 
ing in part of itself. Founded upon sand it would be monstrously 
deficient. Character compels health of body, mental attainment, 
moral purity, and much else beside. For this reason we do not 
hesitate to declare it the most important study in all the broad 
scope of human existence. It is all inclusive; and is the only 
education that can so be termed. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 7 



"Sad dreams ! as when the Spirit of our Youth 
Returns in sleep, sparkling with all the truth 
Rnd innocence once ours, and leads us hack, 
In mournful mockery, o'er the shining track 
Of our young life, and points out every ray 
Of hope and peace we've lost upon the way." 

— Thomas Moore. 



ORIGIN Or THE SCHOOL. 

Many years ago, when the author was too young to realize 
the meaning of training like this, he yearned for some standard 
to live by, for the development of a strong character. The moral 
and religions systems in vogne were fully sufficient to meet all 
the requirements of those who were inclined toward them, but 
they failed to build secular character. The fact was and is that 
the vast majority of moral and religious people are not wholly 
developed. They are illustrations of the great truth that the 
attempt to build one side alone of character results in erratic 
growth. Cranks, bigots, enthusiasts may possess good traits; but 
they handicap the cause they support. Religious and moral codes 
fail to command the respect of many people, because they do not 
furnish a secular standard to live by capable of elevating and 
broadening that nature which is implanted in all human beings. 
Disappointment has dropped like a dead weight into the heart 
of many a young man and woman who sought for true guidance, 
and found it not. It is not wise to say anything against religion, 
and the author would gladly say everything for it; but the truth 
remains that we are superstitiously drawn to it in times of fear 
and distress; and drift from it in periods of success.^ 



8 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



The Creator does not do for us that which we can do for our- 
selves. The great secular boons for mankind are found by man's 
efforts. The One Hundred Points of Character are not given 
as untried ideas to the world. They exist, and have existed from 
time immemorial; but they must be sought after and utilized by 
man, as all forms of education have been. Lightning, and many 
other great elemental powers, have always been ready for use, 
but the inquiring mind of man had to seek them, adopt them and 
apply them. If religion is given us from God, we could not ex- 
pect more than God has given. If we are giants in our control 
of the forces of nature, should we be infants in moral matters, 
and reach out after nothing, receiving food in semi-digested pap, 
like weaklings? Man must educate himself and must draw the 
forces of education from the world around him. 

A standard to live by is necessary. It might be made a hand- 
companion of religion; in which case, instead of seeing so many 
half -rilled churches in the world we would behold them crowded \JL 
to the doors. 

The surfeit of success, or the debasement of crime, never 
can reach that extreme where the yearning for true character is 
entirely dead. Moral paralysis is never complete. 

The heart is always striving after something. The soul's 
longing for a happiness greater than this life affords has prompted 
the moral codes and beliefs of every race on the globe from the 
beginning of time down to the present day. It is in man to stay. 

The "School of Character" seeks first of all to touch that well- 
spring. This is not done by appealing to man's moral nature; 
for failure would result. To soothe a bruised child we should not 
lift him by his wounds. The slightest finger-touch on the moral 
side of most men would be painful. 

The first step is to gain the confidence of the pupil, by ap- 
pealing to his common sense, his practical needs; and proving to 
him that to-day may be made happier than yesterday, and to- 
morrow happier than to-day. 

So character is formed. The impulse, once started, soon 
acquires momentum, and presently one more name is added to the 
list of "the world's true men and women." 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



3> 



"lam: how little more I hnow ! 
Whence came I ? Whither do I go ? 
n centered self, which feels and is ; 
7\ cry between the silences ; 
ft shadow-birth of clouds at strife 
With sunshine on the hills of life ; 
ft shaft from Nature's quiver cast 
Into the ruture from the Past; 
Between the cradle and the shroud, 
ft meteor's flight from cloud to cloud." 

—John Green leaf Whit tier. 



HOW PUPILS ARE TRAINED IN THIS SCHOOL. 

The work is done entirely by the pupil. The standard to 
live by is furnished from the requirements of mankind. The 
One Hundred Points of Character have not been invented, but are 
collected from the experiences of the world at large. 

The stimulus to succeed must be self-sustaining, and not fed 
from without. It must be inherent and not artificial. In this 
respect rests the chief value of the present course of training. 

The author of this method has created nothing. His re- 
production upon paper of Nature's own process is original only 
as far as authorship is concerned; the true merit lies with Him 
who made humanity what it is, and gave man the means of the 
highest possible development. 

Definition. 

Character is a citadel of strength. It has four walls, cor- 
responding to the four sides of human nature. These walls are 



10 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



built of material from the workshops, where the pupil first enters. 
This material is carried from place to place along the highway, 
and is thoroughly tested as to quality, strength and durability. 
As it is being transported it is added to and worked upon, until, 
when finished, it fits its proper place in the citadel, there to 
remain for all time. 

Work is commenced upon all four walls at once. When 
completed they are impregnable; and the person who dwells 
within them is able to cope with the world in its sunshine and 
shadow; and is master of himself and of circumstances. 

The training is intensely interesting as soon as the appren- 
ticeship in the workshops is completed. No course of study can 
be said to be equally profitable; for it is not often, if ever, that 
we are enabled to take a true measure of ourselves, of our capabil- 
ities and deficiencies. 

To seek to teach pupils by giving advice would be waste of 
-effort. Advice was never of less value than at the present day. 
Books and people are full of it; but who cares for it? Advice in 
the nineteenth century is as valuable as ice in Greenland. But 
encouragement is necessary. 

Self-effort is the first great principle of growth. With this 
simple truth constantly before us, and acted upon, the develop- 
ment of character is surprisingly rapid; without it, we drift toward 
nothingness. 

The first steps are so readily taken that the pupil feels a 
pleasure in their ease; goes to work; becomes interested; finds his 
self -pride awakened; ambition is aroused; he proceeds into the 
difficult training with a zest; and at length is hoplessly entangled 
in the toils of a glorious resolve to develop true character. 

Thus the weaker individuals are made strong men and 
women, and the strong men and women become splendid speci- 
mens of the grandest race that ever lived. 

The simplicity of the early steps should not be disregarded; 
nor should pupils look lightly upon things that seem so little. 
There is a purpose in the ease with which the earlier work may 
be performed. Great men value simple things. A pumpkin is 
larger than an acorn, but the acorn contains the seed of the giant 
oak. Do not despise the acorn. The perfection of small things 
makes greatness possible. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



11 



* Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, 
As the swiff seasons roll ! 
Leave thy low vaulted past! 
Let each new temple, nobler than the last, 
Shut thee from heaven, with a dome more vast, 
Till thou at length are free, 
Leaving thine outgrown shell Dy life's unresting sea." 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



THE EOUR ROADS TO CHARACTER. 

The life of each man and woman is his or her world. From 
the four quarters of this human world spring four roads, each 
leading to the summit, on which the citadel is to be built. The 
name of this citadel is Chaeactek. 

At the beginning of each road a workshop, already prepared, 
may be found. There are four workshops, one in each quarter of 
the world. Four journeys are commenced at one and the same 
time. To travel from four remote corners of the world to one 
focal point would ordinarily be impossible; but human nature is 
■diverse, and character is distinctly four-sided. A house cannot 
be built of one wall, nor do good mechanics erect one side at 
a time. The perfect structure rises equally in all its parts. 

No perfect simile can present the beauty of our growth. 

The workshops are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. 

The four roads are likewise numbered, and they lead to the 
iour walls of the citadel, which receive their numbers corre- 
spondingly. 

The pupil passes through three 

Histories: 

1 . — Apprenticeship. 

2. — Journeying. 

3. — Eesidence. 



12 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



To accomplish these Histories it is necessary to pass through 

Five Phases of Progress: 

1. — In the Workshop. 

2. — Out in the World. 

3. — Down in the Depths. 

4. — Up on the Heights. 

5. — In the Citadel. 

The History of the Apprenticeship is made "In the Work- 
shop." 

The History of the Journeying is made "Out in the World/* 
"Down in the Depths" and "Up on the Heights." 

The History of the Eesidence is made "In the Citadel," 
which continues forever. 

All pupils who enter the Citadel are entitled to the Jewel 
Emblem, a solid gold charm set with a genuine diamond, and sur- 
rounded by oak leaves to % show strength of character. 



THE STAGES OE PROGRESS. 

There are one hundred stages to be made. These mark the 
progress of the pupil; and each stage furnishes material for a 
lesson. 

Twenty-five stages are made on each road. 
Nine of these twenty-five are accomplished "In the Work- 
shop." 

Seven are accomplished "Out in the World." 
Five are accomplished "Down in the Depths." 
Three are accomplished "Up on the Heights." 
*One at the outside of the "Citadel." 

By adding the stages of the Four Eoads together it will be 
seen that there are 

Thirty-six "In the Worshop." 
Twenty-eight "Out in the World." 
Twenty "Down in the Depths." 
Twelve "Up on the Heights," and 
Four "At the Citadel." 

As the pupil progresses and the work becomes harder the- 
stages become less, eight being dropped at each phase. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



13 



"The first sound in the song of hope 
Scarce more than silence is, and yet, a sound. 
Hands of invisible spirits touch the strings 
Of that mysterious instrument, the soul, 
And play the prelude to our fate." 



TO THE BEGINNER. 

Yon do not know yourself. 

People about you have studied you more than you imagine. 
They can tell you some things about yourself that are undoubt- 
edly true, which you would not believe. There are phases in 
your character which, if you had some kind friend to explain 
them to you, would help you materially in the battle of life. You 
are walled in by barricades over which you cannot see. Are you 
willing to break through them? 

' ' He who, on the advent of a new hope, shuddering at the 
past, makes pledge to his own soul of a new and better life, 
with purpose strong enough to command its fulfillment, brings 
a smile to the face of the recording angel and places himself 
under the sheltering wing of the almighty. ' ' 

In a few lessons it will dawn upon you that Decision is one 
of the Points of Character. You must apply this point here and 
now. The course of training is unique and beautiful, if you pur- 
sue it as a Eeading Pupil. It is grand, even to the limit of sub- 
limit, if you pursue it as a Eecord Pupil. You cannot become 
the latter until all the lessons are owned exclusively by you and 
in your sole possession. As soon as you certify to this, "you may 
make the decision as to what course you will pursue. 

Until then you will be classified as a Eeading Pupil. 



14 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



TO THE RECORD PUPIL 

Upon looking the lessons through, and reading the pledges,, 
if yon desire to enter npon the great work before you, notice 
should be sent to the ally whom you- may select as prescribed 
later on. This being done, your name should be enrolled upon 
your books, and a careful record of your progress kept from the 
time you enter the Workshops as an Apprentice until you reach 
the Heights and apply for admission at the Citadel. The regular 
reports which you are to send will be explained to you from time 
to time as the lessons proceed. Full directions will thus be ob- 
tained before the end is reached. 

All your letters to your ally should be strictly private, and 
the record of your progress, with its successes and temporary 
failures (if any), will be known only to such ally. 



"Give unto me, made lowly wise, 

The spirit of self-sacrifice; 
The confidence of reason give; 

And in the light of Truth thy 
Bondman let me live." 

— William Wordsworth— 1 ' Ode to Duty.'* 



THE GREAT PLEDGE. 

You are about to enter upon a new existence. The wheat 
from your past life is to be saved and the chalf burned. If the 
future means anything to you this should be made the turning 
point of your life. "Let the dead past bury its dead." Do not 
mourn over its mistakes, nor grieve at its failures. They are 



OXE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



15 



beyond your reach. Commence life anew this day. In so far as 
yon have laid the foundations of charcter in the past, yon will 
find your future progress less difficult. But at all events com- 
mence anew. Landing, as yon are, in a new country, destroy the 
ship that brought you here, that return may be impossible. 

Before signing the pledge, retire to some place where you 
may be alone with your thoughts. In the solemnity of that re- 
tirement think of life and its meaning to you. Ask yourself the 
question: "Am I in earnest?" Do not come out of this self-study 
until you can answer "Yes" clearly and firmly. If you fail to do 
so, seek another opportunity for a similar seclusion and once more 
commune with yourself. When the answer e< Yes" comes from 
your heart, supported by your will, you must then mentally re- 
solve to sign the pledge in this chapter. But, lest you yet waver, 
you should wait until the next day before actually subscribing 
your name. The line is then drawn between your past and the 
future. From the moment your pen is lifted from the page 
whereon you have recorded the noblest purpose of your life, you 
and this book are to be close friends. Its leaves and records are 
for your eyes only. Every page shall bear some word or thought 
whose sacred import shall represent to you alone the yearning 
of your soul. The frequent recording of your accomplishments, 
your hopes and longings, the quiet inner communion of your 
heart with the gTeat facts which are drawn from the experience 
of daily life, bring out your character with the stamp of serious, 
earnest purpose upon it. 

If you are religionless make this your religion, for even 
savages have had some standard to live by. 

If you are not religionless make this a complement to that 
higher and grander life which you seek — the true character of 
the soul. 

The necessity for signing a pledge is apparent. 

Self-effort is the great lack of human nature; and yet is the 
most essential element in character. There are millions of poor 
people in America; and it may be stated as a general (though not 
universal) rule that where self -effort is' lacking poverty begins. 
This is but one of the results attending this deficiency. Char- 
acter often fails or wins on the same line. 

When we talk with those about us who show by every word 
and act the possession of this palpable fault; and when we see 



16 



THE XEW EDUCATION 



the lives of failure that follow in its wake we are surprised that 
on so slight a thing hinges the smallness of the lives of the masses 
of mankind. The signing of a Pledge binds people to themselves. 
It becomes a question of Honor. There is a class of men who 
are very weak; to whom an obligation, however sacred, is never 
binding; who would sell their souls, their own honor, and that 
of their wives and daughters for a mere dime, with no thought or 
care of the consequences. On the other hand, there are noble 
types of men whose slightest word is as good as a bond, whose oral 
promise for a million would be honored if it took the last dollar 
to pay it. 

Between these two extremes let us hope to find most of our 
pupils; with as many as possible in the latter class. 

The signing of the Pledge of this chapter is a serious matter. 
As will be seen, it is almost impossible to dishonor or break it; 
for the losses are so graded that an omission affects your gradu- 
ation percentage rather than makes you a pledge-breaker. 



I, THE UNDERSIGNED, WHOSE NAME 15 HEREUNTO 
SUBSCRIBED, HAVE CAREEULLY READ EVERY WORD OE 
THIS COURSE OE LESSONS EROM THE TITLE PAGE TO 
THE END, AND HAVE RE-READ EVERY PLEDGE IN THEM. 
DESIRING TO PURSUE THIS COURSE OE TRAINING TO 
THE END, AND TO ADOPT THE "ONE HUNDRED POINTS 
OE CHARACTER" AS A PART OE MY LIFE, I SOLEMNLY 
PROMISE MYSELE TO ENTER THE EOUR WORKSHOPS 
AT ONCE; TO MAINTAIN DAILY THE ISt, 2d, 3d AND 4th 
POINTS OE CHARACTER, AT LEAST, EVEN IE I EAIL JN 
OTHERS; TO PERSIST THROUGH TO THE END OE ALL 
THE LESSONS; TO TRY AGAIN WHENEVER 1 FAIL; TO 
WRITE TO MY ALLY ON THE EOURTH DAY OE EVERY 
MONTH, REPORTING MY PROGRESS; TO OWN EXCLU- 
SIVELY THIS COURSE OE LESSONS AND TO HOLD THE 




GREAT PLEDGE. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 17 

SAME EROM ALL OTHERS, EXCEPT MY IMMEDIATE RELA- 
TIVES AND ALLY. 



SIGNED THIS DAY OE 190- 



AT 



Use pen and ink in signing the Pledge. 

Sign it in this book and do not tear out the page. As soon 
as you have signed it, write your full name and date on the first 
blank leaf of this book, with the words: Entered the Workshops 

on , 190..., and reached the White Citadel 

on , 190. . . 

The first date may be filled in now, and the last reserved 
until the finish is made. 

A person who finishes in a year will be doing well. The 
most zealous and faithful ones can save a month or two while 
others will exceed the year. 

The Great Pledge is known as Pledge ISTo. 1. 

The Pledge is not to be copied or signed upon any other 
paper except in this book. The following statement should be 
copied upon good paper and mailed to your ally. 

Statement. 

You are hereby notified that I have this day 

of 190 . . . signed the Great Pledge. I will communicate 

with you on the fourth day of every month. 



18 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



SELECTING AN ALLY. 

The following provisions should be strictly adhered to in the 
taking of this important step: 

1. A young man should select a young man. There should 
not be more than six years difference in ages. 

2. A young woman should likewise select a young woman. 

3. A man over twenty-eight or thirty years of age should 
select a man not younger than himself, nor more than forty years 
old. 

4. A woman should likewise follow the rule just stated. 

5. A woman over forty should select a woman over forty. 

6. A man over forty should select a man over forty. 

7. The ally need not own a copy of this book, as formerly 
required; but the present volume is not to be loaned to such ally, 
although it may be used and studied in the presence of the owner. 

8. While an ally residing in the same town may be more 
convenient, it is fully as efficient to secure one who lives at a 
distance, for all reports and notices are to be made in writing in 
either event. 

9. Under no circumstances must the ally be of the opposite 

sex. 

10. In seeking for an ally it is proper to write a letter some- 
what after the following vein: "I have entered upon a course of 
study for my personal improvement, and under the rules laid down 
it is necessary for me to procure an ally with whom I may confer 
from time to time in writing. The duties of the ally are very 
brief. No expense of any kind is to be incurred. I am to make 
a short report once a month, and the advice and other guidance 
to be received will be indicated as the course of training proceeds, 
so that no preparation or other labor will be necessary on your 
part. All that is required is that you are willing to encourage 
efforts of improvement and advancement in your fellow-beings; 
and to hold for me beyond my recall until after graduation all 
records and reports that I may send to you. Will you, during 
the period of this course, which will probably last a year, act as 
my ally?" 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



19 



" Large elements in order Drought, 

And tracts of calm from tempests made," 

— Alfred Tennyson. 



THE RULES. 

Rule 1. — Beading Pupils will treat this work as they would 
any other book. The reading of its pages will do much good. 

Rule 2. — Any person may loan, sell or destroy these lessons, 
as long as he, or she, remains a Eeading Pupil. But upon en- 
rollment as a Record Pupil, this book must be devoted solely to 
the pupil's own use and advancement. 

Rule 3. — Xo person can be recognized as a Record Pupil who 
has not procured these lessons direct from the Ralston Publishing 
Company, of Washington, D. C. 

Rule -i. — Two Record Pupils cannot use the same book. 

Rule 5. — Whenever a loss incurs, the percentage of the 
same, as given in each lesson, must be recorded at once. The 
report of percentage made and lost must be forwarded to Wash- 
ington on the fourth of each month. 

Rule 6. — The Great Pledge is not to be considered as broken 
as long as the pupil is trying each day to do the best he can. 
Failure under these circumstances only decreases the percentage. 

Rule 7. — The following system of determining the percent- 
age of loss and gain shall prevail. When the provisions of any 
one lesson are carried out a record of one hundred marks shall 
be made. The failure in whole or in part to accomplish the 
required result shall be reckoned at the value attached to each 
Point of Character. This value is seen by the loss which is 
given at the end of each lesson. A loss or gain of one hundred 
marks is equal to one per cent, on the final record. 



'20 TEE NEW EDUCATION 

Rule 8. — No pupil shall retrace his steps. The period of 
neglect or abandonment, if any occur, shall be regarded as not 
existing; and if the pupil ever after should renew the study the 
first day of renewal shall be regarded as the day next after the 
last preceding one on which the lessons were observed. All 
lessons must be taken in their order. 

Rule 9. — A Point, when lost by failure or neglect, may be 
"saved" in the manner prescribed in each lesson. 

Rule 10. — The course of training is not considered as ended 
until the pupil reaches seventy-five per cent, or more; whereupon 
a review may be had, in the hope that a more successful result 
may be attained. 



ENTERING THE WORKSHOPS 
or 

CHARACTER. 

The pleasant task of moulding a masterly personality is now 
about to begin. All that is worth living for in this world is the 
result of deep solitude of the mind, wherein the best side of what 
we are is comparable with the worst; and there the process of 
eliminating the one and developing the other must have its origin. 
No man or woman should be a hermit; nor should any person be 
always in communication with others. In the former case there 
can be nothing gained by living; in the latter case there can be 
no deliberation in life. Acts and words must not be altogether 
haphazard, for the} r then fail to express the full truth. A little 
period of solitude in each day may prove a developing school of 
great magnitude. 

"The heights Dy great men reached and Kept 
Were not attained Dy sudden flight, 
But they, while their companions slept, 
Were toiling upward in the night." 

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 



LESSON ONE. 
FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 

SELF=EFFORT. 

Fiest Day in the "Wokkshops. Eoad No. 1. 

In attempting to measure yourself as to strength or weak- 
ness of character no better test could be applied than the Evening 

(21) 



22 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Exercise, which is made the requirement of this lesson. This ex- 
ercise is doubly beneficial, as it tends to tone down an irritant 
disposition, by its strengthening and calming effect upon the 
nerves; but its chief value is in the fact that it compels you to 
make a self-effort. This effort is directed toward the acquisition 
of good health and sweet sleep. 

Yet, if the exercises were fruitless and meaningless, it would 
not be valueless, for it would develop one of the most important 
Points of Character: Self -Effort. 

When Napoleon the First told a young man to write three 
pages of his thoughts upon paper every day, and then destroy 
them, some one laughed at the apparent nonsense: but the young 
man persisted. The effect upon his character was very marked 
and decided. 

Students who spend four years at college, even if they forget 
all they learn, are laying a foundation for application. 

It is a difficult thing to apply one's self, especially by a vol- 
untary act of the will. An employe does it from necessity, and 
is therefore a slave. 

Health is the last thing which demands the attention of a 
well person: yet to retain health is better than to regain it. Irri- 
tant natures may be found in sound bodies, for the nerves are 
often unruly in healthy flesh. Irritable people lack self-control, 
and thereby lose strength of character. The following exercise 
is peculiarly calming to the nerves, producing pleasant sleep, 
making the circulation of the blood even, and relieving the 
pressure upon the heart and brain. Its effect upon the general 
health of the body is wonderful. 

It is not given to you because of its beneficial results, but 
solely for the purpose of developing true character. It is a test 
of your strength of will. You will probably use it a few nights 
with much determination and earnest purpose to carry it through 
to the end, but in a week or so the novelty will wear off; and, 
child-like, you will lapse into a desire for something new to take 
its place. When the exercise begins to weary you by its 
monotony, then will come the battle with yourself. Will you 
yield to that insinuating demand of your nature which will whisper 
to you: "What is the use?" It is a fact that something will say in 
your ear: "You are tired to-night, very tired. Put off the Even- 
ing Exercise. It won't matter. What good is it? 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



23 



Fight this battle right then and there. Fight it to the finish. 
It is manly and womanly to conquer self. "He who would rule 
others must first learn to rule himself." 

No other accomplishment can bring such solid satisfaction, 
such content of mind as this. If you lose, try again. But win 
in the end. 

Your ally will be more interested in receiving your reports 
from this battle than from any other. 

It is evening. You are about to retire. Before doing so 
read this lesson carefully and thoughtfully up to the present place. 
Eesolve to keep the Great Pledge, and say so aloud. Spoken 
words are colored with the degree of decision in your nature, and 
they react on the resolve. A villain is alarmed at the sound of 
his own voice, while a conscientious man is strengthened. 

Requirement. 
Evening Exercise. 

Bathe the feet very slowly and thoroughly in cold water. 
Hot water thins and vitiates the blood, and weakens the nervous 
system. If the shock of cold water is painful to you, use luke- 
warm water, gradually lowering the temperature. Be sure the 
feet are made as clean and pure as the face. Wipe very dry; then 
rub violently with the hands; and finally rise on the toes and let 
the body down twenty or thirty times, until weariness ensues. 
All this can be done in two minutes. 

Eemaeks. — The value and purpose of the Evening Exercise 
have been stated in the early part of this lesson; but it is well to 
know something about the feet. Tickling the soles of the feet 
causes a painful sensation. This shows their exceedingly sensi- 
tive nature. A healthful perspiration from the feet, especially 
at night, if not excessive, will relieve the skin and face from 
many impurities in the blood. That part of the body which is 
subjected to the most frequent washing will attract and exhume 
the greatest quantity of impurities from the blood. People who 
bathe the face oftener than the rest of the body have pimples, or 
bad complexions. Owing to the sensitive nature of the feet a 
cold is easily caught by wearing slippers or low shoes in the house; 
or by standing on a cold sidewalk in winter long enough for the 



24 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



cold to pass through the soles of the shoes. This accounts for 
so many colds, the origin of which has never heretofore been 
understood. Feet washing is considered a mark of hospitality 
in Oriental countries, and a pleasant pastime in others. 

While not required in this lesson, yet it would be very bene- 
ficial to bathe the lower limbs every evening. It is not healthful 
to wear at night any of the clothing worn during the day. These 
are suggestions only. 

Some pupils will fail to perceive how this exercise will aid 
to build character. Future records will prove it to them. 

Losses. — When the pupil has performed the Evening Exer- 
cise for two hundred nights, of which number one hundred have 
been successive, the record must read perfect; that is, one hun- 
dred marks (equal to one Point, or one per cent.) have been made. 
In a person of average faithfulness this course of training will 
run a year. In this time many opportunities for making a record 
of one hundred successive nights will occur, especially if the fail- 
ures are early in the year. However, there will come a time when 
the pupil will close the account; and if it is then seen that a per- 
fect record has not been made, the losses should be estimated as 
follows: 

First examine your record on the blank page opposite, which 
should contain every date when the Evening Exercise has been 
performed. If the one hundred successive nights have not been 
made, count the largest number that are successive, and allow 
one mark loss for each night lacking. Thus if there are fifty-six 
successive there would be forty-four lacking; equal to a loss of 
forty-four marks. Then allow one mark for every night short 
in the two hundred in the year. Thus if you have made one 
hundred and ten nights in the year, of which fifty-six have been 
successive, your losses would read as follows: 

Ninety marks for ninety nights omitted. Forty-four marks 
for deficiency in successive nights. Total loss one hundred and 
thirty-four. This would detract more than one per cent, from 
the final record. If you will send us an account of the facts we 
will do the figuring. 

How Saved. — The losses in this lesson may be saved by de- 
laying the final day of reckoning until the task is accomplished. 

Be sure to record daily the date of each compliance with the 



OXE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



25 



requirements of this lesson. Records should be in ink, and on 
the back of the pages of this book. 

The first day in the Workshop is ended, and the first stage 
on Eoad No. 1, leading to the North Gate of the Citadel has been 
accomplished. All things come to an end sooner or later. It is 
a good journey. 



LESSON TWO. 
SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 
ABSORPTION. 

Second Day ix the TToekshops. Eoad No. 2. 

The pupil is now carried to another quarter of the world — 
his great world. He has accomplished the first stage on Eoad 
No. 1. 

The same must be done here. 

Similes are imperfect. Character is four-sided. The suc- 
cessful structure must be made by building all four sides together, 
as a palace would be made. Therefore the first stage on Eoad 
No. 1 is followed by the first stage on Eoad No. 2, the first stage 
on Eoad No. 3, and the first stage on Eoad No. 4; after which the 
pupil will take the second stage on Eoad No. 1; and so on in 
proper rotation. 

If one knew how, he could easily predict a coming great 
man or woman by watching any young person past the age of 
fifteen. Precocity in children generally makes cheeky men and 
women, and often nothing else. The true test of future great- 
ness is not in the boldness of the child. 

A person past the dividing line, which is near the age of 
fifteen, who naturally is absorptive, is by nature made great, or 
born great. To acquire greatness one must form the habit of 
Absorption. A smattering of superficial acquisition can be palmed 
off only on the ignorant. An absorbing person drinks expe- 
rience like a sponge, but retains it like a safe, and uses it for its 
own increase. 



£6 



THE SEW EDUCATIOX 



Nine persons in every ten are shallow ground; chiefly from 
habit. A person of strength of character can readily change 
old habits to new. In this stage of progress we will give you an 
exercise that will be easy for the shallowest, and yet profoundly 
deep for the greatest men and women who have ever lived. It 
requires the least possible effort. 

The principle involved is founded on the accumulated ex- 
perience of the ages. The greatest characters of one generation 
have absorbed the thoughts of the greatest characters of the pre- 
ceding generations. This accumulation has come down to us. 

A great character leaves behind him in language the very 
pith and essence of himself. The things a man says are himself. 
He at one time loved to quote the grandest thoughts of his 
predecessors, until by absorption they became a part of kis 
character. 

Edward Everett declared this to be the surest and quickest 
means of building a strong character; and no great person has 
ever failed to follow the plan. Webster was full of Milton, 
Shakespeare and the Bible. 

Requirements. — "The Morning Quotation" 

Have ready, by previous preparation, a list of quotations from 
the grandest men and women that have ever lived. If you can 
find no other then use those which follow this chapter. Eepeat 
aloud, carefully and seriously, one quotation each morning. This 
must be done immediately upon arising, and not in bed; not after 
doing other morning duties. It must be the first thought of the 
day. Think over the sense, learn as much of its meaning as you 
can, say it aloud in a proper voice, firmly and feelingly, as many 
times as you prefer, until the spirit of the thought has entered 
your heart; take some thought that you believe and feel; some- 
thing that accords with your nature. The Morning Quotation 
should be given two hundred mornings, one hundred of which 
should be successive. 

Remarks. — Well spoken words reflect their meaning on the 
soul. A thought read by the eye or coldly uttered by the voice 
appeals to the brain only and is rarely ever fully absorbed. A 
thought feelingly spoken, with the full heart of the speaker back 
of it, is soon absorbed. Thus the grandest and most Sublime ex- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



27 



perience of the world's past great men and women can be drawn 
into our natures. 

The first experiences of childhood are stamped on a whole 
life. The earliest impulses of a day live and breathe into a strong 
and pure life all through the hours till night. We are affected 
in the day time by the first mood of the morning. 

It is better to hunt for the quotations, but this is not insisted 
upon. Do not wait till the morning, and then search for them, 
unless you have sufficient time in the morning at your disposal. 

Check off daily the fact that you have complied with these 
requirements. 

Losses. — These are estimated in the same manner as those 
of the last chapter. 

How Saved. — The losses in this lesson may be saved by 
delaying the final da} r of reckoning until the full task is accom- 
plished. , 

The second day in the Worskhop is ended, and the first stage 
on Eoad 2, leading to the East Gate of the Citadel, has been 
accomplished. 

The pleasant journey thus began ought never to end. We 
hope our friend who is undertaking this great task will, on 
reaching the Citadel, write us that the Morning Quotation is to 
be continued through life. It is, however, optional with all. 

Morning Quotations. 

As some of our pupils will not have opportunities for select- 
ing a list of quotations to be repeated aloud each morning, we 
append a large number of the best. One should be spoken each 
morning, with true feeling, several times, until its thought is 
completely absorbed and made a part of your very nature and 
character. 

It is not a good idea to use them in their order, but the one 
most in accord with the mood you are in on rising in the morning 
should be used. 

Quotations. 

Who does the best his circumstance allows, does well, acts 
nobly — angels could do no more. 

Wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss, but cheerily seek how 
to redress their harms. 



28 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Sum up at night what thou hast done by day; and in the 
morning what thou hast to do. 

And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues 
in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and 
good in everything. 

The good are better made by ill, as odors crush' d are better 

still. 

Love thyself last; cherish those hearts that hate thee; cor- 
ruption wins not more than honesty. Still in thy right hand 
carry gentle peace, to silence envious tongues. 

A moral, sensible, and well-bred man will not affront me, 
and no other can. 

Revenge, at first though sweet, bitter ere long, back on itself 
recoils. 

Oh, that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth! Then with 
a passion would I shake the world. 

One by one in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed 
the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. 

Earth is all in splendor drest; queenly fair, she sits at rest, 
while the deep, delicious day dreams its happy life away. 

What's a fine person, or a beauteous face, unless deportment 
gives them decent grace? 

Oh, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem, by that 
sweet ornament which truth doth give! The rose looks fair, but 
fairer we it deem, for that sweet odor which doth in it live. 

The beautiful are never desolate; but some one always loves 
them — God or man. If man abandons, God Himself takes them. 

Heart on her lips, and soul within her eyes, soft as her clime, 
and sunny as her skies. 

There's beauty all around our paths, if but our watchful eyes 
can trace it midst familiar things, and through their lowly guise. 

Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame. 

Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both 
itself and friends; and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. 

That place which contains my books, the best companions, is 
to me a glorious court, where hourly I converse with the old 
sages and philosophers; and sometimes, for variety, I confer with 
kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels. 

He that's liberal to all alike, may do a good by chance, but 
never out of judgment. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



29 



Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, brags of his sub- 
stance not of ornament; they are but beggars who can count their 
worth. 

'Tis more brave to live than to die. 

Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt; and every grin, so 
merry, draws one out. 

Vessels large may venture more, but little boats should keep 
near shore. 

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from 

fear. 

I find the fool when I behold the screen, for 'tis the wise 
man's interest to be seen. 

Nature never stands still, nor souls either. They ever go 
up or go down. 

Not in vain the distance beacons, forward, forward let us 
range. Let the great world spin forever down the ringing 
grooves of change. 

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; he who would 
search for pearls must dive below. 

Learn to dissemble wrongs; to smile at injuries, and suffer 
crimes thou want'st the power to punish; be easy, affable, 
familiar, friendly; search and know all mankind's mysterious ways. 
But trust the secret of thy soul to none. 

The hand that rounded Peter's dome, and groined the aisles 
of Christian Eome, wrought in a sad sincerity; himself from God 
he could not free; he builded better than he knew; — the conscious 
stone to beauty grew. 

Love, hope, fear, faith — these make humanity; these are its 
sign, and note, and character. 

Why should a man whose blood is warm within, sit like his 
grandsire cut in alabaster? 

But still I dream that somewhere there must be the spirit 
of a child that waits for me. 

Under the storm and cloud to-day and to-day the hard peril 
and pain — to-morrow the stone shall be rolled away, for the sun- 
shine shall follow the rain. 

The fiercest agonies have shortest- reign; and after dreams 
of horror, comes again the welcome morning with its rays of 
peace. 

One launched a ship, but she was wrecked at sea; he built 



\ 



30 THE NEW EDUCATION 

a bridge, but floods have borne it down; he meant much good, 
none came: strange destiny, yet good he had not meant became his 
crown. 

Conscience, a terrifying little sprite, that, bat-like, winks 
by day, and wakes by night; hunts through the heart's dark holes 
each lurking vice, as sharp as weasels hunting eggs or mice. 

Changeless march the stars above, changeless morn succeeds 
to even, and the everlasting hills changeless watch the changeless 
heaven. 

God made the country, and man made the town; what won- 
der then, that health and virtue, gifts, that can alone make sweet 
the bitter draught that life holds out to all, should most abound, 
and least be threatened in the fields and groves? 

The brave man seeks not popular applause, nor, overpower* d 
with arm, deserts his cause; unsham'd, though foiled he does the 
best he can, force is of brutes, but honor is of man. 

The brave man is not he who feels no fear, for that were 
stupid and irrational; but he whose noble soul its fear subdues, 
and bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from. 

How sweet and gracious, even in common speech, is that 
fine sense which men call Courtesy! Wholesome as air and genial 
as the light, welcome in every clime as breath of flowers — it trans- 
mutes aliens into trusting friends, and gives its owner passport 
round the globe. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, 
all the interim is like a phantasma, or a hideous dream. 

Nor all that heralds rake from coffm'd clay, nor florid prose, 
nor honied lies of rhyme, can blazon evil deeds, or consecrate a 
crime. 

There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the 
flood, leads on to fortune. 

Good name in man or woman, dear my lord, is the immediate 
jewel of their souls. 

Our acts our angels are, or good or ill; our fatal shadows 
that walk by us still. 

The saddest thing that can befall a soul is when it loses faith 
in God and woman. 

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft 
might win, by fearing to attempt. 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



31 



Learning by study must be won; 'twas ne'er entailed from, 
son to son. 

Attempt the end and never stand to doubt; nothing's so hard,, 
but search will find it out. 

When people once are in the wrong, each line they add is 
much too long; who fastest walks, but walks astray, is only- 
furthest from his way. 

'Tis the divinity that stirs within us; 'tis Heaven itself that, 
points out an hereafter, and intimates eternity to man. 

There is some soul of goodness in things evil, would men. 
observingly distil it out. 

Oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of dark- 
ness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray us in 
deepest consequence. 

How far that little candle throws his beams! so shines a good 
deed in a naughty world. 

Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives, 
sublime, and, departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands 
of time. 

The light upon her face shines from the windows of another 
world. Saints only have such faces. 

Be not the first by whom the new is tried, nor yet the last 
to lay the old aside. 

That man lives happy and in command of himself who from 
day to day can say I have lived. Whether clouds obscure, or the 
sun illuminates the following day, that which is past is beyond 
recall. 

Then let us, passing o'er life's fragile arch, regard it as a 
means and not an end; as but the path of faith on which we march 
to where all glories of our being end. 

Look for goodness, look for gladness, you will meet them 
all the while; if you bring a smiling visage to the glass, you meet 
a smile. 

As a rule, he is the happiest man who is contented with 
what he has, and is not waiting for next year, or the next decade, 
to have a protracted period of enjoyment. 

If a man empties his purse into his head no man can take 
it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the 
best interest. 

Have more than thou showest, speak less than thou knowest.. 



32 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Hate sometimes enters into the great souls; envy comes only 
from little minds. 

Blessed be that spot, where cheerful guests retire to pause 
from toil, and trim their evening fire; bless' d that abode where 
want and pain repair; and every stranger finds a ready chair. 

Nature, that great missionary of the Most High, preaches 
to us forever in all tones of love, and writes truth in all colors on 
manuscripts illuminated with stars and flowers. 

Fail — yet rejoice; because no less the failure which makes 
thy distress, may teach another full success. It may be that in 
some great need, thy life's poor fragments, are decreed to help 
build up a lofty deed. 

Let us have faith that right makes might; and, in that faith, 
let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. 

It is not by regretting what is irreparable that true work is 
to be done, but by making the best of what we are. It is not by 
complaining that we have not the right tools, but by using well 
the tools we have. 

The battle is not to the strong, the race not always to the 
fleet, and he who seeks to pluck the stars will lose the jewels at 
his feet. 

If men lived like men indeed, their houses would be temples 
— temples which we should hardly dare to injure, and in which it 
would make us holy to be permitted to live. 

Happy the man, and happy he alone, he who can call to-day 
his own; he who, secure, within can say, to-morrow, do thy worst, 
for I have lived to-day. 

Pains of love be sweeter far, than all other pleasures are. 

Our hopes like towering falcons, aim at objects in an airy 
height; the little pleasure of the game is from afar to view the 
flight. 

The spacious firmament on high, with all the blue ethereal 
sky, and spangled heavens, a shining frame, their great original 
proclaim. 

To die is landing on some silent shore, where billows never 
break, nor tempests roar; ere well we feel the friendly stroke, 
'tis o'er. 

For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, and though a late, 
a sure reward succeeds. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



33 



Defer not till to-morrow to be wise, to-morrow's sun on thee 
may never rise. 

Westward the course of empire takes its way, the first four 
acts already past, a fifth shall close the drama with the day; time's 
noblest offspring is the last. 

While man is growing life is in decrease; and cradles rock us 
nearer to the tomb. Our birth is nothing but our death begun. 

Think naught a trifle, though it small appear; small sands 
the mountain, moments make the year, and trifles life. 

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; the proper 
study of mankind is man. 

In faith and hope the world will disagree, but all mankind's 
concern is charity. 

Years following years steal something every day; at last they 
steal us from ourselves away. 

If solid happiness we prize, within our breast this jewel lies, 
and they are fools who roam: The world has nothing to bestow; 
from our own selves our joys must flow, and that dear hut, our 
home. ' 

Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day. 

Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows, while 
proudly riding o'er, the azure realm in gallant trim the gilded 
vessel goes; youth on the prow, and pleasure at the helm. 

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, and all that beauty 
all that wealth ever gave, await alike the inevitable hour. The 
paths of glory lead but to the grave. 

Full many a gem of purest ray serene the dark unfathomed 
caves of ocean bear; full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
and waste its sweetness on the desert air. 

The hues of bliss more brightly glow, chastised by sabler 
tints ,of woe. 

All nature comes to their manhood through some experience 
of fermentation. With some it is a ferment of passions; with 
some, of the affections; and with richly endowed natures it is the 
ferment of thought and the moral nature. 

I slept and dreamed that life was beauty, I woke and found 
that life was duty. 

Why does one climate and one soil endue the blushing poppy 
with a crimson hue, yet leave the lily pale, and tinge the violet 
blue? 



34 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



Purity, sincerity, obedience and self-surrender, are the 
marble steps that lead to the spiritual temple. 

Here's health to all that we love; here's health to all that 
love us; here's health to all those that love them that love those 
that love them that love us. 

The true grandeur of humanity is in moral elevation, sus- 
tained, enlightened and decorated by the intellect of man. 

A soul moulded from heaven; and thou would'st have it made 
a star there? Make the means of your ascent to that celestial 
height, virtue mingled with action; they draw near the nature 
and the essence of Gods, who imitate their goodness. 

How happy is he born or taught, that serveth not another's 
will; whose armor is his honest thought, and simple truth his 
utmost skill. 

The glory of our blood and state are shadows, not substantial 
things; there is no armor against fate; death lays his icy hands 
on kings. 

Dare to be true; nothing can need a lie; a fault, which needs 
it most, grows two thereby. 

He who would ascend the stairway of success, must tread 
the stones of failure. 

Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright, but looked 
too near have neither heat nor light. 

The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed, lets in new 
light through chinks that time have made. Stronger by weak- 
ness, wiser men become, as they draw near to their eternal home. 

A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is 
its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of 
heaven. 

Now morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime advancing, 
sowed the earth with orient pearl, when Adam waked, so customed 
for his sleep was airy-light, from pure digestion bred. 

So sinks the day-star in the ocean-bed, and yet anon repairs 
his drooping head, and tricks his beams, and with new-spangled 
ore flames in the forehead of the morning sky. 

Better to hunt in fields for health unbought, than fee the 
doctor for a nauseous draught. The wise for cure on exercise 
depend, God never made his work for man to mend. 

Nothing can work me damage, except myself; the harm that 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



35 



I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but 
by my own fault. 

He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do 
anything. 

It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk. 

While valor's haughty champions wait till their scars are 
shown, love walks unchallenged through the gate, to sit beside 
the throne. 

Silence is the highest wisdom of a fool, and speech is the 
greatest trial of a wise man. If one would be wise let his words 
show him so. 

There is in each life some time or spot, some hour or moment 
of night or day, that never grows dim and is never forgot, like 
an unfaded leaf in a dead bouquet. 

Do you ever look at yourself when you abuse another person? 

Help whoever, whenever you can; man forever needs aid from 
man; let never a day die in the west that you have not comforted 
some sad breast. 

Moderation is the silken thread running through the pearl 
chain of virtue. 

Oh, there is nothing holier in this life of ours than the first 
consciousness of love, the first flutterings of its silken wings, the 
first rising sound and breath of that wind which is so soon to 
sweep through the soul, to purify or destroy it. 

Every individual should bear in mind that he is sent into the 
world to act a part in it, and, though one may have a more 
splendid and another a more obscure part assigned him, yet the 
actor of each is equally responsible. 

Good deeds in this world done, are paid beyond the sun, as 
water on the root, is seen above in fruit. 

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. 

The weak sinews become strong by their conflict with diffi- 
culties. 

There is no state in which the bounteous Gods have not 
placed joy, if men would seek it out. 

The man who feels certain he will not succeed is seldom mis- 
taken. 

As the evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars, 
invisible by day. 

Great thoughts are our most precious and abiding treasures, 



36 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



and they should be eagerly sought and carefully stored in the 
eaves of memory. 

Fancies like wild flowers in a night may grow; but thoughts 
are plants whose stately growth is slow. 

A kindly act is a kernel sown, that will grow to a goodly 
tree, shedding its fruit when time has flown, down the gulf of 
eternity. 

Get the truth once uttered, and 'tis like a star new-born, that 
drops into its place, and which, once circling in its placid round, 
not all the tumult of the earth can shake. 

Too much of joy is sorrowful, so cares must need abound; 
the vine that bears too many flowers will trail upon the ground. 

A zealous soul without meekness is like a ship in a storm; 
in danger of wrecks. A meek soul without zeal is like a ship 
in a calm, that moves not so fast as it ought. 

As ships that pass in the night and speak each other in 
passing; only a signal given and a distant voice in the darkness; 
so on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another — only 
a look and a voice, then darkness again, and a silence. 

He who reigns within himself; and rules passions, desires, 
and fears, is more than a king. 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; behind the clouds is 
the sun still shining. 

Thy fate is the common fate of all, into each life some rain 
must fall, some days must be dark and dreary. 

Bear through sorrow, wrong, and ruth in thy heart the dew 
of youth, on thy lips the smile of truth. 

Build to-day, then, strong and sure, with a firm and ample 
base; and ascending and secure shall to-morrow find its place. 

Speech is the golden harvest that followeth the flowering of 
thought. 

Measure your mind's height by the shade it casts. 
Great things through greater hazards are achieved, and then 
they shine. 

Pleasure and action make the hours seem short. 

The good are better made by ill, as odors crushed are better 

still. 

'Tis not enough your counsel still be true; blunt truths more 
mischief than nice falsehoods do. 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



37 



YTe rise in glory as we sink in pride: where boasting ends 
there dignity begins. 

Books shonld be one of these fonr ends conduce, for wisdom, 
piety, delight, or use. 

Xature never stands still, nor souls either. They ever go 
up or go down. 

Conscience is harder than our enemies, knows more, accuses 
with more nicety. 

Content can soothe, where'er by fortune placed, can rear a 
garden in the desert waste. 

The keen spirit seizes the prompt occasion — makes the 
thought start into instant action, and at once plans and performs, 
resolves and executes. 

Blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, and, though a late, a 
sure reward succeeds. 

He that intends well, yet deprives himself of means to put 
his good thoughts into deed, deceives his purpose of the due 
reward. 

The dew-drop in the breeze of morn, trembling and sparkling 
on the thorn, falls to the ground, escapes the eye, yet mounts on 
sunbeams to the sky. 

"Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, and robes the 
mountains in its azure hue. 

Men must be taught as if you taught them not, and things 
unknown proposed as things forgot. 

And the night shall be filled with music, and the cares that 
infest the day shall fold their tents like the Arabs, and as silently 
steal away. 

Oftentimes, excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse 
by the excuse: as patches set upon a little breach, discredit more 
in hiding of the fault, than did the fault before it was so patched. 

Men may rise on the stepping stones of their dead selves to 
higher things. 

Some falls are means the happier to rise. 

Fancy, like the finger of a clock, runs the great circuit, and 
is still at home. 

The soul of music slumbers in the shell, till waked and 
kindled by the master's spell, and feeling hearts — touch them 
but lightly — pour a thousand melodies unheard before. 

The deepest ice which ever froze can only o'er the surface 



38 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



close; the living stream is quick below, and flows, and cannot 
cease to flow. 

Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe. 

The leaf tongues of the forest, the flower lips of the sod, 
the happy birds that hymn their rapture in the ear of God, the 
summer wind that bringeth music over land and sea, have each a 
voice that singest this sweet song of songs to me; "This world is 
full of beauty, like other worlds above, and if we did our duty, it 
might be full of love." 

There are as many lovely things, as many pleasant tones for 
those who sit by cottage hearths as those who sit on thrones. 

The deeds we do, the words we say, into still air they seem 
to fleet; we count them ever past, but they shall last; in the dread 
judgment, they and we shall meet. 

To conceal a fault by a lie has been said to be substituting 
a hole for a stain. 

'Tis only when they spring to heaven that angels reveal them- 
selves to you. They sit all day beside you, and lie down at night 
by you who care not for their presence, and muse or sleep, and all 
at once they leave you and you know them. 

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we 
stand as in what direction we are moving. 

Great truths are portions of the soul of man; great souls are 
portions of eternity; each drop of blood that e'er through true 
heart ran with lofty message, ran for thee and me; for God's law, 
since the starry song began, hath been, and still forevermore 
must be, that every deed which shall outlast time's span must 
goad the soul to be erect and free. 

May I reach that purest heaven, be to other souls the cup 
of strength in some great agony, enkindle generous ardor, feed 
pure love, beget the smiles that have no cruelty. 

Only when the clouds are cloven by the tempest passing 
by, is the rain with sunshine woven, then the rainbow spans the 
sky. 

Not mindless of the growing years of care and loss and pain, 
my eyes are wet with thankful tears for blessings which remain. 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



39 



LESSON THEEE. 
THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 

SERIOUSNESS. 

Thied Day in the Woekshops. Eoad No. 3. 

We must first explain the meaning of the word Seriousness. 
It is not solemnity nor any degree of it. It is not the wearing 
of long faces, nor the suppressing of mirth. Our use of the word 
Seriousness is not in the sense of solemnness. We do not ask any 
person to suppress mirth. Joy and sunshine are flowers in the 
pathway of happiness, and should be as abundant as the stars of 
heaven. 

But there are persons with whom you could talk for days, 
who simply gush and foam in word and deed. The "small people" 
of young womanhood, and the simpering froth of young woman- 
hood, are becoming so numerous in this age that seriousness is 
unfashionable. Out of the training of the good old Puritans, 
despite their errors, came the greatest men and women of the 
last two centuries. 

We do not admire all that the Puritans did, for their char- 
acters were developed one-sidedly; they built one wall only of 
the Citadel of Character. Yet that determined purpose to do the 
best they could in the light in which they lived, attracts our ad- 
miration at this day. 

Did you ever sit for an hour and listen to the conversation 
of shallow women? 

Did you ever walk with a man who made jocose and flippant 
remarks all the way, who laughed at his own nonsense, who said 
"smart things" to hear how they sounded, and who thought he 
had made a decided impression on you because he was pleasant 
and agreeable? 

The author can recall an occasion where a gentleman in 
business (who afterwards failed) entertained a Governor, a United 
States Senator, and three others, by an account of himself which 
lasted an hour; and the nearest approach to a serious remark 
made by that gentleman was: 



40 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



"I tell you we have great fun at our club. Why, last night 
it was particularly jolly when some one asked: "What time does 
the ten o'clock train leave the city?" 

And this gentleman laughed until the tears came, but his 
auditors looked pained. Yet had this man spent a few minutes 
daily in the serious purposes of life he might have formed habits 
that would have changed him to a more useful citizen. 

There is an air of good nature that does not bear the stamp 
of frivolity; there is a jolly, ripe-hearted love of fun that is not 
mere emptiness. People of sense are sure to avoid you if you 
are an empty wagon full of noise and nothing else. 

We eat dessert at our meals, but we do not depend upon ice- 
cream and confections for a solid dinner. Good reading fills a 
man, but novels furnish only the dessert; and if we read nothing 
substantial our minds grow sickly. 

There is a marked difference between the dignified person 
and the one who is serious. The former has more deliberation, 
has a loftier carriage of mind and body, looks out over mankind 
from a higher plane of vision, never hurries, never takes a round- 
about course to a given point in thought or deed, and measures 
his language with quasi- judicial care. The serious person is not 
sour, nor troubled with gloom, nor necessarily deliberative. He 
regards life as a field of usefulness, not of wanton waste; he sees 
the value of laughter, of sport and merriment, just as he sees the 
value of sunshine and flowers; but he does not use them with an 
idle hand. Humor and wit shed from the soul of one who is 
appreciative of their usefulness cannot help but being infectious, 
and therefore the more delightful. 

You now understand our meaning of the word Seriousness. 

Eequieements. — The establishment of this Point of Char- 
acter depends upon a different process from the others. The 
following pledge must be signed in its place in this book: 

■.. : u Pledge No. 2. 

I solemnly pledge myself to guard my words and actions 
from day to day so that I may gain the good opinion of people 
of sense. 

Eemaeks. — Constant vigilance is the price of this Point of 
Character. A habit of carefulness will soon be formed and the 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



41 



task will become easy. The earnest desire to overcome a silly, 
shallow style of address will soon make itself felt in your life. 
There may be many pnpils who have already cultivated this habit ; 
they need only sign the second pledge, and watch themselves for 
a while to see if it is true. Do not be too sure. The best indi- 
cation of progress is when you are tempted to do or say some 
foolish thing and you check yourself. This is a victory. 

Losses. — Every day that passes in which Pledge No. 2 is 
broken calls for a loss of a single mark, which you are to record. 

How Saved. — If you have lived faultlessly up to this pledge 
for two hundred consecutive days, it is not necessary to record 
any losses. 

The third day in the Workshop is ended, and the first stage 
on Eoad 3 leading to the South Gate of the Citadel is accom- 
plished. The journey will end with a surprising change of dis- 
position in the pupil, for its course through the world will calL 
up many strange experiences. 



LESSON FOUR. 
FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
AMBITION. 

Fourth Day ix the Work shops. Eoad Xo. t-. 

The last of the four Workshops is now your place of labor. 

The next lesson will bring you back to the first Workshop,, 
when an advance will be made in the first journey. 

Such Points of Character as Seriousness and Ambition may 
be undertaken, on the same days as the first »or second; but it is. 
better, for the present, to devote a single day to the consideration 
of each lesson. In the last lesson no actual time was necessary 
to be given to it. but a careful guarding of your words and deeds, 
throughout the entire day would suffice. Xo better training in 
character could be devised. 

In entering upon the Fourth Eoad a new condition is in- 
volved. In the seclusion of your retirement, alone with yourself 



42 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



and your thoughts, look into the future. Take some opportunity, 
when disturbing influences about you have subsided, and con- 
centrate your whole mind upon the problem: 

How long do you expect to live, if no accident shall cut your 
life short? 

Do you anticipate the decrepitude of old age? 

When the journey down the final slope of life is well begun, 
will you then occupy a greater rank in life than you do now? 

Will you have accomplished any one great purpose? 

The hope to achieve some degree of success at some indefinite 
period of the misty future dwells in every human breast, except 
where the candle has burned low. 

Take hope out of the heart and it is dead. 

The greatest stimulus and impulse in life is the hope of the 
future. A fruitless hope is better than none at all. 

Ambition may stir a desire for the immediate present, or it 
may become the mainspring of the entire future. Get ambition. 
Let it be anything so that it is not political. That breaks down 
your moral nature. To rise politically it is safer in the end to do 
your plain duty as a citizen, and neither use the machinery of 
politics for your advancement, nor allow yourself to be used as a 
ladder-round for some wire-puller to raise himself on. No man 
can permit either and retain his self-respect and character. 
Political ambition is fatal to your best interests and highest suc- 
cess in life; and even where the force of your genius wrests victory 
from it, it is at the loss of many bosom friends and much that is 
dear to you in this world. 

A gentleman engaged in a prosperous business desired to rise 
to great heights, and entered the field of politics. "Test your 
popularity by seeking an election to the council of your city gov- 
ernment." He was elected. "This is a stepping-stone." 

One year after he said: "I do not like politics. Before I 
came here I had a prosperous business and did not know that 
I had an enemy in the world. Now I have scores of bitter 
enemies, my business is neglected, and former friends pass me 
with dark countenances, as though I was an object of distrust." 

Yet, like a gambler, he felt the fascinating influence of polit- 
ical life and could not get out of it. To-day he has no busi- 
ness, but is hanging upon the skirts of his congressman, looking 
for an office in Washington as a government clerk, willing to 



05E HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



43 



accept any salary. This is the story of thousands of men. Do 
not soothe yourself with the consoling prediction that you will 
be an exception to the general rule. In making up the estimate 
of your probable future in matters of this kind you will be safe 
to class yourself with that large army known as the overwhelming 
majority. To be a success as a politician you should be bom for 
it, possessing by nature the following qualifications: Meanness, 
dishonesty, heartlessness, flattery, lying, cunning, low strategy, 
trickery in sacred matters, cant, hypocrisy, false promising, and 
a willingness to cater to the criminal elements for votes. A per- 
son who never dabbled in politics will say all this is overdrawn, 
but no man who ever became a politician will recognize any 
stretching of the truth. 

Some years ago, when the first edition of this book appeared, 
a prominent lawyer, who had been one of our best patrons for a 
long time, wrote us as follows: "Your recent work is not a true 
guide. I am chairman of the. leading political organization of 
this city, and I do not believe you are well informed when you 
berate politicians as you do." We replied kindly, and advised 
him to give up politics for his chosen profession. If he preferred 
the law practice to all other vocations he should make that his 
chief and sole means of success in life, as far as that side of his 
nature was concerned. After a long period of waiting, he re- 
cently favored us with the following letter: "I did not believe 
you years ago; but I am glad to say that the longer I live the 
more closely I wish to get to your works and their principles. All 
politicians I have known have proved exactly what you said of 
them. Success, if it come in that way, is the chance of a lottery; 
not the logical result of true ambition and worthy toil." His case 
is like thousands of others. 

A person without some clearly defined ambition in life is 
like a boat without a course. To men alone this worthy impulse 
should not be confined. Both sexes are given opportunities for 
advancement; and both should as soon as possible fix a standard 
under whose floating colors the daily progress of living should 
be directed. It is sad to note that ninety-nine persons out of a 
hundred have no definite ambition; and those who have any at all 
are aimless wanderers in their careers. They often set full sail 
in strong ships well manned and accurate in steering apparatus; 
and they go forth in quest of a port, believing in the theory of 



44 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Columbus that a world lies somewhere beyond the horizon which 
they may discover, even if they get nothing from it and are 
brought home in chains. These aimless persons are not the 
worst, but they are not the best. It is better to have a general 
ambition, even if it is never turned to a focus, than to drift. 

But true character makes up its mind rather early in life, 
and goes on to its goal. In so far as this power of determina- 
tion is lacking, the character is weak. There are several influ- 
ences that demand consideration. 

1. The youth of the person may not permit accurate judg- 
ment as to what should be the main ambition of life. Our answer 
is that each day should have its ambition; so should each week, 
each month and each year. There should always be something 
to live for in the immediate present. To select a fixed result of 
a lifetime, when there is no road running thitherward, is living 
in "hope deferred," and this is sadder than an empty heart. 

2. The parents or custodians of young persons may seek to 
force upon them certain vocations that do not and never can 
fit them. If character is present, is strong, is growing, such per- 
sons will yield to the wishes of those who have them in charge; 
and at the same time will go on unfolding their true powers until 
they can act upon their own judgments with safety. The situa- 
tion is never a difficult one. Thus the parents of a young man 
wish him to become a minister, and he desires to study law. Let 
him get all the advantages of the former profession while he may, 
and he will have ample time to give to legal studies without deny- 
ing himself to either. The contracting of all one's life into a 
single line of preparation is like building a steeple out of all the 
material that should have gone into the whole church. Lateral 
training is always necessary to give breadth. 

3. When a person is twenty-one years of age, if there is any 
character at all, it should begin to shape the course of life; other- 
wise the individual becomes the adventurer. 

4. An ultimate choice cannot be made at any time, for con- 
tingencies are always arising. The honest man may find the 
legal profession too great a strain on his manliness; although 
there is no field where purity of purpose and ability present 
greater opportunities than the practice of law. The minister 
may yearn for freedom from the shackles of small duties that 
render his higher aspirations as helpless as clipped birds. It is 



• * 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 45 

a pitiful juncture when the ship whose course is fixed to a certain 
shore must seek another port never thought of in all previous 
calculations. 

5. Vocations that provide no rewards, except under the law 
of chance, should be avoided as main impulses of ambition. 
Among these are such professions as those of the actor, the 
painter, the sculptor, the singer, the musician and the politician. 
If you must pursue one or more of these, adopt them as accom- 
plishments only, where that is possible. Take the stage, for ex- 
ample; a person may have ability, health, success and all that 
can be added to the art through ripeness of experience; yet he 
is dependent upon the play, the manager, the supporting com- 
pany, the whims of the public, and even the advance agent, as 
well as the critics; so that all those qualities that count for per- 
manent triumph in most any other profession lose their prestige 
here. Not only is this true in theory; it is proved in fact, espe- 
cially in the fact that thousands of actors and actresses are in- 
active and poverty stricken after getting pretty well up the lad- 
der of fame; and their misfortune is due to no shortcoming of 
their own. 

6. Except as just stated, nearly all vocations bring sure re- 
wards where deserved, and in proportion as deserved. 

7. If a person studies self very carefully, it will be found 
that the mainspring of the life is touched at the dawning years 
of puberty. This is nature. If the voice that speaks then and in 
the few years that follow, is given full heed, it will tell the whole 
story of the long run of life with unerring certainty. We are 
what we live. Circumstances may shape the details of every 
career, but cannot shift the impulse nor supplant its nature with 
something of another kind. Many persons, after trying other 
pursuits, by experiment, come back to this first impulse too late 
in life to reach the goal for which they might have contended. 

Ambition need not expend itself in business, in professions, 
in social rank, if there are well-grounded hopes in other direc- 
tions. There is one general rule that applies to all men and 
women: Cultivate to the highest degree the ambition to improve 
in life, to be better, to be more manly or more womanly, to win 
the deeper respect of your fellow-beings, to be more useful day by 
day to yourself and to the world, to live a broader life and to rise 



46 THE NEW EDUCATION 

steadily out of your present condition. In such ambition yon 
will find happiness, comfort and success. 

Eequieements. — In the privacy of your own room, or some- 
where in seclusion, give the matter solemn thought. Take this 
book with you. Eead carefully any part of it which may afford 
you help and strength in coming to a decision. When you have 
resolved to accomplish something in life make a full and careful 
record of it on the blank page opposite this. Write it in ink. 
The possibility of erasing a resolve is not helpful. What may 
some day seem weaknesses of the present should nevertheless be 
preserved as milestones of your growth in character. Eecord all 
your resolves, all evidence of your inward longings. Select some 
ambition, and make a record of it. It should be your secret. 
Things of this kind are not property for other eyes. While it 
would give the college great pleasure to know what your ambition 
is and how well you live up to it, yet we do not require you to 
write it to us. 

After selecting and recording some hope and resolve con- 
cerning the future, it is necessary to append the following: 

"I also have an ambition to accomplish the present work, 
and am firmly resolved to continue through to the end of the One 
Hundred Points of Character. From this resolve I am deter- 
mined that nothing shall change me. This I offer as a test of 
my character for persistency. 

Eemarks. — The foregoing final resolve need not be copied, 
but may be signed in the book. If you have no ambition and can- 
not summon any, then the ambition to pursue these lessons to 
the end will suffice as the great purpose of your present life. A 
record in writing of this should be made on the opposite page in 
case no other ambition is found. But you must eventually arouse 
in your heart the fire of some strong and noble purpose, which, 
like a star shining from the sky, shall light your pathway by its 
steady light, till it mounts to the zenith of your success. 

Losses. — No record loss can attach to this Point of Char- 
acter, if you follow the requirements. If you fail totally in this, 
it means disaster to the whole progress, and it is a necessary part 
of all the other Points. 

You have now finished the fourth day in the Workshop, and 



One hundred poixts of character 



47 



have accomplished the first stage on Road 4, leading to the "West 
Gate of the Citadel. 

Under the Great Pledge you are bound to observe the first 
four Points of Character, at least, even if you fail in all others. 

The four Points are : 

1. — Self-Effort. 

2. — Absorption. 

3. — Seriousness. 

4. — Ambition. 

Commit these four to memory, and be ready to repeat them. 

It is necessary to re-read the lessons in full which accompany 
these, and compare your records with the requirements of each 
lesson. 

The development of character by the present process depends 
upon two things in chief: 

1. — Constant Records. 

2. — Frequent Pledges. 

You should be particularly faithful in these two respects. 
Are you in earnest in this work? 

You are making character in the Workshops. When you get 
"Out in the World" the value of the present hard labor will be 
recognized. When that journey has begun, you will be put to 
a practical test. In the meantime seek to bind yourself by a 
series of pledges, to harden your resolve. 

Make your records show the exact day when each lesson is 
commenced. 

LESSOR FIVE. 
FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
RIGHT RISING. 

Fifth Day in the Workshops. Eoad No. 1. 

We are back again on Eoad No. 1, ready to take the second 
stage. 

It will be seen that we are not setting up a moral code by 
which to live. That matter comes solely within the jurisdiction 
of the pupil. In the present lesson we do not tell you when to 



48 THE NEW EDUCATION 

rise, as that does not affect character. We simply prescribe how 
you shall begin the day, for much of your existence between the 
moment of arising and retiring is determined by the manner in 
which you spend the first few minutes of the day. 

If on awaking it is your duty to arise, do it. The blood does 
not circulate until you are on your feet, so very little mental 
work can be accomplished before. A decisive jump from the bed 
is a very good mark of character. Try it. 

It is said that the true disposition of a person may be learned 
by observing him for the first five minutes after arising. Is he 
irritable? He gives way to it by his countenance as soon as some- 
thing goes wrong. To a bad disposition things very easily go 
wrong. Fretfulness grows on itself, and is self-supporting. A 
person who is crossed by any accident or annoyance early in the 
day, and conquers it, will generally go safely through the entire 
day in good spirits. 

Requirements. — Immediately on rising take a measure of 
your disposition. Find out if you are weak or strong in your 
preparations for a successful day. If anything annoys you, bring 
it to the test of a subsequent Point of Character which is de- 
signed to take the sting all out of it. A little philosophy will 
lighten the burdens of life. We do not believe in never coming 
in contact with temptation. Strength comes from victory, and 
how can we conquer an enemy which we never meet? 

All the faculties that you choose to make foremost in any 
day may be set in the morning as soon as you get up. Famous 
men have testified to the value of this plan; and we learn from 
the lives of successful actors who have much to memorize that, 
if they give the first half hour of the day to learning their lines 
they are much more apt to retain them. A very good example 
comes from a business man who used to note down during the 
preceding evening such matters as he wished to give his chief 
energies to on the following day; and, on arising, he would take 
the paper and commit them fully to memory; then fix in his mind 
his plan of action to the minutest detail. This gave him power 
during the business hours that followed, and he attributes his 
success to this method alone. 

Self-control is a magnificent trait of character. Let it shine 
in the first hour of the morning. Give way to temper, to irrita- 
bility, to all else you please at other times, but in the fresh mo- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



40 



ments of the day. when the springs of thought and feeling are 
gushing forth in new-born impulses, hold all meaner moods in 
cheek. Be their master. Do not let them be yours. 

It is a safe exposure in the morning to seek to measure your 
strength with circumstances. Try to see how many things will 
go wrong. Right Rising is dependent upon the following con- 
ditions: 

1. — Rise good-naturedly. 

2. — Allow nothing to ruffle your spirits. 

3. — Perform your duties carefully and thoroughly. 

4. — Beview lessons two, three and four. The latter may be 
done mentally while dressing. 

Losses. — Failure to comply with these provisions for two 
hundred mornings, one hundred of which must be successive, 
will involve a loss for each and every morning so omitted. The 
plan of marking losses is exactly the same as that stated in Les- 
son One. 

How Saved. — The losses of this lesson may be saved by de- 
laying the final day of reckoning until the requirements are ac- 
complished. 

LESSOX SIXTH. 
SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
NATURE. 

Sixth Day ix the Workshops. Road No. 2. 

The journey on Eoad Xo. 2 was commenced with Absorption; 
the purpose being to draw into our character the resultant value 
of all previous histor}\ A good influence, once set in motion, is 
never lost. Its power lives in all after ages, summed up in the 
utterances of great men and women. These we are reciting every 
morning aloud, and making their influence a part of our own 
character. 

Absorption must now be continued in other directions. The 
morning quotation gives us a good day's start. Its language 
should live constantly in our minds till the day is done; it will 
inspire us to a love of things about us. ' 



50 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



A narrow man looks seldom at the sky, and when he does, 
sees nothing. 

Yet he is the center of a wonderful creation. The great 
people of all ages have been ardent students of the processes 
of nature going on around them. A look at the stars at night 
with but one inquiry — What are they? — must open up a long 
converse with Nature. Try it. What is space? Where does it 
end? Can it be possible that an object traveling through space 
at the rate of a million times one thousand million miles every 
second of time could go on from the beginning of time which 
never began, to the end of eternity which cannot be, and yet find 
space to roll in! If space ended, what would be found there — 
a brick wall? Not only is space endless, but it is also filled with 
great globes, suns and planets, of which our mighty sun is the 
most insignificant, our earth too fine a grain of sand to be seen. 
Between all these heavenly bodies are planetoids and satellites, 
too small to be reckoned with even the planets which revolve 
about each star. Between the little planetoids are meteors and 
meteroids, as numerous as the fish of the sea, which on coming in 
contact with the atmosphere of the earth are set on fire by the 
friction of the air. Spend a moment or two some clear night ex- 
amining the heavens. 

The gathering of a storm, and the approach of shower- 
clouds, furnish profitable study; for they are pictures of energy. 

If you visit the country read the formation of the earth in 
the fields and hills, the brooks and valleys which make them. 
Beauty born of Nature's lavish attire passes into the face and 
soul. We are hemmed in by more splendor than a thousand lives 
could absorb, and we grow better by their inspiring influence. 

Now and then we meet a man or woman with face radiant,, 
with eyes of deeper meaning than those we see by thousands 
day after day, and with a more inviting fellowship in every word 
and act than we are accustomed to in the general drift of life. 
Some faces are so pleasant, although not necessarily beautiful in 
the ordinary sense, that we are always glad to see them; others 
are stamped in lines of grandeur and impress us at the first. "I 
do not know when I have ever seen a face that is so attractive,"" 
is the remark that is sometimes made. 

What is the cause of this type of beauty, that is always more 
than beauty? Go into those lives and see. This man is fond 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 51 

of flowers; if lie cannot get them fresh from the hand of Nature 
he does the next best thing. A little shelf by his window, a vine 
at the doorway, a plant that yearns for sunshine in the most 
favored place he can find for it. These are evidences of the soul 
within. Yet he sees landscape and foliage as the bird in home- 
ward flight joys to view the country he first had circled ere his 
departure. To this man of nature, the green of trees and shrubs 
is wonderfully shaded and diversified; the lights and shadows 
frolic amid its blowing masses, or nestle in its calmer bosom like 
the wavering breath of some rose-born fragrance. He walks out 
under the arching skies as would a man of freedom, despising 
the walls of houses built by man. He quaffs the pure air of 
heaven, and knows full well that it alone is meant for life. From 
flower and plant, from light and air, from field and meadow, from 
the songs of brooks and the concerts of the birds, he drinks into 
his soul the gladness of nature, and is so much more the man. 

There are women who are lovers of the beautiful and im- 
pressive glories that everywhere are evidenced in the handiwork 
of the Creator. They realize that nature is what God has made 
to live, while art is what man has made to die; that the picture 
of the forest or the flowery meadow that hangs upon the wall of 
the drawing-room is but the mocking echo of the full life it 
represents; that the roof of the noblest home yields protection 
rather than the exclusion of the scenes without; that the heart 
beats in perfect unison with the pulsations of nature and finds 
absolute harmony in no other companionship. 

Eequieements. — The following pledge must be signed, on 
the day when this lesson is first taken up, which may be at any 
time on or before the sixth day after the first lesson is taken; but 
no subsequent lessons shall be taken before this, as the Rules of 
Chapter VI must be observed. 

Pledge No. 3. 

I solemnly promise to devote an occasional moment or more 
to the contemplation of Nature and her beauties, and to absorb 
their influences as far as I am capable and have opportunity. 



Remaeks. — This pledge should be signed in the book and 
not copied. 



52 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Losses. — When closing the final reckoning (which is left 
to the option of the pupil under our advice), if the following 
statement can be signed, then the pupil is entitled to a marking 
of "perfect" in this Point of Character. Otherwise a loss of 
one hundred marks must be recorded. 

Statement. 

I, the undersigned, having concluded to close my course and 
make my final reckoning, hereby state that from the beginning 

of this Sixth Lesson which was on , 190. . down to 

this the » day of , 190.. I have, to 

the best of my ability, observed the operations of Nature about 
me, and studied her beauties with a sincere desire to absorb their 
influences and thereby elevate my own character; and I further 
state that in this I have attained success. 



How Saved. — If this lesson presents special difficulties to 
any pupil, a loss can be saved by giving a greater degree of at- 
tention to it. Never give up. A person of character takes 
lessons from failure; a weakling says: "What's the use of trying 
to do a thing which you know you can't." 

The sixth day in the Workshop is ended, and the second 
stage on Road No. 2, leading to the East Gate of the Citadel, is 
accomplished. 



LESSON SEVEN. 
SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
DECISION. 

Seventh Day in" the Woekshops. Road No. 3. 

Health, property and happiness are lost by a lack of decision 
at critical moments in life. 

"There is a tide in the affairs of men 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



53 



Decisiveness is the result of habit, and is capable of being 
cultivated to a high degree. Like many important traits of char- 
acter it may be lost or gained by non-use or good use. 

The cultivation of the will power is very important. This 
may be done by bringing yourself in contact with tests where 
decision is needed. The first step should be taken alone in the 
Workshop, where self-study is more appropriate. It will be seen, 
that the first nine stages of each journey are prepared in the 
workshops, where the pupil is fitted for the journey "Out in the 
World," where fellow-beings are dealt with in the progressive 
stages of the formation of character. 

One of the subsequent points requires daily Meditation for 
at least five minutes. Here you may obtain the needed oppor- 
tunity for practicing self-decision. In the meantime any oppor- 
tunity may be seized. 

Try to be alone under circumstances where an uninterrupted 
thoughtfulness is possible. Bring up some matter pending in 
your life where Decision is essential. If due deliberation has 
been given to it, and you know what should be done, but cannot 
make up your mind fully to do it, act at once. This is purely a 
mental matter. To be able to make up the mind is something 
different from a prompt execution of the thing decided to be done. 
The carrying out of the order of the will is provided for in another 
lesson. 

The operation of the will power must be applied to each and 
every lesson in this book. The Great Pledge binds you to the 
work, and you cannot, under any circumstances, fail to bring the 
mind to a full test. If you succeed in deciding to go on with the 
training when you waver, or in deciding to resume when you 
have abandoned it, you will have gained important victories; for 
the commonest of all faults is the inability to finish a thing com- 
menced. How many such defeats have you suffered in life? 

Requirements. — As you go on with your work, take each 
lesson in turn, and in the moments of retirement resolve to per- 
form each in turn exactly as directed. Make the Decision firmly 
and resolutely. Decide that nothing shall interfere. Exert the 
power of Self-Effort with will. Be strong. Cast away all waver- 
ing, all weak indecision. 

Remarks. — The habit of decision should be applied to one 
or more transactions during the day. The record which you are 



54 



THE NEW EDUCATIOX 



to make on the opposite page should be the history of your strug- 
gles in this direction. Do not mistake obstinacy for Decision. 
The former is nothing but a closing of the mind against its own 
operation, which is so common with the brute creation; while 
Decision is an opening of the mind to an intelligent and effective 
activity. 

Losses. — For each wavering of the mind with reference to 
the present course of One Hundred Lessons, and with reference 
to the important acts of life, record a loss of one mark. 

How Saved. — Where the mind has wavered regarding the 
continuance of any one or more of these lessons, and has lapsed 
into a neglect, but afterwards you decide firmly to reclaim your- 
self and do in fact perform the requirements of the lesson, record 
a gain of tzvo marks. This is called a triumph. 

All triumphs win two marks, but they should be put under 
the head of triumphs, for marks refer to losses. Each triumph 
removes the loss and results in a net gain of one; so that it is 
possible to make more than 100 per cent, in the full course, if 
circumstances favor. 

The peculiar effect upon the mind which must follow from an 
attempt to live up to the various requirements, as they cross and 
blend in their many-sided demands, is decidedly beneficial. The 
system employed of causing the pupil to grow into and become 
entangled in these manifold duties is the result of a more careful 
study of mankind and human nature. Years ago the author de- 
livered a series of lectures on these subjects and found the method 
of developing the interest of his audience very effective. There 
comes a turning point where the purpose of the pupil becomes 
so fixed that nothing could induce him to cease the journey. 

LESSON EIGHT. 
EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

CONQUER FAILURE. 

Eighth Day m the Workshops. Eoad No. 4. 

Perhaps, tired and weary, as you close the second round on 
your visit to the Fourth Workshop, you long for the time when 



ONE HUNDRED r POINTS OF CHARACTER 



55 



you are to go "Out into the World." Yet that may be dreaded, 
for the contact with the world is sure to carry you "Down into the 
Valley," where strong tests are to be brought to bear upon your 
character to determine its strength. If it will stand the attacks, 
you will ere long come out "Upon the Heights," and look off over 
the weary road which you are now traveling. 

Have you any idea of the "Point of Character" which you 
will find written over the West Gate of the Citadel? It will 
probably surprise you when you learn the true purpose of this 
fourth journey; for at the present time it does not seem as if the 
"Points of Character" which begin the journey lead to the Cardinal 
Point. 

Have you ever failed in an undertaking? Can you recall an 
instance where you resolved to succeed and yet failed? All per- 
sons have failed at times. Greatness is built upon failure. It 
would be difficult to find a successful man or woman who had not 
commenced life with defeat. Daniel Webster began a declamation 
in Dartmouth College, and in a short time broke down. His dis- 
grace was complete. A person of less character would have be^ 
come obstinate and refused ever after to speak in public. A failure 
to a great mind is but a candle showing a broken link, and telling 
where special effort should be made to mend the defect; but 
weaklings take defeat as a certain indication that "not that way 
lies my talent." Had Webster been conceited and weak he would 
have said: "I cannot speak or declaim. It is not my forte. I have 
tried and proved my inability. I am too shrewd to make a show 
of myself again." 

In order to fail we must be defective. A defect should be 
mended not abandoned. The tree that rises to its grand propor- 
tions during years of baffling with the gales is toughened and made 
strong. A sheltered and protected plant is delicate. The body 
grows strong by conflict, and weak by rest. Character that never 
met defeat upon the battlefield, and struggled with it to win or 
lose, would fall in the first real fight of life. The spider breaks 
his web, but tries again. The Scottish general, discouraged 
through six defeats, saw the spider on his seventh effort securely 
fasten the thread, and took courage. He won. Defeat is the 
greatest stimulus to success that a strong character could have. 
It is necessary. Weak men and women fear it, but the strong 
court it. 



56 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



A rich man started his son in business. "The young man can- 
not succeed," said his neighbor. "I'll test his character," said the 
rich man. By an adroit plan the father brought financial ruin 
upon his son. "You cannot do business," he said to him. "I told 
you so," said the neighbor. "Let. me try again," said the son; "I 
think I see my mistake." He tried again by his own efforts, saving 
something from the crash, and resuming on a smaller scale, for 
his father purposely refused to help him. He did succeed and ac- 
cumulated a greater fortune than his father. 

To always win is unfortunate. If you do it you cannot acquire 
the present Point of Character. It is necessary to fail and win on 
a re-trial. But failures come to you wherever you are. 

Requirements. — "Whenever you fail in anything where suc- 
cess is right and proper, try again. It does not matter, as far as 
this Point of Character is concerned^ whether you succeed or not 
on the re-trial. If you try again, you have carried the day; but 
each subsequent defeat requires a re-trial. 

Remarks. — Foolhardy attempts merit failure. Trying to 
accomplish something improper is only a test of weakness. The 
purpose in view must be worthy of a good and wise man. 

Losses. — For each failure to try again record a loss of one 
mark. 

How Saved. — If the first failure is followed by a re-trial, a 
loss is saved. A second re-trial, whether successful or not, entitles 
you to one triumph, a third re-trial to two triumphs, and so on, 
adding one for each re-trial of the same subject-matter. Final 
success is no test of character. 

Your records on the present lesson would form interesting 
reading could they be given to the world. If you have' a prolific 
nature, the records which you make will be somewhat large. 

We should be pleased to read them. 

The eighth day in the workshop is ended, and the second 
stage on Road JSTo. 4, leading to the West Gate of the Citadel, is 
accomplished. This will prove the best journey of the four. 

When the Citadel is reached a, vote of all the members will 
be taken to see which road is liked the best. 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



57 



LESSON NINE. 
NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

IRRITABILITY. 

Ninth Day en the "Workshops. Road No. 1. 

Here we are back again in the first Workshop. What irritated 
you to-day? Did yon ever say some ugly thing to yourself when 
not feeling well? Can yon recall throwing an object away, or 
slamming it down? If some friend, especially of the opposite sex, 
had been present yon would not haTe shown this irritability. This 
proves that yon have control of yourself, but do not care to exer- 
cise it. 

Of all the sins against the heart, the nerves, the brain, irri- 
tability is the most common. If you don't feel well, you excuse 
yourself; but irritable people get headaches and nervous weakness 
and heart failure by givng way to this mood. It grows on its 
own using. The oftener you give way to it the more confirmed 
and terrible it grows. In hot weather the habit is most common. 
Faces come to wear the sign upon them, despite our supposition 
that "looking pleasant'' will make us look pleasant. Wrinkles, once 
worn in the face, grow more indented with hypocritical smiles. We 
can't put on faces so easily. Character stamps itself indelibly in 
the features. 

Irritability is a lesser degree of insanity. Many an occupant 
of an asylum has been brought there by giving way to moods of 
fretfulness until they grew into fixed habits. 

Requirements. — This is to be the battlefield of your hardest 
struggle. Here you will fail from time to time. Your records 
should be more exact in this than in any other lesson. Open the 
day good naturedly; give things a chance to annoy you, and fight 
them by a resolution in the heart not to give way to the mood. 
At night write down some mark showing that you have success- 
fully fought it all day. 

Remarks. — The habit of refusing to give way to irritability 
will soon encase you in a mail of steel. It grows rapidly. Do 
not be afraid to meet the temptation, for you must be hardened 



58 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



to it by conflict, A horse is led up to the object that gave him 
fright, and finding it is not dangerous, he becomes calm. So we 
should tempt ourselves occasionally. 

To be strong when it is difficult to hold back the disposition 
to fly into a disagreeable mood, is the true test. A man who suc- 
ceeded in thoroughly mastering a condition of extreme irritability 
writes of his battles as follows: "I felt that my mind was being 
weakened by my continual expressions of irritability, and I had to 
do something. The least thing annoyed me. When alone, I swore 
freely at everything that went wrong, and nothing seemed to go 
right. But if any person were present I knew enough to check 
myself, if I wished. It was when this ability began to leave me 
that I awoke, through the inspiration of the School of Character, 
to the danger I was in. All at once I resolved to be a man. This 
is how I mastered myself. In the morning, while dressing, I lost 
my collar button. It rolled along the floor and disappeared, I 
knew not where. The room was cold; I was in a hurry, and things 
were getting blue; but I held on like a man. I sat down to think 
and to smile. There was but one place where the button could 
have gone, and that was under the dresser. It was enough to 
make a saint swear, but I took things calmly, and smiled at myself 
for encouragement. In a little while I had the button. This is 
an example of the way I went to work to conquer my irritability. 
I am entirely free from it." 

Many others have been blessed by these lessons. A mother 
spent several months inducing her daughter to enter this School 
of Character, as the young lady was high-tempered and had few 
friends. She succeeded at last, with results that were perfectly 
gratifying. No method can equal this for efficiency. 

Losses. — For every act of irritability give yourself a mark. 

How Saved. — No matter how many marks you have received, 
if you can go for one hundred consecutive days without being irri- 
table, you are entitled to a marking of perfect. 

The ninth day in the Workshop is ended. 



OXE HUNDRED PO/.VrS OF CHARACTER 59 

LESSON" TEN. 
TENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

KIND VOICE. 

Tenth Day in the Workshops. Road No. 2. 

Nature furnishes the impulses of growth, but care guides them 
aright. The vines and flowers and trees are none the less natural 
because the hand of man prunes and directs them. Nature with- 
out man is wild and barbarous. The same impelling force that 
directs the growth of fruits and flowers also crowds the garden 
with weeds. So with human character; and in the garden of the 
heart, as in the soil of earth, the weeds grow faster than the flowers 
and fruits. 

The face is stamped with the soul. The voice is colored by our 
character, though not so certainly as the face; for caref til attention 
to the voice will give it sweetness and pleasant tones. True, the 
study of the art of facial expression does much to change an ugly 
face to one of symmetry and beauty, but the voice yields more 
readily to the influences of careful training. 

To frame pleasant sayings in the mind is not sufficient, for 
they may not sound pleasant when uttered. We can deceive our 
friends by writing, for then the voice is not heard; but spoken 
words are colored by the feeling that prompts them. 

A cross remark, when not intended, has often escaped the lips 
and made enemies. We do not know how the words are going to 
sound until we open our mouths. A vixen is known by the voice. 
Irritability is so plainly marked in the manner of speaking that 
only strong self-control can eradicate it. 

It is not what we say, but how it is said, that influences others. 
"No" can be said to mean "Yes." "I am glad to see you," may be 
intoned so as to mean "I am sorry you are here." 

The voice naturally has three normal pitches: the normal high, 
the normal middle, and the normal low. A low pitch is not a soft 
voice, but simply low in the musical scale, and should be developed 
into strength. 



60 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



The following natural principles will serve to guide you in 
the daily use of the voice: 

1. A very high pitch with force is used by scolds, vixens and 
irritable people. 

2. A high pitch, a note or two below the normal high, spoken 
with softness and slowly, is the most affectionate and tender of 
all tones. 

3. A middle pitch is an indication of calmness of mind and 
heart. 

4. A pitch a little below the middle adds earnestness and seri- 
ousness to a tender and loving voice. 

5. A low pitch spoken with force depicts strength of char- 
acter, firmness of mind and heart and a ruling spirit. 

6. A low pitch spoken softly portrays solemnity. 

7. Whispered tones, either composed of pure whisper or aspi- 
rated tones, indicate a suspicious, stealthy or deceptive nature. 
There should be no aspiration in any of the pitches. 

Then every voice has its peculiar use of glides or inflectional 
movements. Decisive tones use falling glides. Sharp, acid, un- 
pleasant voices give a falling glide to every word on which the least 
emphasis may be placed, and the scold adds the high pitch to this 
movement, thus increasing the harshness of the tone. Tenderness 
may use a high, middle or low register, but it always favors a rising 
glide. "Come here," uttered in a high pitch and falling glide, 
would repel the person invited. The same invitation given any 
pitch with a rising glide would be tender, kind and agreeable. 

A person falls easily into the bad habit of using cross tones, 
especially if, irritated by the hundred passing events of the day. 
Self-control comes into play and assists in the adoption of a uni- 
formly pleasant voice for all occasions. While such points of char- 
acter as right rising' and irritability are direct aids to the mastery 
of this, they are not identically the same. Here we wish to go 
much further than in either of the other two. A kind voice belongs 
to this life as flowers belong to the garden, music to the ear and 
bright skies to the eye. It wins all species of creation that are 
worth winning. The child, the animal, the friend are all held in 
better relations to one who speaks kindly than to one who is severe 
or merely neutral in tone. 

Many persons, who are not cross or repulsive in voice, are yet 
not pleasant and winning. The cold, plain, business, matter-of-fact 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



61 



style of saying a thing is as free from irritability as the sod is free 
from accusation; but they play no affirmative part in the daily plan 
of life. If you are not acquainted with the methods of those who 
control animals best, you would hardly believe that it pays a 
financial return to speak kindly to the dumb creatures. Here is 
a man whose cows look better and actually give more milk than 
those of his neighbors. "They are better cows," you say. Well, 
let him exchange. In two years the neighbor's cows, under the 
kindly influence of the successful man, look better and give more 
milk than his own since he exchanged. Why? Because he makes 
them glad to see him and glad to come where he is. This looks 
like theory. Come to one of the largest dairies in this country. 
The records show unusually large returns, and the owner explains 
it as follows: "I instruct all my men to speak kindly and show 
gentleness to all my cows. If I suspect a man I have him watched, 
and he must leave. It is true, sir, that these men, who are often 
cross in their homes, do not dare be so here. Animals are treated 
better than wives." Then, in another case, a successful farmer 
writes: "Nothing costs so little and pays so large returns as kind- 
ness to animals." The proposition is easily proved. It is, of course, 
a business matter. 

But we look now beyond the question of business into that 
higher consideration which calls us out of the dreary drudgery of 
toil, and we find that there are human beings who daily lean upon 
us for comfort; from the little child, whose feet patter over the 
floor to the music of our hearts; from the sweet-faced son or 
daughter still in youth; from the souls that look up into our faces 
with appeals for sympathy, to those who share with us all these 
responsibilites and loves; they live and thrive upon kindness as the 
flowers upon the blessed light of morning. Could we control the 
deeds of this world, our first soliciting would be to drive out every 
cross tone and supplant it with kindness, constant, unending, uni- 
versal kindness. 

How easy it is to adopt the kindly voice. From the first words 
of the day to the last of evening, all through the busy and the 
leisure hours, kindness, nothing but kindness, in word, in thought, 
in deed. Perhaps it costs an effort, but nothing else. It will pay 
you in every way. Love will throw its circles of sweetness all 
around you; friends will spring up from every source; satisfaction 
will beam on every countenance; you will be supremely happy, and 



62 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



it will cost yon nothing. What a revolution would sweep over the 
face of the globe if the people should adopt this one point of 
character. 

Requirements. — We cannot prescribe any daily task in de- 
veloping the voice by a systematic course of training, for our object 
is to make these lessons as easy as possible, and not impose any 
task upon you. If you are a good manager you will be able to handle 
all the departments of character training with that spirit of genius 
which prompts so many business men to conduct vast business in- 
terests without haste and without rest. At the time when you con- 
clude to close accounts and make your final record, you must 
estimate what proportion of reform you have established in the 
voice, with what degree of kindness you have spoken to others 
from the elate of entering upon this lesson to the date of your final 
record. This lesson may be taken up as soon as you desire, but not 
out of its turn. 

The Morning Quotations will furnish excellent training in a 
small way for coloring the voice, for the moods you are in during 
these quotations will follow you all day long, at first to a slight ex- 
tent only, but in a marked degree after a few weeks. 

LESSON ELEVEX. 
ELEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

RETIREMENT. 

Eleventh Day in the Workshops. Road No. 3. 

The true development of character originates from within and 
is strengthened by contact with the world. We are still in the 
Workshops preparing for our departure upon the highway, when 
our present labors will be brought to a test. If we are lost "In the 
Depths/' we shall never even know what awaits us "On the 
Heights/' It must not for a moment be imagined that a few read- 
ings of these lessons will develop character. To climb "On the 
Heights" by a cursory method of dealing with these "Points of 
Character" would give us no adequate idea of the grandeur there 
awaiting us. Growth and development do not come from knowing 
how to do these things, but from actually doing them. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



63 



Self-effort is the first and greatest element of character. 

What we are is within lis. We can never know what we are 
until we are alone with ourselves. Goethe claimed that genius 
is born of our silent moments. The men and women whose names 
will live longest in the history of mankind have had their growth 
in character in the moments of retirement. 

How can the mind and heart develop if they are constantly 
subjected to the distractions and influences of those about them, 
from early morn till bedtime? There are prosaic lives, whose 
genius has lain hidden these many years solely from the fact that 
they have never been taught the value of self-examining. Five 
minutes daily would suffice to change the current of life. 

Keqttikejients. — Sign the following pledge in this book, with 
pen and ink. 

Pledge 4. 

Believing in the great value of self-communion, and desiring 
to know myself better, I solemnly promise to devote at least five 
minutes daily, and as much more time on Sunday, or some other 
one day in the week (not necessarily exceeding a half-hour) as I 
may have at my disposal, to absolute retirement if such is possible 
in my circumstances of life, and if not, then to do the nearest, 
best thing. 



Eemaeks. — Record the date, and length of time, of each re- 
tirement. The mind should dwell upon life and its ambition. 
Many of the preceding lessons may be blended into this, and time- 
saved thereby. 

Losses. — These are estimated in the same manner as those of 
the first lesson. 

How Sated. — The losses in this lesson may be saved by delay- 
ing the final day of reckoning until the full task is accomplished. 
If, however, it seems impossible to make 100 per cent., it is better- 
to go through once, and see how much over 75 per cent, may be 
attained, and then commence the whole work over again. Conquer 
Failure. 

The eleventh day in the Workshop is ended, and the third 
stage on Eoad JSTo. 3, leading to the South Gate of the Citadel, is. 
accomplished. 



64 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON TWELVE. 
TWELFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

EXAMINE DISCOURAGEMENT. 

Twelfth Day in - the Workshops. Eoad No. 4. 

This is a peculiar lesson. It differs materially from all the 
others and may be said to open up a new line of inquiry. 

We are often told to look on the bright side of life. So we 
should; but how can it be done? To look out of the windows of 
the heart upon the clouds will not bring the sunshine, nor can we 
by physical force brush away the clouds, for they, are beyond the 
length of our arms. 

Sunshine develops the growth that is inaugurated in the 
shadow. Clouds and rain are as much a necessity in the lives of 
all men and women as in the natural world. In the sunshine we 
enjoy what we acquire in the shadow. 

A wonderful balance is found in all creation. Winter and 
summer, spring and autumn, heat and cold, night and day, clouds 
and sunlight, joy and sorrow, comedy and tragedy. 

This pulling in opposite tendencies makes, growth. The sur- 
vival of the fittest is often the outcome of the contrasts of life, for 
the discouraged go under, while the courageous come out a plane 
higher on the battlefield of life. 

While not courting or seeking misfortune, we should never- 
theless welcome it when it cannot be avoided. It comes as a bless- 
ing and may be turned into joy. 

Requirements. — Whenever you are discouraged, examine the 
matter. Ask yourself a few questions: What is the end to be? Is 
it sure to be as bad as that ? If it is, and there is no escape!, what 
is my duty under the circumstances? Can I show my strength of 
character by enduring the very worst that may happen? Yet may 
I not do something to lessen the grief? 

Remarks. — If these questions are asked in the right spirit, 
you will be prepared for the crash when it comes. If it should fail 
to come, as it will in nine cases out of every ten, you will have lost 
a splendid opportunity for character training. Do not worry over 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



65 



improbable troubles, for worrying is the weakest trait of character. 
It never did any good, and never will. The strong never worry. 
But the weak are constantly crossing bridges before they reach 
them, and which they never reach, for the bridges are not there. 

Losses. — If trouble does not come to you during the entire 
course of these lessons, you cannot make a loss, and must mark 
yourself perfect — one point. If you do have trouble:, and become 
discouraged, you must examine the discouragement and turn it into 
a training school of character. A careful record of this bit of your 
personal history will be of value to you. For every failure to bear 
up courageously under discouragement, record a loss of five marks. 
You are to be sole judge, unless you wish other estimate, in which 
case you may consult your ally. 

The twelfth day in the Workshops is ended, and the third 
stage on Eoad No. 1, leading to the West Gate of the Citadel, is 
accomplished. 

One-third of the hard labor in the Workshops is over. All 
too soon the journeys "Out in the World" will be entered upon. 

LESSON THIETEEK 
THIRTEENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
HEALTH OF BODY. 

Thirteenth Day in the Workshops. Eoad No. 1. 

It may be asked what relation a healthy body bears to char- 
acter. As has been frequently stated, character is four-sided, and 
the neglect of training any one side is soon seen. Many persons 
possess genius and a lofty character who fail to impress them- 
selves upon others. Some one or more sides of their nature have 
been left to drift. All should be developed evenly. Eoad 1 leads 
to a certain cardinal Point of Character which is of vast impor- 
tance. Its name, not now known to you, will be found written 
over the North Gate of the Citadel, when you have journeyed 
across the plateau "On the Heights." 

In a fully developed Character "Health of Body" plays a seri- 
ous part. Its wanton abuse is too prevalent. Carelessness is 



66 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



often rebuked, but the rejoinder is: "Oh, I am always well; when 
I am sick it will be time enough to take care." 

Irritable persons excuse themselves for their ill-natured 
frames of mind and constant wounding of other's feelings by say- 
ing afterwards: "I am not well/' Heavy tasks, great undertak- 
ings, strong resistance to temptation, fitness for the training, and 
control that makes great men and women, are to a greater or less 
extent interfered with by ill-health. We owe the duty to our 
family and friends, if not to ourselves, to keep the body well. 

How to accomplish this is a great question. For the best 
health some habits should be regular, others irregular. Any good 
book on Health will give a list of foods to be preferred, a course 
of daily training to develop the body, and general regime to pre- 
serve good health, and special treatment for diseases. 

The body is a physical machine having power to repair itself 
in its daily waste and loss. As a machine it is designed to assist 
its owner in maintaining the struggle for existence. 

But if it accomplished nothing more than to keep itself 
alive and well, it would not serve any useful purpose, unless there 
was no other design in its creation than to preserve the existence 
of the race, and so pass on to succeeding generations. 

A machine that is able to keep itself in repair, to avert loss 
of any fixed part, to have itself housed, to keep its boiler fed and 
protect itself from the inclemencies of the elements, is nothing 
better than an engine whose owner gets nothing from. Yet the 
modern conception of the human body is just this and no more. 
The muscles work, the brain toils, and cares are assumed solely 
for the purpose of obtaining food, clothing, shelter, comforts 
and competence for old age, so that the machine will not have to 
be trundled into the round-house of charity. Few persons get so 
much out of life; then they reason that this life is merely a state 
of transition to the next. 

Such reasoning is not an excuse for the neglect of the facul- 
ties and talents, which are bestowed so freely now. No person 
has a right to abuse the body, either by neglect or by ignorance. 
The first thing that an intelligent human being should learn in 
this life is the fact that the body is a great engine, designed for 
something more than to keep itself in repair, clothed, sheltered 
and made comfortable; for the meanest machine serves some other 
use than its own preservation. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



67 



Health is the basis, the beginning of life's great design. "If 
I eonld only get my health I would be happy." What would you 
do with it? An idle machine is not happy and renders no happi- 
ness to its owner. But you say the body is not idle; it works and 
thinks. What for? To get something for itself. Suppose you 
were to buy a work horse, and the animal earned enough to keep 
himself fed, sheltered, curried, pleasantly provided with nice sur- 
roundings, and no more. Of what value is he to you? Yet few 
human beings accomplish as much in life as this horse; else why 
so much poverty, so much disease, so much charity? 

More than ninety-five per cent, of all persons are out of 
health. In this age of food adulterations it is almost impossible 
to keep well, unless some such standard as that furnished by the 
Ralston Club is adopted. In our course of progressive studies 
the subject of health is made the first and is the basis of all 
else. There is no reason why ill-health should continue. 

Few persons realize how much may be accomplished by a 
minute's attention each day to this subject. Even the use of 
proper food, carefully selected, and intelligently cooked, will 
change the whole current of life. When health is attained you 
are then ready to make the body accomplish something more than 
its own keep and comfort. 

Requirements. — Use your judgment in determining how 
the health of the body should be best preserved, and when you 
close accounts and make the final reckoning, record youself as per- 
fect if you are satisfied with your attention to your health, and 
that the results are the best that could have been attained under 
the circumstances of your daily life. 

Loss. — For each neglect of health, as you understand the 
matter, record a loss of one mark. 

LESSON FOURTEEN. 
FOURTEENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
FLOWERS AND MUSIC. 

Fourteenth Day in the Workshops. Road ISTo. 2. 

This Road is probably the pleasantest of all the pathways 
which lead to the Citadel of Character. It is strewn with flowers 



68 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



and music, and leads us through nature to the sweetest enjoy- 
ment of life, founded upon the kindest, best, and gentlest in 
nature's great world of art; for art is but nature at her best. 

Flowers are the stars of the fields, the pearls of the garden, 
the jewels of the home. They abound everywhere to please the 
eye with their beauty, and fill the air with their fragrance. They 
are to the substantial growth of vegetation what poetry is to 
prose. The sky is studded with them at night when earth's flow- 
ers have gone to rest. 

The love of flowers should be cultivated. To look into the 
construction of the tiniest bud that blooms, and contemplate its 
world of life, its intricacy of growth, will awaken the heart to a 
desire for the purest things of life. 

Music likewise touches the depths of the soul. The love 
for this can be increased by cultivation. It is not necessary to 
be able to sing or play. The author can do neither, but he can 
listen to both with intense enjoyment. 

The ballads of everyday life, and the profounder music of 
the thoughtful composers, impress the mind and heart; but the 
common airs known as topical songs, and the "catchy" tunes that 
amuse merely, are to pure music what "slang" is to refinement. 
Character is not built up by cultivating a taste for "slangy" songs. 
Here the line should be drawn. 

Kequirements. — The following pledge should be signed: 

Pledge No. 5. 

I solemnly promise that I will form as close an acquaintance 
with flowers and pure music, as my circumstances allow; and will 
neither sing or encourage others to sing "slangy" or coarse songs. 



Eemarks. — It is not necessary to purchase flowers in order 
to comply with this pledge. Simply appreciating them when 
they are present, thinking of their origin and purpose in life, and 
studying their beauty and variety of design will be sufficient com- 
pliance with the terms of the pledge. 

Losses. — A final reckoning when made should include your 
estimate of success in this Point of Character. If you are satis- 
fied that, during the time which has elapsed since you undertook 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER / 69 

the practice of this lesson, yon have accomplished all that you 
could have done, the record should show a perfect marking. For 
each opportunity missed or neglected, you should record a loss of 
one mark. 

LESSON FIFTEEN. 
FIFTEENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

SYMPATHY. 

Fifteenth Day in the Wokkshops. Road No. 3. 

It is a notable fact that men and women who have possessed 
great strength of character have been sympathetic. One would 
think, upon first thought, that Sympathy indicated weakness; but 
a closer examination into the subject will dispel the idea. As a 
human being rises from the lower level of life, away from his near- 
ness to the brute creation, sympathy becomes more marked; al- 
though the rank of a person is not determined by ignorance or re- 
finement. In humble life we find a cord of sympathy binding 
many true hearts together; and so in humble life are purity, virtue 
and honesty more prevalent. 

A grand life in any rank cannot be backed by an empty heart. 
A hatred of humanity unfits a person for noble ends. True it is 
easy to hate mankind and with apparent cause; but our purpose in 
living is to make the race more lovable, and we cannot do that 
by making ourselves detestable. Could you interest one person in 
your community in a training like this which you are now under- 
going, and could that person interest another, and so on, a chain 
of influence for good would soon run round the world. It would 
be a most delightful work to be the first link in a chain of human 
sympathy for the elevation of your fellow-beings. We shall have 
more to say of this when "On the Heights;" but at present we 
would suggest the following plan: 

Become a First Link in at least one chain of influence, as 
described in the 96th Lesson, under the title "Do Good in the 
World." The object is to help try and make the race* better. 
The 96th Lesson as far as this single object is concerned may 
be commenced as soon as this lesson on sympathy is reached. 



70 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



Requirements. — It is not necessary to become a First Link 
in a Chain of Influence in order to meet the requirements of the 
present lesson. Any means of broadening the heart, and soften- 
ing our hatred of mankind will suffice. In the first place it is 
well to accept the fact as a fact that people are selfish. This 
fault is the law of self-protection. Selfishness begets meanness, 
a trait not apparent in the sunshine of friendship, but always 
present and ready to come to the surface on due provocation. 
Believe all this, for if not, you will be bitterly disappointed in 
your friends some day; ascribe it to its cause — self-protection. 
Deal with it as inherited from the asperities of the darker ages; 
pity all, blame few; and by the "ally" friendship, of another les- 
son, talk it over freely, trying to rise above it. When crime and 
wickedness are most rampant our sympathy should be inwardly 
the keenest; while policy may guide our conduct with a firmer 
hand for the suppression of evil. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning you should determine, ac- 
cording to your best judgment, what degree of perfection you 
have attained, and record a corresponding percentage. 



LESSON SIXTEEN. 
SIXTEENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

TACT. 

Sixteenth Day in the Woekshops. Eoad No. 4. 
The one key of success in life. 

It unlocks all the doors in the hearts and pockets of your 
fellow-beings. It wins friendships without ostentation; and se- 
cures wealth without wrong. 

Tact is not strategem, for strategem is dishonesty. 

There is no problem of life that cannot be solved by this 
charm. It is an olive branch of peace in war, a word of power 
in weakness. 

Genius may exist without it, but never wins success. Talent 
is crippled by its absence. Tact without genius or talent works 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



71 



its way through the world as an irresistible force; but with them 
wins greatness. 

It makes but little difference how much is born in us if we 
have no tact, for we cannot use it. There are to-day living in 
obscurity great men and women, who need only this one power to 
develop them. They have aspirations and longings for a proud 
career, a noble future, but have no tact. Could we go among 
them and bring them out by teaching them how to come in con- 
tact with the world, we should find Shakespeares and Miltons, 
Whitefields and Spurgeons, Websters and Clays, Garricks and 
Cushmans, where now we see but the yearning for greatness 
stamped upon the face. 

Tact makes a ready man. It is the knowing Jww, zvhen, 
zvhat and zvhere, to act and speak. It is four-sided, like Char- 
acter. It gives us no rule, but we know an ever clanging, always 
applying rule, that fits all cases with surpassing nicety. 

How shall we acquire tact? If it could be had for wealth, 
some might buy it, if it were born in people, some might fall heirs 
to it, but the only royal way to its attainment is to work for it. 
To promote a course of training which would enable all (who are 
willing to work) to win this, the greatest prize of life, we have 
created the present system known as the "School of Character." 

Kequiremexts. — Once every week review and recite aloud 
from memory the names of the twenty-five "Points of Character'' 
on each Road, and think what you are doing in each. Tact is con- 
tact with the world. These lessons prepare for this contact, first, 
by making character "In the Workshops; 7 ' second, by using it 
"Out in the World;" third, by the difficult struggles "In the 
Depths;" and fourth, by controlling the world "On the Heights." 
If any one Point is being neglected, give it special attention. 
Make a record once a week, or oftener if preferred, of your oppor- 
tunities for using tact and your success or failure. 

Losses. — On deciding to take your final reckoning, estimate 
the value of yourself in this line. If, in your opinion, you are 
perfect, so mark it. If not, make a percentage based on 100. 



72 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON SEVENTEEN. 

SEVENTEENTH POINT OF CHARACTER 
NERVE HEALTH. 

Seventeenth Day in the Wokkshops. Eoad No. 1. 

This calls for self-examination. The brain controls the will, 
the will controls the character. What controls the brain? It is 
a section of the spinal cohimn enlarged. The nerves center in 
this part of the body. As the nerves are, so is the brain, the will, 
and the character. 

An irritable person is nervons; a nervous person is readily irri- 
tated. "Nerve Health" is fed and sustained from the ganglionic 
cells, the storage battery of the body, which collect and store up 
for use the vital fluid. This is life. Its exhaustion means nerv- 
ous prostration, its waste is at the expense of our brain power. 

Nervous people are made so by two causes; physical waste 
and mental waste. Worrying is an illustration of the latter 
trouble. It causes a waste of nerve power by a peculiar conditioa 
of the lungs, recently discovered. All mental and psychological 
phenomena may be traced to physical connections. Why think- 
ing should exhaust the nerve power could not be explained, except 
upon the theory that to think hard caused a consumption of vital- 
ity. On the other hand it shut off the supply. Vitality is drawn 
into the nervous system through the oxygen of the air we breathe, 
or by means of any magnetizing exercise. Hard thinkers stop 
natural breathing during great interest in a subject. Their breath 
is taken at long intervals and in the smaller quantities that will 
support life. People who worry take in even less air, and the 
supply of nerve life is quickly exhausted. 

Movements made by persons who do not think of them, or 
who do not direct them by the will power of the brain, are ex- 
haustive. The constant activity of the hands or feet, or what is 
known as restlessness, soon develops nervousness, for it exhausts 
the vitality. All persons at times have this muscular activity, 
and if continued it not only irritates themselves, but their friends 
also. Who can bear to be in the company of a nervous person?' 



OXE HUXDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



73 



We are made nervous ourselves by watching them. Any move- 
ment of the muscles which is directed by the will power, and ex- 
ecuted as directed, strengthens the brain and nerves; but escape 
movement, made without our control, are but lesser degrees of 
St. Vitus' Dance, and must be controlled. Do not allow your 
nerves to control you. Many ladies and gentlemen in all walks 
of life have this great fault, and little dream of it. They certainly 
fail to impress others with their strength of character. 

Eequieemexts. — Stand still. Sit still. Watch, the finger 
tips and feet. Learn to look steadily at any object. Nervous 
eyesight is too common and often passes for stealth or dishonesty, 
to the detriment of many excellent characters. Make no move- 
ments unless for a purpose. In your moments of activity never 
make a lost motion. This is a beautiful practice. Try it. To 
control others you must have strength of character sufficient to 
control yourself. 

Losses. — Once a week, until you graduate, study yourself and 
see how you have lived up to the requirements. At the time of 
closing accounts estimate your percentage. 



LESSON EIGHTEEX. 
EIGHTEENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

HOME. 

Eighteenth Day ix the TTokkshops. Eoad Xo. 2. 

The love of home is an essential element in one's character. 
Home is where we live and sleep. Some have but a single room, 
unattractive and unfurnished, except for the mere use of lodging. 
To love a home of that kind calls for a large draft on the imagi- 
nation. Before a room can be called a home it must have the fol- 
lowing qualifications: 

1. A comfortable chair. 

2. A table to write upon easily; with good pen, ink and paper. 

3. Light and heat, when needed. 

4. A library, consisting of three or more books. 

5. Some attraction to draw you to it. 



74 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Many other things may be added, but if any one of the fore- 
going is lacking it is not home. From this, the least of all, there 
may be a gradation to the grand homes of the wealthy. Those 
who are most blessed have the least appreciation of a good homo. 
It is an imperative duty which we owe ourselves to find a home. 
A club room is no place for any man, married or single. It is the 
curse of domestic happiness, the bane of pure lives, and the de- 
stroyer of character. A man whose nobility is established may 
unite with others who are his equal in social relations, or for in- 
tellectual improvement; but such men, while nominally members 
of clubs, hold themselves aloof from the routine pleasures of its 
membership. 

Young men are induced to join so-called Literary Clubs, 
under the pretense of self-culture, who waste evening after even- 
ing in cards and filthy anecdotes. If you belong to any club, no 
matter what its name or pretense, or what may be the social cast 
of its membership, do not say, "0, my club is an exception to the 
rule. I'm all right/' Keep a record of the mental or moral 
good you receive at each meeting. To be called "one of the boys" 
is the smallest honor that could attach to the most insignificant 
specimen of a man. 

If your home is not pleasant find out the cause. If it is due 
to the fault of the wife, or husband, see that he, or she, is in- 
duced to enter the "School of Character." Once interested in 
this noble ambition, the person who enters this course of training 
will soon change the entire current of life. So a son or daughter 
who is attracted from home should be induced to enter the 
"School of Character." The future of our country, our nation's 
greatness, and the standard of morality prevailing over this broad 
land, are dependent upon our homes. 

Eequike^iexts. — Sign the following pledge with pen and 

ink: 

Pledge No. 6. 

I solemnly promise that I will make home as pleasant as pos- 
sible under the circumstances; that I will cultivate a love for it; 
and if I am a member of any club or association whatever, I wilL 
resign if I deem it to my detriment to continue in it; and in case 
I do not resign, I will, immediately after each meeting, make a 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 75 

record of all the good said meeting has done me, specifying the 
details thereof. 



Losses. — Each failure to live up to the terms of this pledge 
counts a loss of five marks, which you must record in any book 
that you may set aside for the purpose. 



LESSON NINETEEN. 
NINETEENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
HONESTY. 

Nineteenth Day m the Workshops. Eoad No. 3. 

The record of this part of your personal history should be 
kept from all eyes. Write from the motive to make it strictly 
true, and if you are true to yourself in the record you will have 
established an important Point of Character. As the main re- 
quirement of this lesson is that you make an honest record, it is 
important that the record be kept a secret. No eye but yours 
should ever look upon it. The careless cruelty of curious persons 
should never enter here. If you have not the courage to make 
a full and truthful record of your honesty or dishonesty you are 
lacking in character. 

Eor every honest act that you perform the face looks clearer 
and something is added to your stature. Honest men and women 
are happier than others, have less to fear in life, and more to 
enjoy. Children and animals by instinct take the measure of 
your honesty, while the world at large sums you up by that inner 
process of the mind which cannot be explained. 

Does honesty pay in the business world? At that time when 
honesty was the rule it did pay occasionally to take advantage of 
the prevailing integrity; but now that dishonesty is the rule, an 
honest merchant, known and tested as such, will make the most 
money. The proof of this has come many times within the au- 
thor's observation. But policy should never prompt honesty. 
Its intrinsic value makes it the grandest of the virtues. Try it 



76 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



for awhile. The glorious feeling which integrity brings to you 
cannot be described in words. Perfect honest people are never 
truly unhappy. Try it. 

Never underrate yourself in estimating your rank in each 
one of the "Points of Character" when you take the final reckon- 
ing. If you are in doubt, do not, for the sake of not overestimat- 
ing yourself, lean on the other side. Many people are so modest, 
and desire to appear so modest, that they never accord them- 
selves due credit. They generally seek to parade such honesty. 
But a good reader of human nature knows it is unsafe to trust 
such persons in any matter. 

There are all kinds of honesty in the world, and all kinds of 
diplomatic evasions of its use. No life is open as a book, and 
none need be. When selfish curiosity, malicious jealousy, and 
the desire to tear down reputation to a level with self, shall have 
entirely disappeared from earth, then may every man and woman 
lay open each page of life to the wanton gaze of the multitude. 
The purest and most sacred things of one's character are matters 
of personal privacy; and no person is more honest than he who 
holds them in such charge. It is, therefore, no mark of deceit to 
refuse to others that frankness of disclosure which is not sought 
from pure motives. 

On the other hand the first law of the universe is honesty of 
thought, of purpose, of act. No rule of nature tricks us. Every 
motion follows a fixed principle. We are born out of that same 
nature that lives in the breath of God. If whiteness of soul is 
the desideratum of eternal existence, we should look toward that 
goal in this life even if we never reach it here. 

Let a man or woman be known and proven honest, and what 
a power in the world such person would be; and what accumula- 
tion of power must come from the addition of physical health, 
mental force, executive ability and an all-round character. It is 
a fact that there is something to attain in this life; and that 
herein we have the noblest of all courses of training. 

Eequieements. — These are peculiar. .When the records are 
finally closed you are to look at each Point of Character and the 
percentage you have given it. Included in these must be the 
record of your secret written answers to the following questions, 
on the page opposite to this: 1 — Are you in words and deeds 
always strictly honest? 2 — If not, what proportion of your life 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



since commencing these lessons has been strictly honest? 3 — In 
what were you dishonest during the past week, and what have you 
gained and what have you lost by it? The last question should 
be asked every week. 

Losses. — For each "Point of Character" concerning which 
you have made any dishonest record, record a loss of one mark. 
If you fail to record answers to the three questions of the above 
requirements, record a loss of 100 marks. 



LESSOR TWENTY. 

TWENTIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
SUPERIORITY. 

Twentieth Day m the Workshops. Eoad No. 4. 

At one time in the world's history all knowledge of the 
cause of material phenomena was denied man. At another and 
darker period fear encompassed human life. We live to-day in 
the traditions of the past. The brain inherits the influences that 
made our ancestors necessarily superstitious. The nursery is a 
school of superstition in which traditionary fears are instilled into 
the minds of the youth, who are thus prepared to believe the most 
absurd superstitions of maturer years. Strong women and weak 
men have in stock from fifty to five hundred beliefs in signs that 
affect the daily occurrences of life. Coincidences are so frequent 
that these beliefs are confirmed and nothing can change them. 

"Friday" and the number "thirteen" terrify a large number 
of otherwise sensible people. Very few men will begin any under- 
taking on Friday, on the theory that our Saviour was crucified on 
that day. If a little investigation should prove that the Friday 
of that occurrence was not the same day which is now called 
Friday, but that the days of the week, like those of the month, 
have been rearranged since then, these people would still be 
frightened by the name "Friday," forgetting that the name is not 
so many centuries old. Many great undertakings which were 
commenced on Friday have failed, and many have succeeded. 



78 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Columbus set sail oil Friday and discovered America on Friday. 
It was an unlucky venture. 

The number "thirteen" is fully as alarming. To sit at a 
table where there are thirteen means death to one. Some one dies 
and the superstition is confirmed. To enter a house at one door, 
and go out at another, to open an umbrella indoors, to let a per- 
son or object pass between you and your friend, and so on for 
hundreds more, keep us in fear of some unlucky event. Such 
terrors undermine that nobility of character which denotes true 
men and women. There is a cause for everything. Not one 
atom of nature moves without a direct cause. Death and dis- 
aster, sorrow and adversity have no more preference for me than 
for another. Nothing can happen by chance. 

Those who read these pages or who discuss the facts, pre- 
tend to scoff at the idea that they are superstitious. In the full 
blaze of noon, when the twilight hours and the vaunting echoes 
of the night-ghost are on the other side of the globe, these idle 
talkers boast of their perfect immunity from fear. They are not 
superstitious; they would be very glad indeed to see a spirit (in 
broad daylight with a cordon of policemen to lay it if its clammy 
hand and grave-sweat should seize them); they like thirteen as 
well as any other number; they would begin a great undertaking 
on Friday, except that great undertakings are not in their line; 
and so on until the sun has gone down in its smiling bed winking 
the eye of merriment at frail humanity. 

Nearly all persons believe in ghosts, and have not sense 
enough to trust or to interpret their own fine senses; and herein 
they are handieappd all through life, besides being weak in char- 
acter. "Oh, I know there are such things as ghosts, because I 
have seen them. If I am not to believe what I see, what am I 
to do?" It would take a book to answer this inquiry to the 
satisfaction of the ignorant brain that asks it. We will not at- 
tempt it; but will say briefly that no mind is perfect, no brain im- 
maculate, no sense unerring. That which all eyes may see as 
well, and under similar circumstances, in permanency of vision 
not flitting like vaporous dreams, might or might not be a fact 
as claimed. 

You may take the best proof of the existence of ghosts, 
spirits or other supernatural visitors, and double it twenty times, 
yet it is not strong enough to hang upon. All senses are nervous 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



79 



interpretations and depend upon currents of pulsing energy beat- 
ing in fine waves against the brain in order to make the thing live 
as they feel it. To see a ghost, to hear a ghost, to feel a ghost, 
are sense-interpretations that cannot be regarded as true until 
they give their subjects a place in the world of fact. They flit 
and waver, impress us and are gone. As an excellent investi- 
gator of this science has said, "The senses are not to be trusted 
under circumstances that admit of nothing more than the tran- 
sient passing of sight, touch or sound; yet, could they be trusted, 
there is nothing in the strongest claims of proof that could be ac- 
cepted as evidence of spirits. These visiting impressions may be 
a dozen other things." And it has been well said by another that 
the mind is a gallery ot sensitive plates ready to receive pictures 
through every sense. "I saw a city in the air. Because I saw it 
there I know it is a city. I could not be deceived, for many of my 
friends saw it. Proof like this is positive. Do not provoke me 
by refuting it. The city was above the earth, distinctly separated 
from it, so it could not be a part of this globe. It must then be 
a spirit-city; and of heaven." 

This ardent believer in his own senses who did not wish to 
be provoked by a denial, does not yet know what mirage is, and 
evidently does not wish to know. His proof is better than that 
offered by devotees of superstition, yet is groundless because the 
means of refuting it are within reach of science. A few hundred 
years ago it was heresy to believe that the earth was round, or 
that the sun did not travel about it once a day. Scientific dis- 
covery alone saves us from the "proofs" offered by superstition. 

From correspondence with the managements of steamboat 
companies, we learn that trans-Atlantic voyages do not begin on 
Fridays; and the reasons they assign are good enough in business. 
"The passengers and sailors refuse to set sail on Fridays." In 
nearly all hotels the number thirteen is omitted from rooms 
offered to guests. These are the two leading fears of the age. 
That they are ungrounded can be proved by any organization that 
chooses to make the attempt. The only tangible reason for avoid- 
ing the unlucky day and number is the semi-paralysis they breed 
in the individuals who are enslaved by them. Of what use is a 
crew of sailors who have set sail on Friday? They are unwilling 
to do their duty in a storm, because their ignorance is a weight 
of lead about their necks. On one voyage which began on 



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TEE NEW EDUCATION 



Wednesday, four seamen were made to believe it was Friday; and 
the long train of ill-luck that followed them proved that mis- 
fortune is born of weakness of will rather than days of the week. 

Where superstition seizes upon the mind of a person, no 
matter by what one of the hundred of "bad signs" now extant, 
it is true that the force of character, the energy of purpose, the 
determination to win, are all prostrated; for the fear of failure to 
come because of the ill-omen will lay low the very essence of suc- 
cess, which is faith in yourself; and in proportion as that faith is 
lessened the chances of winning the smiles of good fortune grow 
steadily less. How can a person who lacks faith in self, win any- 
thing? If one or two superstitious ideas will bring ill-luck 
through this paralysis of faith in the results, what hope of suc- 
cess in life can that man or woman have who falls down in abject 
terror before five hundred omens? 

Eequieemexts. — Sign the following pledge in ink and on 
this page: 

Pledge ISTo. 7. 

"I solemnly promise that I will not allow any sign, super- 
stition, or belief to affect my words, thoughts or actions, from 
the day I reach this lesson as long as I live/' 



Losses. — For each breach of this pledge record a loss of one 
mark. 

Tkiumph. — Any person having the time and desire, may, as 
a pleasure, collect all the signs and superstitious beliefs preva- 
lent, that can be learned by inquiry or other means in the course 
of a year, or up to the time these lessons close. Mail to us. 
Such person may credit a triumph of ten marks. 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



81 



LESSON TWENTY-ONE. 
TWENTY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 

EXERCISE. 

TwEXTY-FIKST DAY IX THE TVOKKSHOPS. EOAD No. 1. 

Self -Effort is the first principle of character. It is the en- 
tire law of growth. The body acquires strength by muscular ac- 
tivity directed by the brain. "Where the will power is consciously 
active the body grows by its own movements; but muscular activ- 
ity disconnected from the will wastes vitality very rapidly. 

This seems to be a strange fact. 

Xo person can develop without exercise. There should be 
every day of one's life an intelligent regime for the regulation of 
health, of which exercise should form a great part. In the morn- 
ing a few drops of lemon juice in. a half glass of water, or any 
wholesome fruit, should be taken on arising, and then the body 
should be rubbed down with the bare hands wet in cold water. 
Do not use a sponge or other material in the hand, but always the 
bare hand itself against the flesh. The constant changing of the 
attitudes, the brisk rubbing of the skin, and the muscular move- 
ments of the arms, legs and entire body for ten minutes will afford 
the grandest calisthenic exercise ever invented. 

Then a slight vigor in the limbs while walking at any time 
during the day will turn a lazy stroll into a healthful exercise. 
We can walk in such a way as to derive no benefit from it. Lan- 
guid movements produce a languid disposition. A full pair of 
lungs, vigorous respirations and brisk activity, colored by a health- 
ful vigor in all our movements, stamp a new character on mind 
and heart. The lungs are the seat of life. A full chest is manly 
and womanly. Few persons carry a fully extended chest; but 
when we meet people of magnificent presence and nobility of car- 
riage, we can read the grandeur of the character behind this. 
Weak people, cowards and villains prefer a sunken chest. To 
breathe in deeper and fuller breaths, and to empty the lungs 
completely, will add vitality and power to body and nerves. If 
we rest we decay. The mere resting in bed for a few weeks, even 



82 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



if not sick, would emaciate the body. Activity is necessary to 
growth and health. 

All large modern houses are built with a view to including 
something that will take the place of the old private gymnasium. 
The best medical, scientific and educational opinion to-day is de- 
cidedly against the violence of practice that has always prevailed 
in gymnasiums. We believe in some such system as that known 
as "Kalston Culture/' so completely set forth in the tenth de- 
gree book of the star-organization of the Ealston Club, together 
with all the music, including over one hundred full-page airs for 
accompanying the exercises. No home, however humble, could 
have a better combination of health and pleasure than this 
system. 

It is supposed that the toiler is better situated in life than 
the sedentary person. It is true that he can digest worse food, 
and he gets it. The severity of labor places a great tax on the 
system which is not met bymethods of living that are calculated to 
relieve the burden. Not only is the diet poorer, but it is gener- 
ally insufficient for the health of the man or woman that must 
work hard for a livelihood. It is true that labor is one kind of 
exercise, and that it often leads to outdoor life. It also uses up 
the nutrition of the general system, and a demand is created for 
more food. As against this advantage, comes the serious objec- 
tion that the toiler does not free the system of effete matter so 
freely by bathing, cleanliness and frequent changes of undercloth- 
ing as the sedentary person; and the dead matter is thrown back 
upon the blood, the liver stagnates, and organic troubles ensue, 
leading to biliousness, chills and fever in malarial localities, and a 
clogged stomach. Then, again, the worker comes to the table 
too often exhausted, and the nervous powers of digestion are de- 
pressed. Some of the worst cases of dyspepsia are found among 
those whose physical activity, carried right up to the moment of 
eating, has absorbed so much of the vital-fund of the nervous sys- 
tem that the stomach has insufficient power to accept and assimi- 
late food. True hunger must be based on a buoyant demand of 
the nerves that carry on the process of digestion; and their buoy- 
ancy does not exist if a general weariness prevails. Work 
causes indigestion when it tires too much; and even exercise, 
study, mental strain, worry, or other matter that may weaken 
the spirits, will do injury to the stomach. A rest should in- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



83 



tervene. Never go to the table weary, and think to gain any- 
thing by eating. The caprices of appetite, the high seasoning, 
the abandonment of plain food for the limited scope of relish, 
are sure to tmdermine every organ in the body, and that 
which is weakest will fail first. It may be the kings, the heart, 
the liver, the kidneys, the general constitntion, the blood, or the 
central source of it all, the stomach; but the cause and cure are 
located in the last-named place. Many kinds of work deform the 
stomach, for the reason that the toiler will not take advantage 
of what little diversion is possible. To sit, or to stoop continu- 
ally, produces this deformity and consequent indigestion. Bead- 
ing, writing, sewing, and many occupations may be varied at times, 
even if there is no change of work. Some of it may be done in 
brief periods of standing; and all may be so performed as to 
prevent the concaving of the stomach. 

Many persons are heard to say: "Oh, we do not need physical 
culture; we get exercise enough in our work." While it is true 
that sickly and sedentary persons need physical training more 
than those who are active in daily life, it is wrong to suppose 
that work takes the place of such training. Let us examine a few 
of the important differences between the one and the other. The 
artisan works. Even in all the variety of the least monotonous 
occupation he runs in a fixed channel, the very sameness of which 
develops automatic habits from which relief is a necessity. Most 
toilers are not thus favored. The continuous repetition of one 
kind of muscular employment deprives the organs of their life- 
drawing vitality: for they quickly accommodate themselves to 
habits and do not depart from such tendencies until aroused. 
Muscles are pliant ropes when worked in all the directions which 
nature has made possible; but when given limited though varied 
uses, they lose all elasticity for other action. Thus the farmer 
who has to bend the knee without much opportunity for balanc- 
ing that action with other movements of a diverse nature, is seen 
to be crook-kneed; his legs are angular; and it would be a mat- 
ter of some dimculty to give him a graceful carriage or even a 
fairly graceful walk. In his occupation he stoops; so his back is 
bent and the curve is a fixed one. His hands grasp implements, 
which require the crooking of the fingers and their joints. These 
are carried to the grave in their bent condition. Work is of all 
kinds: vet it is never so varied that it furnishes a counter-balance 



84 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



for the overtax it imposes on certain sets of muscles; and, when 
all sets are used, they are given no opportunity whatever for the 
reaction which training alone can supply: Play is considered bet- 
ter than work as a means of health; and this is true when it is 
not attended by the evil influences that so often creep into its 
methods; as, for instance, the excess of enthusiasm that takes 
away too much vitality, the exposure to a low temperature when 
the heat of the body is uncomfortable, the disappointments that 
follow defeat, and the tendency to overdevelop certain muscles 
while the others are left to yield up their own strength in behalf 
of the former. It requires the best of judgment to turn play into 
physical culture; and, even then, an all-round balance will be 
found wanting. Yet as between work and play, it is clearly 
proved by experience that the latter is to be preferred as a means 
of inviting health. A true system of physical culture will include 
the play impulse, avoid its disadvantages, and furnish a complete 
balance to each of its many movements. All physical work 
wearies through its inadequate rewards; all play is profitless; and 
there is no satisfying use of the faculties of the body except such 
as may be found in a true system of physical training. 

Kequirements. — You are requested to put into daily prac- 
tice the suggestions of this lesson, or else substitute some system 
of exercise of your own invention. This must be done daily. 
Walking with vigor, the use of arm movements, or any good sub- 
stitute may be taken at the option of the pupil. 

Losses. — For every omitted day record a loss of one mark. 
Check off on the opposite page, with a single mark, each day you 
omit to take some exercise systematically. 

LESSON TWEXTY-TWO. 
TWENTY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 
LITERATURE. 

Twenty-second Day in the Workshops. Eoad No. 2. 

The title of this lesson would indicate what road we are on. 
Its work is certainly delightful. If you have refinement and thor- 
ough culture you will appreciate the stages of Eoad 2. You are 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



85 



still giving your "Morning Quotation" daily on rising. "Nature" 
has already impressed her beauties on your soul. You are trying 
to acquire a "Kind Voice;" have formed a deeper admiration for 
"Flowers and Music;" love your "Home" better; and being seated 
in it at your table with a few minutes to spare you read from your 
library! How many books are there in it? Three. A few books 
well digested make the strongest minds. "Beware of the man 
of one book." Webster read but few, but he absorbed them. 
Milton, Shakespeare and the Bible, all three grand works from a 
literary standpoint, have been committed to memory, in whole or 
in part, by scores, if not by hundreds, of the greatest men and 
women of the last two centuries. No book excels these in imag- 
inative power, purity of diction, lofty style, and practical gran- 
deur. Gladstone owes much of his greatness to a close study of 
the literature of the Bible. 

To take a large stride from the sublime to the common-place 
and practical, we would suggest that our pupils read and re-read 
the hundred and more chapters of this course of lessons until the 
entire system is thoroughly understood. On each review new 
light will come to you and valuable facts be more firmly impressed 
on your mind. 

In addition to these you should read occasionally from some 
poet of your own day. If permitted to advise you as to what 
books are best in your small library we would suggest the fol- 
lowing: 

1. The Bible. 2. Shakespeare. 3. Milton. 4. Tennyson. 
5. Longfellow. 6. Bryant. 7. Wordsworth. 

This is merely the foundation of what will some day be a 
large library, if not already so. Do not read too long from any 
one book. Come away hungry. Eead but little, yet read that 
little long. 

Eequieements. — In the cozy quietude of your little "Home" 
whether humble or grand, have a little library exclusively your 
own. Make the choice yourself. Occasionally spend five minutes 
hunting for the gems which lie hidden there. 

Losses. — In estimating your rank at the final reckoning, 
judge for yourself in how far you have complied with the require- 
ments, and mark your percentage on the basis of one hundred 
marks for perfect. 



86 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON TWENTY-THREE. 
TWENTY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 
SIMPLICITY. 

T WENT Y-THIED DAY IN THE WOEKSHOPS. EOAD No. 3. 

The true world loves simplicity. It is a larger form of in- 
geniousness. It is not stupidity, humility nor weakness. It is 
the type of real greatness; for only mediocrity displays affectation 
and ostentatious manners. 

Some persons are so given to pretentions that it is difficult 
to decipher their true nature; to such it may be well to affect 
character, for their true dispositions would appear to disad- 
vantage. Yet the world reads them. An affected person can 
never gain the good opinion of mankind, although he may have 
spent hours daily in studying the art which he thinks deceives 
others. But what shall be done? If affectation covers more 
serious defects, is not the lesser evil to be preferred? No. 
Conquer the greater. The same care and attention that is re- 
quired to affect well, should be devoted to the ^One Hundred 
Points of Character." Completely remove the deficiencies and 
make a man or woman out of what is but an imitation. 

As in Rhetoric and Oratory the simple style is the best, so 
in the daily conduct of life. Do not use words in conversation 
that handicap a sentence. Adjectives qualify and limit, there- 
fore they weaken. The truth never sounds so well as when simply 
told. Verbosity, mere verbiage, is distasteful to good listeners, 
and disgusts bad. 

Simplicity does not mean humility. A man has a right to 
build as grand a house as he can afford, to dress as well, and live 
as well as his means will permit, always keeping within his pres- 
ent and prospective income. Fashion should be observed by both 
sexes, if they can afford it, not otherwise. The constant change 
of fashion makes trade lively, employs people, and supports labor, 
thereby distributing the money of the rich among the poor. 
Times can never be very hard in a land where the rich waste 
their wealth on changing fashions. They bless the country. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



87 



Neither is it necessary to "wear your heart upon your sleeve/' 
in order to adopt simplicity. Eeserve and silence are often bet- 
ter than unloading the full contents of your brain upon every oc- 
casion; but when you do speak or act let it be frank and simple, 
not elaborate and affected. Politeness never shows to better ad- 
vantage than when it bears the stamp of naturalness. 

Eequirements. — Cultivate the art of ingenuousness by com- 
bining Nature with honesty in your daily life, and thereby letting 
it permeate your contact with the world. Avoid affectation. Do 
not seek to make an impression upon others by pretending what 
you know you are not, but rather by acting your real self; at the 
same time building a noble character to sustain you. 

Losses. — When making your final reckoning, estimate the 
value of your character in this regard, always commencing from 
the day you first undertook this lesson. 



LESSON TWENTY-FOUR. 
TWENTY-FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
THOUGHT CONTROL. 

TwENTY-EOUETH DAY IN THE WORKSHOPS. EOAD No. 4. 

"Idleness is the devil's workshop." Meditation is the lab- 
oratory of character making. 

The brain may be idle, but, unlike the idle body, it is active. 
Meditation is a safe employment of the mind, for it is directed by 
the will and wishes. Idle activity of the brain is a condition or 
thought where the will plays no part, but allows the mind to 
drift. 

It is a strange order of things that when the muscles are 
active automatically the nervous system becomes exhausted; and 
when the brain is similarly employed the mental powers are weak- 
ened. The morals suffer equally with the mind, for a drifting 
brain descends to forbidden grounds. 

The line seems finely drawn between the flight of fancy and 
the long journeys into the imaginative realms where genius loves 
to roam, on the one hand, and idle drifting on the other; but, to 



88 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



a person who has ever taken the trouble to examine himself men- 
tally, the difference is well' marked. "Know thyself' was de- 
manded by the Greek philosopher; but he had no reference to a 
knowledge of the physical body, as is claimed by medical adver- 
tisers. To study your brain and heart, and learn where errors 
may be supplanted, is the nobler self-knowledge. 

"Thought Control" is a delightful study. It is a practice; and 
cannot be mastered at the first efforts. Ordinarily those who have 
undertaken the study have failed at first. Here comes an oppor- 
tunity for applying the "Eighth Point of Character," — Conquer 
Failure. No better test could be afforded. 

The necessity for Thought Control arises when improper things 
enter the mind, to tempt us from the path of duty or morality. At 
such a time the ability to change the topic of thought at will is of 
great value. It will save many an error and consequent suffering. 

• To accomplish this important result it is well to write down a 
train of thought just as it passes through the brain, placing upon 
paper the subjects touched upon as the train proceeds. This gives 
us an idea of the ever shifting nature of a drifting brain. The next 
step is to endeavor to follow a train of thought mentally without 
writing it down, and holding the subjects in the memory, reciting 
them aloud in correct order. The third and last step is to follow 
a train and turn it at will upon any desired subject. 

Eequieements. — Sign the following pledge in ink. 

Pledge No. 8. 

"I solemnly promise to practice the foregoing exercise when 
convenient; also to conquer failure until I am able to control my 
thoughts ; also to turn from my brain all baneful thoughts and all 
suggestions that would call me from the path of duty." 



Losses. — For every failure to do this when the failure is not 
ultimately conquered, you must record the loss of one mark. When 
you have yielded to the failure, but afterwards your strength of 
character comes to the rescue and you win, record a triumph of 
ten marks. This kind of a victory is exceedingly important. 
Triumphs will make a valuable count at the end. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



89 



LESSON TWENTY-FIVE. 
TWENTY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

AUTOMATICS. 

Twenty-fifth Day m the Workshops. Road No. 1. 

In the kaleidoscopic nature of our character formation many 
new and unexpected subjects are brought before us. Road 1 is a 
peculiar path, following out a line of development entirely its own. 
The change from one road to another is refreshing. We are making 
material for the four walls of the Citadel. 

Did you ever watch your friend? What are his mannerisms, 
his individualities, his automatics? Individualities are character 
peculiarities. Mannerisms are physical peculiarities. Automatics 
are small and disagreeable movements that attract attention and 
detract from the usefulness and character of their possessor. 

With the exception of those who have perfect self-control all 
persons possess automatics. Indeed, it is claimed that no person 
is free from them at one time or another. One person winks con- 
tinually. Another squints the face into a constant contortion; this 
gentleman chews his mustache; this lady bites her finger nails; 
that girl nibbles at the ends of her fingers; this young man drums, 
or keeps his lips in motion; and so on through a long list of auto- 
matic motions. But sounds are very disagreeable when automatic. 
We can look away from the sight of the motion, but cannot close 
our ears to the person who drums, or taps the foot, or snaps the 
fingers, or whistles, or "hems" at every pause, or says "uh." a thou- 
sand times an hour when struggling for the right word, or keeps 
some sound going to annoy those within hearing. 

Automatics ruin a person's usefulness and directly affect their 
success in the world. It is a pleasure to get away from the person 
possessing them. Many clergymen fail because of this difficulty. 
No friend is bold enough to criticise so small a point. It touches 
the sensitiveness too finely. 

The only way to cure them is through your "Ally" Who this 
person is will be explained in a subsequent lesson. His or her aid 
will prove the saving and the making of many a great character. 



90 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Ask your "Ally" to point out to you and write down such automatic 
movements and sounds as lie may discover in you. But you cannot 
do the same for him. For the reason that an interchange of criti- 
cism is always colored by the exchange, it would be injurious. Your 
"Affirmative Ally" must therefore criticise you in all matters, but 
your "Negative Ally" must never do this. 

Eequieements. — Study your automatic movements and 
sounds, and obtain from your "Negative Ally" a list of them. By 
constant watchfulness overcome them. 

Losses. — When the final reckoning is made estimate the degree 
of success you have attained in this Point of Character, and mark 
yourself on the basis of 100 per cent. 



LESSOX TWENTY-SIX. 
TWENTY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

TWEXTY-SIXTH DAY IX THE WORKSHOPS. EOAD Xo. 2. 

In this lesson is left much to your own option. As the "Morn- 
ing Quotation" brings us into intimate relation with the resultant 
glories of the past, which we absorb by using, so the knowledge of 
the lives of great men and women, their habits, education, struggles 
and triumphs, will enter into our own natures quite unconsciously. 
Many of the world's greatest advisers said that the surest way 
to form character is to read biography. 

Whether this be true or not, it is nevertheless certain that no 
person can read the life of any successful man or woman without 
adding to his own character. It becomes pleasant reading after 
being educated to it. Of course it is not as pleasant as novel-read- 
ing. We all like to read novels, but they should be chosen with 
great care and taken as dessert. 

Many comparisons between biography and fiction might be 
made by captious minds in the hope of substituting the dessert for 
the dinner; but arguments can always be made to support the de- 
sires of the heart. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



91 



We cannot insist upon you discarding novels, yet they lessen 
your mental uesfulness in life. None of them are so close to life 
as we make ourselves think, and they are not as often the "personal 
history of the author" as we imagine, nor "a true story from life/' 
as we are told. Such claims are specious. 

A great man or woman is a part of the history of the world. 
The name and influence live for centuries; the success is a precedent 
to guide our lives; the fame an inspiration. No novel can touch the 
biography of a great person. 

If you have time it is well to select the lives of a. diversity of 
people, embracing as many different departments of life as possible. 
We only suggest the following as the first course: 

1 — Some great divine. 2 — Some great general. 3 — Some 
great ruler. 4 — Some great poet. 5 — Some great prose writer. 
6 — Some great singer. 7 — Some great composer. 8 — Some great 
orator. 

The choice may rest entirely with you. 

You may not have time to devote to reading so many books; 
if not, do the best you can under the circumstances. If, however, 
you can complete this first course of biographies, taking eight or 
more as a course, it would then be well to take as a second course 
some other divine, general, etc. The reading would be most de- 
lightful, pursued in this way. If you care to, you may write to us, 
sending a list of your reading in each month, or year. We have 
known of hundreds of persons whose taste for trashy novels has 
been completely eradicated by this course of reading, suggested by 
us years ago. 

Eequirements. — Do the best you can under the circum- 
stances, and at the end of the 100 lessons, record your own esti- 
mate of your value in this "Point of Character," always taking 
into consideration the extent to which you have taken advantage of 
your opportunities. 

Losses. — No losses occur in this lesson, except as may be based 
on the percentage of 100, in estimating your adoption of our 
suggestions. 



92 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON TWENTY-SEVEN". 

TWENTY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
EXECUTION. 

Twenty-seventh Day in the Workshops. Road No. 3. 

Day dreamers and "castle builders" seldom execute. Once 
in a while they make the attempt and more rarely still they suc- 
ceed. To build castles in the air is not such an idle occupation as 
we would think. All great men have indulged in this happy occu- 
pation, but have turned their dreams into realizations. There are 
few castles of this kind that cannot be made realities, for they are 
founded upon desires, and these desires are inspired by what has 
beeii accomplished. "What man has done man can do." 

Many persons make plans which they know they can execute, 
but never enter upon the doing of them; or, if they do, they lose 
interest in them, or have not the energy of completion. 

To go about a thing is a refreshing element in one's character. 
You are sitting now in the memory of some task that you have left 
unperformed. It would have been done but you could not summon 
the energy to start about it, 

"Decision" is akin to this, but quite apart. It takes a decisive 
character to know what to do, and how to do it. To make up one's 
mind firmly to do or not to do a cerain thing is "Decision." To 
execute a thing is to go about it at the proper time and place, with- 
out delay. 

In the biography of a successful man, we find that he was ac- 
customed in the morning to write down the tasks of the day, espe- 
cially those that did not come under the usual routine duties; and at 
night he would check those which he had performed. In this way 
he formed a habit of doing everything that had to be done, and 
by this pleasant method achieved great success in life. 

To demand and require so much as this of you would perhaps 
be impractical, but sometime, when your other duties permit, it 
would be well to deal with yourself in some such way. 

"Never put off until to-morrow what can be done to-day," is 
in' the spirit of this Point of Character, and seems to have been 
made a very essential element in the lives of many great men. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



93 



Executive ability is so necessary in every successful life that 
you ought to cultivate its power by special practice. This you can 
do by making up your mind that, you will undertake something 
difficult, and persist in it to the end. The quality grows by using, 
and no person need ever fail who is not lamentably weak. One 
success leads to another; one failure likewise paves the way to its 
successor. No more marked evidence of a lack of character can be 
found than the inability to carry into execution what has been be- 
gun or what should be undertaken. Everywhere in the world the 
demand is for men and women of executive ability. 

Requirements. — Whenever you have decided to do a thing 
that is proper to do, do it. Perform all necessary tasks promptly. 
To hesitate is to fail in this. 

Losses. — For every time when you fail to perform a task or 
duty promptly record a loss of one mark. The final accomplishment 
of it will not save a loss. The first and last element of Execution 
is to do it when it should be done, with no unnecessary delay. 



LESSON TWENTY-EIGHT. 

TWENTY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

RESPECT, 

Twenty-eighth Day in the Workshops. Eoad No. 4. 

This closes the seventh round of visits to the Workshops. 
Two more rounds will graduate us from this hard labor and take 
us out into the wide world, to learn the experience of contact 
with it. 

The present lesson is in line with the peculiar topics that have 
already accompanied us through the preceding stages. Yielding 
to the will of the majority is the only safe principle in a govern- 
ment by the people. Institutions and social conditions succeed 
best when the minority yield due respect to the will of the major- 
ity. Yet if that majority is corrupt our duty to respect them 
ceases. 



94 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



The will of the people in general elections is entitled to con- 
siderable regard. The office, if not the occupant, should always re- 
ceive our respect. Sneering at and belittling well established in- 
stitutions can only re-act against our character. It is the sign of 
a pessimist, a smallness of nature, that portrays narrowness of mind 
and littleness of heart. 

A sincere man should receive our support, and if we cannot 
give that, we should respect his sincerity. 

There is a class of people not the offscourings of creation, but 
a better class and a growing one too, who abuse the various reli- 
gious sects of the civilized world. Any form of worship that is not 
prohibited by law is entitled to the respect of every man, woman 
and child living under the flag that protects that religion. These 
lessons are not written by a religious person, but by one who in 
spite of his non-religion, deems it a duty owing to himself and to 
his fellow beings to respect the religious sincerity of others. That 
hypocrites are found in churches is no ground for sneering at re- 
ligion, for a hypocrite would not imitate an unworthy tiling; our 
disrespect should apply to the imitation and not to the thing imi- 
tated. Were it not for the peace that has been brought into the 
world through the influences of the churches, there would be no 
spot on earth where human life would be safe. We are but a few re- 
moves from an age of murder and quarrel. If you remove religion 
from the world you must take with it every school house, every 
hospital, and every charitable institution in the land. 

It co>sts nothing, it does no harm, and it wins us friends, self- 
esteem and character, to respect religion, whether we believe in it 
or not. 

Kequirements. — These are not imposed upon you, but the 
privilege of determining the matter is left entirely in your hands. 
It is presumed that you do not need the admonition not to ridicule, 
speak lightly of, nor embarrass those who are sincere in their reli- 
gious belief. 

Losses. — When making your final reckoning estimate your 
standing in this "Point of Character" on a scale of 100 per cent. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



95 



LESSON TWENTY-NINE. 
TWENTY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

CLEANLINESS. 

Twenty-ninth Day in the Woekshops. Koad No. 1. 

If a pupil makes a record of 100 per cent, in the stages of Koad 
1 alone be will present a marked improvement in health and self- 
control. Cleanliness is as much a constituent part of character as 
honesty. The two seem to be antagonistic, if their refusal to keep 
company is an indication. Whenever you meet a thoroughly honest 
man you will be safe in saying he needs a bath, yet this is not always 
true. The sweetest dispositioned people we can find lack clean- 
liness as a rule. Is it because dishonesty and activity are twins, as 
honesty and laziness seem to be? A maiden, pure and sweet, hon- 
est and na'ive as an angel, is generally indolent enough to neglect 
this great duty. The exceptions are persons of character. If you 
perform the simple exercise of Lesson 21 every morning there need 
be no fear of neglecting them. 

But something more should be done. The hands, face, nails, 
ears and neck should be thoroughly clean at all times. The shoes 
should be in the best condition and the clothing neat as well as 
clean. It is not what others think, but the self-satisfaction which 
one has, that rewards the effort and builds one element of character. 
Every article of clothing, visible and invisible to the gaze of others, 
should be perfectly clean. 

Our outward appearance should be as attractive for the mem- 
bers of our own family as for outsiders, except that we do not wear 
as costly clothing on one occasion as on another. 

Two lovers, endeavoring to make an impression on each other, 
dress and "fix" to the utmost of their ability and taste. It is de^ 
ception to do this before marriage merely to make the other believe 
that this is his or her usual appearance. Such care in dressing is a 
very good standard to live up to at all times. Love would fill many 
a home if carelessness and untidiness were kept out of it as scrupu- 
lously after marriage as before. But it is not for others that we 
should do this; it is for the solid satisfaction to ourselves which 
follows. 



96 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Requirements. — Put into practice the suggestions of this les- 
son as far as possible in your circumstances in life. Take an inter- 
est in your own personal cleanliness and neatness. Form the habit 
of giving attention to this subject as often as opportunity allows. 
Do not say there are too many Points of Character to be attended 
to. There are not. They take up less time than at first seems to 
be the case. They grow into our life, and we gradually learn to 
live up to them, until no attention is required to be given to them. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning record your estimate of the 
degree of character you have attained since this lesson was reached . 
Any lesson may be taken up at any time provided none are omitted, 
-and none taken out of turn. The basis is always 100 per cent. 

LESSON THIRTY. 
THIRTIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
NOBILITY. 

Thirtieth Day in the Workshops. Road No. 2. 

Nobility is the opposite of meanness. When one is present 
the other is lacking. No element of character shows itself so 
readily and so certainly in the face as this; and the same is true of 
its opposite. A mean thought drifts into the face as soon as it 
emanates from the heart. Its lines are unmistakable. It is an 
error to suppose that facial formation is inherited. Only the 
bony structure descends to us. The muscular and nervous forma- 
tions are made by our own real characters, from which there is no 
mistake. Some years ago when these lessons were privately taught 
and earnest pupils accomplished one hundred per cent, we saw 
plain and even ugly faces transformed into those of beauty and 
strength of character. 

A noble heart makes a grand face. 

In order to cultivate "Nobility" the whole current of life must 
be changed. It is not likely that your vocation would be affected, 
nor your general routine of life; but small and trivial things must 
go out, mean feelings and thoughts must be suppressed, and in 
their place you must establish the "One Hundred Points of Char- 
acter." To do this requires a will power and energy worthy of a 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



97 



great life. All can summon these if they desire. It requires 
Self-Effort, Decision and Execution. Put these to the test. 

Jealousy, envy, malice, hatred, revenge, are all planted in 
every person's nature. They are aroused and provoked by a variety 
of causes, emanating from our contact with the world. We will 
soon be out of the Workshops and must prepare ourselves to meet 
these passions, in our later stages. By the aid of Thought-Control 
we can turn these evil thoughts from the mind. A little reasoning 
of a philosophical nature will show us the uselessness of nursing 
such passions. Ask the question, what good will it do? and fol- 
low out a train of thought to solve it. If we seek to bring our 
enemies to punishment we should do it under the desire to do 
justice to them and ourselves. 

To establish "Nobility" in its highest and grandest sense, 
nothing more is needed than to conscientiously pursue this course 
of training to the end. These lessons, if rightly understood and 
practiced, will create a new being. 

Requirements. — Allow no mean thought to enter the mind, 
no mean feeling to come into the heart. Study the "One Hundred 
Points of Character/' from beginning to end, as often as possible, 
to draw from them the fullest meaning; and new light will come 
to you on each re-reading. Absorb their influences until your 
character is thoroughly imbued with their teachings, and your 
heart is inspired to win its noblest aim in life. 

Losses. — On making the final reckoning you may determine 
what proportion of 100 per cent, you are entitled to. If at any 
time a mean feeling does get possession of you and failure ensues, 
and you afterwards conquer that failure and drive the meanness 
away, record a triumph of five marks. 

LESSON THIRTY-ONE. 
THIRTY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 

COMPLETION. 

Thirty-first Day in the Workshops. Road No. 3. 

What is the last thing which you commenced but did not 
finish? What the thing before that? 



98 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



Have you ever outlined a course of reading, or study, with 
the resolve to push it vigorously to a glorious end, and then go on 
for a few weeks or days and gradually lose interest, till you aban- 
doned it? What schemes and plans have fallen through because 
you lost interest in them? 

You may have an excellent reputation for capability, together 
with a good opinion of yourself; and you may be called everything 
that is good and great by those who know you; but if you undertake 
anything with zeal, and fail to retain your interest to the end, you 
lack an important element of character. Anything that is com- 
menced should be finished. There are many excuses for not finish- 
ing, and "good" excuses, too; just as "good" as the desire to stop 
is strong. Is it stenography, or music, or languages, or what? It 
was harder than you anticipated. It required too much time. 
Other things demanded your attention. Some excellent and 
worthy excuse will enable you lo satisfy yourself; but your char- 
acter suffers every time 1 , and doubly, too, for the abandonment 
was a shock to it, and the insinuating deception of the "excuse" 
makes it easier to deceive yourself in other matters on a larger 
scale. 

A hard and disagreeable experience is necessary to most people 
before their characters are duly strengthened. If you find yourself 
engaged in any undertaking that you most anxiously desire to 
abandon, punish yourself by going through to the end. You 
should not have begun it if you did not know what it required. 
A good, sound punishing will prove wholesome, even if it is a waste 
of time. But nothing ever proves a waste to those who possess the 
genius of adapting themselves to circumstances. It is recorded 
of scores of great men and women that they never began an under- 
taking that was not finished. This may be seen from reading their 
biographies. 

Requikements. — Commencing from the time you begin this 
lesson and continuing to the time of closing accounts and making 
your final reckoning, you must make a record on the opposite page 
of this of every important or new thing which you undertake, 
omitting those which belong to the routine duties of life. Put 
down the time when each is begun and the time when finished 
or suspended. 

Losses. — For every suspension record a loss of five marks; for 
every finish record a triumph of five marks. At the time of the 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 99 

final reckoning 100 marks are placed against each of the "One 
Hundred Points of Character," making a total of 10,000 marks, 
equal to one hundred per cent. From these all losses are deducted, 
and to them triumphs are added. If no losses occur and triumphs 
are made, over 100 per cent, is possible. Therefore great efforts 
should be made to win the latter. 



LESSON THIRTY-TWO. 
THIRTY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 
SABBATH. 

Thirty-second Day in the Workshops. Road No. 4. 

If you are a professed church member and give due observance 
to the Sabbath, this lesson is not for you. Record 100 per cent, 
and pass on. Not being familiar with the religious claims, except 
as matters of historical or common knowledge, we cannot present 
them. If there were no religions on earth there would yet be 
physical reasons why one day in seven should be reserved for rest 
and meditation. It would be appealing to your superstitious 
nature to urge the argument used by many non-religious people, 
that work done on Sunday brings ill-luck all the week. That is 
pure nonsense. Sunday workers are guilty people; the tinge 
shame can be read on their faces. They know that every civilized 
nation on the globe commands a respectful observance of this day, 
excepting such a nation as makes an open bid for the immoralities 
of life. The largest majority of the people of this country that 
ever united on any one question adhere to this observance, and the 
lesson on "Respcctf* commands us to abide by the wishes of the 
majority. The greatest men in all professions, and in all depart- 
ments of life, with hardly one exception in a generation, revere 
the Sabbath day. The laws protect this day. Contracts are il- 
legal; notes are void; and business is forbidden. This is the law 
under which you live, and even if you are an atheist, you would 
never vote to change the statute. In the hurry and struggle of 
life, with its six days of bitterness, its disappointments and con- 
taminating influence, the nature of man demands a day of with- 



100 THE NEW EDUCATION 

% 

drawal from all these — a day of rest. When a person defies the 
consensus of public opinion and desecrates the Sabbath by work 
and amusement, he loses a portion of his own good opinion of him- 
self. No matter how strongly he may assert the contrary, he has 
pinched his moral nature; and should his friends know of this dese- 
cration they would have a much poorer opinion of him than before. 

On the other hand, when a person obeys the criminal law, 
and respects the sentiment of the nation by keeping this day 
sacred, he has a feeling of satisfaction that cannot be bought with 
money. His character is made better and nobler. "When in 
Rome do as the Romans do" is a common motto. When among a 
Sabbath-observing people, observe the Sabbath; but if you go to 
a country of prostitutes and gamblers the chances are that you will 
not be required to hold this day sacred. 

Requirements. — Devote Sunday to a day of rest, and with- 
drawal from the secular things of life. Church attendance is sure 
to ennoble your character, even if you do not believe in religion. 
But if you do not feel inclined to go to church, seek such a method 
of showing your respect for the day as will elevate you in the 
opinion of the better classes of people. 

Losses. — For each failure to comply with the foregoing re- 
quirements record a loss of two marks. 

LESSON THIRTY-THREE. 
THIRTY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 
MEMORY. 

Thiety-thied Day in" the Workshops. Road No. 1. 

Forgetfulness and neglect are akin. As the memory is 
strengthened with wonderful rapidity it is a sin to permit it to 
remain weak. Its use or non-use quickly affects it either way. 

A breaking down of the brain-power first appears in the dif- 
ficulty of remembering names and events; and, while it is not true 
that the cultivation of the memory would restore the brain, it 
would nevertheless help it some, and prevent mental disease. As 
we owe many duties to those with whom we deal in business and 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 101 

social life we have no right to forget them, for our forgetfulness 
often causes annoyance and loss to them. The failure to remem- 
ber has often done us injury, as well as others who depended 
upon us. 

This element of character being an important one it is well 
to go into a special course of training to develop and strengthen it. 

Suggestions for Strengthening the Memory. 

1. Take any sentence; select the emphatic words, having but 
one word to an elementary thought; commit these words to memory 
in their order; then endeavor to complete the entire sentence 
mentally or aloud. 

2. In going from your home to any other house or place of 
business, try to recall all the persons by name whom you met, and 
in the order in which you met them. 

3. On retiring for the night recall the events of the day in 
the order in which they have occurred. 

4. During meditation carry on a train of thought as directed 
in the lesson on Thought-Control, and recall all the topics in reverse 
order, then in the order in which they came to the mind. 

5. A most excellent practice, and probably the very best 
for developing a quick and ready memory is to listen closely to a 
sermon, and on the first trial, seek to recall the text, and the most 
important part made during the discourse. On the second trial 
recall the two most important points established by the sermon; 
and so on increasing by one each time. Do not seek at first to 
recall more than one point, for, although you will undoubtedly be 
able to remember very many, it will prevent the scale of increase 
if you do not follow the plan here given. 

Eequirements. — To carry into practice the foregoing sug- 
gestions as far as you may be able, with due regard for the demands 
of your other duties, is all we ask of you. By learning how to 
economize the moments of life you will have time to accomplish 
many things that now seem impossible. See the lesson on 
"Moments." 

Losses. — When you make the final reckoning, if you think you 
have done the best you could to strengthen your memory under all 
the circumstances of your life since reaching this lesson, place 
your mark at 100 per cent. If not, then estimate its value on the 
basis of 100. 



102 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON THIKTY-FOUK. 
THIRTY FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

CONSCIENCE. 

Thirty-fourth Day in the Workshops. Eoad lso. 2. 

A clear conscience is worth more than all the wealth and 
power the world ever gave. Happiness is a relative term. 
Wherever we may be, whatever our success in life may have brought 
to us of money, friends or rank, we find happiness only in our 
conscience. The unhappy rich man looks pityingly down on the 
begrimed toiler, and thanks fate that his lot is not as harsh as the 
serf whose heart is the happier of the two. No person is perfectly 
happy, but he whose conscience is as white as snow. To him dis- 
content is a sin; uncleanliness is a sin. If any condensed system 
for the prolongation of human life were to be suggested, three 
words would cover the ground: Conscience, contentment and clean- 
liness. These are practical, and reach the everyday necessities of 
life. The mind may make or mar the health of the body. Peace 
will make life long, by removing its opposite, which is irritability. 
Our nature is threefold: physical, mental and emotional. Clean- 
liness of body gives physical peace; contentment gives mental 
peace; a clear conscience gives peace of heart, the seat of our emo- 
tional nature. Here is a trinity which is the key of life, and the 
key to eternity. 

If you do not possess a clear conscience obtain one as soon 
as possible. It will give you a new birth. Where life now lingers 
under the cloud, or on the edge of the storm, it will then come out 
under the blue sky, in the open fields, where flowers brighten the 
way and birds sing to the melody of the heart. The happiness — 
almost ecstacy — of a clear conscience has no parallel in life. It 
is worth trying for. Will you make the attempt? The process is 
easy, the way hard. Self-Effort, the first Point of Character, is 
needed. Decision and Execution must be used. If your conscience 
is not clear something makes it so. That something may be found 
under the One Hundred Points of Character. The present system 
would lack perfection if it did not cover such a case as this, and 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



103 



answer all the demands of a clear conscience. You can safely 
measure your character by the standard of this system. The cause 
of a seared conscience, and the removal of that cause, are the only 
solutions of the present problem. 

Requirements. — Is your conscience perfectly clear? If so, 
and it so continues to the end of these lessons, give yourself a 
rating of one hundred per cent. But before doing that, apply the 
test of each one of the One Hundred Points of Character. A per- 
fect conscience can only exist where the requirements of each Point 
of Character are properly fulfilled. 

Losses. — For each Point of Character neglected record a loss 
1 of one mark. 

LESSON THIRTY-FIVE. 
THIRTY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

CODE. 

Thirty-fifth Day in the Workshops. Eoad No. 3. 

It is not on moral grounds that we present this system of train- 
ing called "The School of Character." Eight dealing is a necessity 
in any civilized country. If we were living in a barbarous land 
where robbery and murder were tacitly permitted, the present 
lesson could be omitted. After years of toil to secure a home and 
property for the support of ourselves and family there should be 
a reasonable assurance that these would be safely ours against theft 
and loss. If we strive to win a reputable name it ought not to 
be smirched at the will or caprice of others. If the public at large 
are not in sympathy with a course of right-dealing, we are unsafe 
in life, property and reputation. Each person forms one in a 
community. That person's influence is felt by one or more near 
to him. He can win at least one other to the cause of a healthful 
public sentiment, and that one has his influence. So the cause of 
right may spread. If we are hardened to the question and give 
it no care or thought, we must not expect more at the hands of 
the public than we give. 

There comes a time once a year in some lives, and after the 
blow of some great calamity, when a person sits down in the anguish 



104 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



of his soul and resolves to live by some higher and better standard. 
Many a noble woman and heroic man has established a little "Code" 
which furnishes a standard whereby to live. The private lives of 
some of the world's greatest characters prove the efficiency of the 
adoption of this plan. It should be secret. You may show it if 
you please, but it is better to treat it as a part of your heart, in- 
separably associated with the inner history of your struggles with 
self. 

Requirements. — At some time between the date of beginning 
this lesosn and the final reckoning, you much make a "Code." 
This "Code" will furnish simply a standard to live up to, after 
these lessons have closed. It is not necessary to practice the "Code" 
during the continuance of the present course, but it should be 
prepared before the course closes. You are to use your own judg- 
ment and taste in the selection of the subjects to be included in 
your "Code." It may be long or short, contain one subject or 
many, as you prefer. While we do not ask to see it, and have no 
right to demand such a favor, yet these matters interest us, as they 
tell us much of the real life of our pupils, and anyone who sends 
a copy of his or her "Code" to the College will receive an assurance 
that the confidence will be held as sacred. After you make the 
"Code" attach to it a pledge that you will conscientiously endeavor 
to live up to its provisions to the best of your ability. 

Losses. — If you make a "Code" record 100 per cent. If you 
do not make it, give yourself a loss of 100 marks. 

LESSON THIRTY-SIX. 
THIRTY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
NEWSPAPERS. 

Thirty-sixth and Last Day in the Workshops. Eoad No. 4. 

This is the last day in the Workshops, and the lesson will be 
longer than usual. 

The discussion of the subject should be read in connection with 
Lesson 40, "Turning Conversation" and also Lesson 44, "Gossip" 

Newspapers are a necessity. If rightly prepared and rightly 
read they may be potent factors in the education of the masses; 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



105 



but they can have no influence in the higher forms of education, 
until their character is changed. It is even a question whether the 
influence of a paper as an educator is not more than counter- 
balanced by its partisan Coloring of nearly all public facts. 

In the olden days, many generations ago. a man or woman, 
generally the latter, who had learned something in the way of 
news, was the hero or heroine of a small group of listeners, and 
each member of this group became very soon an important person- 
age. There were no newspapers. Gossip was the spice of life. 
No human being has the power to exactly reproduce any fact or 
statement. It is a physical impossibility. As no two words are 
exact synonyms, and no two tones of voice are alike, it is not within 
the power of any human being to tell what he has seen or heard 
with precise correctness. So a thing which passes from one to 
another receives a change, slight it may be: but the constant 
repetitions in time alter the main facts, and somebody's reputation 
suffers. Gossip always affects some human soul. Xo "news" can 
equal in interest that which injures the reputation of somebody. 
The intense interest taken by all humanity in the art of good 
gossiping led to the establishment of the newspaper. It is what 
its name implies, It contains all the news, generally without 
malice, but always incorrect. "Substantially** correct is all they 
claim. To test the inaccuracy of a newspaper report is a matter of 
ease, even in the case of the honorable sheets. It would be unjust 
to blame the paper, for it is dependent on the etforts of the ambi- 
tious reporter who does his best to make the matter readable, and 
startling enough to attract, attention. 

A "newspaper" is established to make money. To make money 
it must be readable. People love gossip, and the newspapers know 
it. The more gossip, especially of a sensational kind, the paper 
gives to the public, the more it is read. The nature of the demand 
compels the supply. "Were it not for the thirsty demand of the 
public for liquors, there would be no saloons. The temperance 
question wotdd eventually have to be settled in this way, were it 
not for the fact that the new adulterations introduced in beer and 
distilled liquors in the last few years, will speedily settle it. 

As has been truly said, this is an era of "printers' ink run 
mad.*' The mind is the acknowledged key of the body, and of all 
its enjoyment, success, misery or disaster in life; and this key is be- 
ing turned by ten millions of tons of vapid journalism, inane 



106 



THE NEW E DUCAT I OX 



novels, empty magazines and rank literature in every possible phase. 
If you leave a garden to itself, weeds will throttle out the good and 
the beautiful everywhere. The literary field is left to itself, and 
grows rank with foul weeds. 

You say each reader makes his choice, and can control the 
growth of the garden by what he selects. This might be true if 
it were true. It is not. Each wanderer in the meadow, each 
loiterer in the garden may pick what he wishes; but the garden is 
developing more weeds all the while. His selection is made from 
what he finds; and in making it he always runs the risk of being 
poisoned through ignorance of the very nature of the things he 
plucks. 

Then comes the other fact that humanity itself is a great gar- 
den of weeds and flowers; but mostly weeds. Liberty as between 
man and man is best preserved by government. Liberty as between 
man and his habits is sheer failure, unless he becomes a ruler, and 
his inclinations become sternly ruled subjects. Law is the first 
order; and order is the first law. Left to self, the mental and 
moral habits run amuck and fall down in a bed of mire. The age 
in which we live, the age of "printers' ink run mad," is an era of 
ungoverned liberty, of rampant license; and there is no control over 
tastes or habits. There can be but one result, and that is a tre- 
mendous abundance of weeds. These show themselves first and 
always in a debauched feeding of the mind and heart with abnor- 
mal literature. 

The specious claim of publishers that they cater to the tastes 
of the public is not a justification for so doing. As well might the 
gardener say that weeds and rank vines grow more readily than roses 
and tame flowers; and, therefore, he is justified in assisting the 
weeds to choke out the latter. When a publisher knows that the 
human mind and heart are exactly like gardens, and that weeds 
always choke out the desirable growth, he has no right to cater to 
the weeds of the mind or the weeds of the morals. Much less right 
has he to encourage and stimulate their growth. 

The situation may be exactly ascertained if you will plant a 
beautiful flower bed and leave it to the impulses of nature for 
awhile. Go away, come back, and what do you find? Not the 
beautiful flowers, but a mass of tangled, poisonous growth, ugly 
and vicious. Make a garden patch in which to raise vegetables 
for the table; set it in the most favorable location, and leave its 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



107 



future to itself, nursed by nature and nourished by the elements. 
All will run to waste. The mind of intelligent man, and the hand 
of discriminating culture are necessary in this world if the good 
would survive. The question of catering either to the good or the 
bad does not enter into the matter; it is a fixed principle in which 
there are known laws to be observed. The same argument of 
leaving the drift of public taste to the crowd has been applied to 
the theater, as an excuse for the immoral plays that have been in- 
creasing so rapidly of late. Curiosity will always draw certain 
minds in every station of life to the gross and vile; and this is 
s*een in the large private sale of outlawed literature and pictures 
that are doing much to corrupt the young and build up a follow- 
ing for immoral plays and sensational journalism. By the same 
standard the houses and gambling dens that are criminal should be 
permitted to create and cater to the tastes that support them. 

Several attempts have been made to conduct a newspaper on 
religious methods, and the failure of such efforts has been pointed 
to as a proof of the impossibility of conducting a decent sheet. A 
radical departure from a wrong course to one entirely out of har- 
mony with the business of a paper is not a proof of anything except 
stupid judgment. The function of a journal is to present the 
news and comments on public affairs; not to advocate either moral- 
ity or its opposite. Everything in its place and for its legitimate 
end is good reasoning. If a druggist is adulterating his goods he 
cannot be reformed by being compelled to sell brick buildings; that 
would mean to his drug business extermination, not reformation. 
One example of the methods of conducting a newspaper for church 
people was that of an Eastern concern that was not disposed to 
print the news. As a result the people pronounced the scheme a 
failure, and other journals refer to the disaster to-day as a reason 
why the press must be sensational in order to exist. The conclu- 
sion is unwarranted and illogical. 

In another case the attempt* was made to run a paper as the 
Divinity would run it if permitted to do so. This was sacrilege to 
begin with. The public have a right to the news of public affairs, 
and the gathering and publishing of information is a purely secular 
matter, just as the administration of business is and should be. 
Religious journalism may have its place in the world; but it serves 
a higher and far more important function than that of dissemina- 
tion of information concerning the daily transactions of mankind. 



108 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Let it have its opportunity; yet keep it on its better plane. Do not 
seek to draw lessons from failures that prove nothing to the point. 
The duty of the secular press is to publish the daily history of 
humanity. 

In every new idea there is something of value. For instance, 
the striking out of sensational details in the recent newspaper ex- 
periment was a feature of better journalism. It called for all the 
facts without the fulsome description of horrible enlargement to 
feed the morbid appetite for gruesome things. New York and 
Boston are afflicted with the "yellow" newspapers, which are not 
content to rise above the ripping of throats with huge daggers, 
pictured in every detail with the gashes and their attendant streams 
of black blood. New York and Boston create their own following 
in this line, and have slums in abundance in which to circulate the 
sheets; compelling decent people to accept that kind of journalism 
or nothing. The former city is blessed with three or four of the 
better papers, whereby the standard of the press is exalted, as it 
is in the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Star; but Boston, 
Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities of great size are not so 
sure of finding examples of decent journalism. 

Where the newspapers reflect the day's transactions and com- 
pile human history in the legitimate scope of their profession, all 
other things being equal, they are sure of success in far greater 
measure than when sensationalism rules, and their advertising col- 
umns pay much better. A certain business house makes it a rule 
to patronize papers whose column headlines do not exceed three- 
sixteenths of an inch in the height of the largest letters in the news 
departments. They reject all papers having larger type.' Why? 
Here is their experience: "We have many times tested this ques- 
tion. Advertisements put in the sensational press are not read, 
unless we take a half page or more. Even then they are merely 
glanced at. We have kept an accurate account of the results, and 
we are positively certain that it never pays to advertise in the 'yel- 
low' or scare-head newspapers. They live because other business 
men have not learned the truth. Where all the interest of the 
reader is in the sensational news it cannot be expended in any de- 
gree on the advertisements, and the big type headlines in the news 
columns overshadow all other parts of the paper." Says another 
concern: "We have carefully canvassed the facts and find that the 
successful money-making business men do not even read or take the 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



109 



'yellow* papers, nor allow them in their places of business." You 
may judge of a man's value to himself by the kind of newspaper he 
reads. 

There are three kinds of papers that deal in news: First, the 
Honorable Sheet, which publishes the general news with the bare 
facts of sensational matters. Second, the Spicy Sheet, which has 
no malice, but colors its accounts of gossipy news so as to make 
them as delectable as possible. Third, the Blackmailer. The lat- 
ter is apparently fair, and claims to publish the "facts" only to 
warn the public, in the interest of justice and morality. "Personal 
Journalism" is a stamp of the Blackmailer. There are forty thou- 
sand persons paying blackmail every year to these sheets. Very 
few care to be "exposed" to the public, whether innocent or 
guilty, when a few hundred a year will buy immunity. Should 
they refuse to pay, the paper would contain an attack on the private 
life of each one of them, knowing that a libel suit would rarely be 
brought, or if brought, would be practically futile. Newspaper;? 
are sufficiently familiar with human nature to know that no man 
or woman of good character is willing to jeopardize it in a jury 
trial where lawyers abuse witnesses and always contort the evidence, 
and perjury is rampant. The Blackmailing paper carries a retinue 
of "blacklegs" who can ruin anybody's life by a well-concocted 
story, fabricated for the case. 

A paper that gossips will find readers. A "Blackmailer," 
therefore, loves the sensation of a law suit against itself, for it can 
ad libitum attack the private lives of many at one time under the 
plea of publishing the evidence. 

You who may be pursuing this course of study, have perhaps 
never had dear friends ruined by the gossip of papers, but the 
filth of such publications may some day smirch them, and you. 
Under the present system and its concealment, no one is safe. 
Many of the largest papers in the country, claiming to be respect- 
able, carry a corps of reporters, among whom are blackmailers, un- 
known to the proprietors. The public at large, and you as one of 
the people, are to blame for this. The demand controls the supply. 
People always read such gossip, probably before passing to the 
legitimate news. "Gossiping" is not confined to the Blackmailer. 
All papers cater to the public taste, while the "Spicy Sheet" en- 
deavors to create and increase the love for gossip. 

At a session of the National Bar Association, held recently 



110 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



in New York State, one of the Justices of the United States Su- 
preme Court made this theme the chief topic of his address; and 
plainly stated that every honest citizen who rose above the masses 
high enough to attract public attention was at the mercy of the 
"yellow journalism" of the country, and was helpless to save him- 
self. This statement, coming from so high an authority, means 
much. The mistake, if it can be called such, began when the 
constitution of this nation, made over a century ago, forbade that 
any law should be enacted that would restrict the freedom of the 
press. The loose protection permits unprincipled corporations, 
like those which own the great papers of New York, Boston, Phil- 
adelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and other metropolitan cities, to 
levy blackmail on honest citizens at will, as well as to maintain a 
stream of foulest sewerage which is poured into the homes of our 
land. The censorship of the press is the latest and best phase 
of civilization; but dishonest editors squirm under the wholesome 
restriction like a criminal shrinking from the eye of justice; and 
all public men who execute this censorship are assailed under other 
charges, but healthy public opinion sustains the "muzzle" not only 
on the mad dog but also on the blackmail journalist. 

That Ealstonism has executed a power is seen in the results of 
its advocacy of purer methods in this so-called profession. More 
than a million subscribers have withdrawn their patronage from 
sensational sheets; and advertisements in ratio have been trans- 
ferred to the decent papers. This is the beginning of our work. 
The intelligent classes have lost all faith in what they read in the 
general papers. "I don't believe a word of it," is now a common 
expression; and the man or woman who is credulous enough to rely 
upon anything seen in newspapers that run big headlines, is not 
entitled to rank among the intelligent classes. No such person can 
be safely entrusted with duties requiring plain common judgment. 

The successful business men of a community do not waste 
their time reading the falsehoods that invariably appear under 
scare-head type; they know the news is made up in the editorial 
rooms; and, having a desire for honest reports of the transactions 
of the world, they seek the truth in the non-sensational papers. 
The weak-brained man may be recognized by the kind of paper 
he reads, and this rule is always borne out by the facts. 

The following is the size of type in use for headlines among 
the decent papers of America. Some do not use type even so large. 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



111 



TAKING THE CENSUS 



Men Out in All Sections Plying the 
People with Questions. 



EXPERIENCES OF ENUMERATORS 



Incidentsand Episodes of Their 
Important Missions. 



THEY ARE NOT EASY JOBS. 



It does not necessarily follow that a paper that keeps within this 
limit is a proper sheet for reading, for gamblers and thieves are 
found in so. good company as that of church membership; yet it is 
universally true that the users of scare-head type, which is of larger 
size than the foregoing, are of the "yellow" class; and it is amusing 
to see editorials in their columns devoted to the abuse of "yellow" 
journalism. It is the real criminal shouting "Stop thief!" to di- 
vert the attention of the multitude. And the canting pretence of 
the hypocrite is also seen in the numerous "funds' 5 for charity 
which some sensational journals parade, to win the respect of the 
good people who, if not readers of the sheets, are made to know of 
the display by circular notices. In starting a paper, the owner 
who had years of experience instructed his editors to run "charity 
mills" to please the church people, and to send out quiet notices to 
prominent persons who were expected to contribute, either fearing 
the enmity of the paper or having pleasure in seeing their names 
in print. 

Nearly all small papers ape their "leaders," if they are in- 
clined to feed the sensational mind; and many little dailies and 
weeklies that are conducted by shallow-headed men who bite in- 
nocently at any stuff sent out by the yellow press, are echoes of the 
crime without intending to do wrong. Their excuse is that they 
"saw it in the big papers and supposed it was so." The use of large 
type for headlines is notice to all the world that the paper is unfit 
for circulation and worthless for advertising purposes. Many of 



112 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



the weeklies are conducted by men who know enough to discrim- 
inate and are therefore excellent sheets for the home. All papers 
should contain the daily history of events, honestly gathered and 
faithfully chronicled. The use of the privilege of the press for 
mere greed, mere money-getting, mere feeding of the purses of 
their rich owners, was never contemplated by the makers of the 
constitution of this republic. 

Requirements. — In order to win a marking of 100 per cent, 
it is necessary to make the First Iron Clad Promise. As these 
pledges are matters between your good judgment and yourself, 
there should be no hesitation in signing every one in the book. 
Our chief purpose is to increase the army of believers in the purity 
of home life which cannot exist as long as it is invaded by "yellow" 
journalism. A person of weak character will say, "I must have the 
news, and I must get it in spicy form even if it is all false." The 
decent paper seems dull and dry to the indecent mind. The test 
of character is a fair one. Then comes the evasive Uriah Heap of 
a reader who says, "Supposing the paper is not fit to read, I can 
take care of myself. I can glance through its columns and pick 
out what I care for and I am sure that it will not contaminate me, 
so now, I'm not a fool." And the ears rise a fraction of an inch. 
This same safe self-protector is seen every night plunged for two 
hours into a seething mass of sewerage, every word of which is ac- 
tually believed by him in his little noddle of a brain. 

The Iron Clad Promise is too strong for a weak character, and 
not strong enough for the great men and women of the world. It 
has been signed by hosts in the last ten years; and it has accom- 
plished a vast amount of good. 

Pledge No. 9. 
FIRST IRON CLAD PROMISE. 

Having carefully read every word of this lesson, and fully ap- 
preciating the importance of the movement involved, I resolve 
herewith to lend my aid and influence to the work of suppressing 
the evils of sensational journalism; and therefore declare that I 
will faithfully abide by the following requirements: 

1. I will not under any circumstances subscribe for, buy or 
read any paper or publication that is sensational in its character, 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



113 



that uses scare-heads as type-lines above its news articles, or that 
assails the private character of any person. 

2. I will not advertise in any paper or publication of the kind 
referred to above. 

,3. I will not patronize or deal with any person or concern that 
advertises in such paper, if I have knowledge of the fact. 

4. I will, as far as opportunity permits, endeavor to induce 
my friends and acquaintances not to take such papers, not to ad- 
vertise in them, nor to deal with those who do advertise in them. 

5. I will, as far as opportunity permits, call the attention of 
advertisers in such papers to the requirements of this promise. 

6. I will read only the cleanest and purest newspapers that 
I can procure, even if I am compelled to send out of my own town 
-or city to obtain them. 

7. I will read only the legitimate news, and will at once make 
a list of the topics which I consider legitimate, and faithfully ex- 
clude all others. 

Signed 

Eemaeks. — We suggest as legitimate nezvs the following: 1 — 
Political gossip. 2 — News of the State or Government. 3 — Com- 
mercial transactions. 4 — Educational matters. 5 — Natural oc- 
currences. 6 — Eeports of Conventions, Parades, Celebrations, 
Wars, Weddings, Accidents, Public or Private Calamities and For- 
eign news, when not based on scandal. You may add or expunge 
what you desire. 

We recommend that the following be regarded as objection- 
able news, and not read. If you expunge them from your news- 
paper reading, we should be pleased to know it: 
News Unfit to be Plead. 

1 — Murders. 2 — Crimes of all kind. 3 — Scandal. 4 — The 
downfall of any person good or bad, who is not of National or State 
reputation. 5 — Elopements. 6 — Superstitions. 7 — Execution 
•of criminals. 8 — Lynching. 9 — Detective stories. 10 — Attack 
on the private life of any person, whether an official or not. 11— 
""Personals." 12 — Foolhardy attempts to perform dangerous feats. 
13 — Ghost stories. 14 — Sensational news. 15 — Proper news 
•written in a sensational manner. 16 — Eeports of court trials in- 
volving any of the foregoing. 

Before making your list read carefully and make up your mind 
firmly, for you will not be permitted to add to the list of legitimate 



114 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



news from the list of unfit news, although the reverse may be done. 
The more limited the legitimate news may be made, the better for 
you. 

Losses. — For every time you fail to keep the promise and for 
every topic you read which you should not, record a loss of one 
mark. 

Triumphs. — For every week in which you maintain all the 
requirements of the pledge, record a Triumph. 

These Triumphs will prove of great value to you as the course 
progresses. 

LESSON THIKTY-SEVEK 
THIRTY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
ATTENTION. 

Fiest Day Out in the World. Eoad No. 1. 

Good by to the Workshops — all four of them. We are start- 
ing on Eoad No. 1, and must make seven stages "Out in the World/" 
in contact with our fellow-beings. Off in the distance is the deep 
Valley, down into which we must descend. Its depths are black 
and uninviting, but far beyond are the sunlit heights, with the 
white walls of the Citadel of Character, too bright for our eyes 
now to rest upon, and too far away for the malignant spirits of the 
world to attack. The white walls of Character cannot be smirched, 
if we build our Citadel "On the Heights." 

You who have traveled thus far and have faithfully performed 
the requirements of the lessons taken in the Workshops, should be 
congratulated. The work has been hard. The North Wall is be- 
fore you with seven stages "Out in the World," five stages "Down 
in the Depths," three stages "On the Heights," and one stage to 
the "Citadel." On this road you have passed nine stages "In the 
Workshops." These should be committed to memory in the order 
in which you traveled them: 

1. Self-Effort. 4. Health of Body. 7. Automatics. 

2. Ri ght-Rising. 5. Health of Nerves. 8. Cleanliness. 

3. Irritability. 6. Exercise. p. Memory. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



115 



These belong only to Road No. 1. Commit them to memory 
and recite them aloud every day as a prelude to the "Morning Quo- 
tations." Always commence with No. 1, and repeat them exactly 
in their order, as a reminder of the stages you have traveled on 
this road. 

You are now "Out in the World." You must learn to acquire 
character from others, to absorb from all sources: authors, nature 
and humanity. To do this you should be attentive. A rich fund 
of information comes from listening. A talker gives, but rarely 
ever receives. A listener receives. Weak characters are mind 
wanderers. This disease is sometimes the forerunner of softening 
of the brain, and at all times is dangerous. A person generally 
talks merely for the purpose of advertising supposed ability and to 
create an impression. What good does it do? There are two oc- 
casions on which it is well to talk: first, to convey information 
under proper circumstances; second, to be social. Outside of these 
two occasions it is generally futile to use words. Somebody gets 
weary of you. An empty vehicle rattles. A talker misses oppor- 
tunities to receive and gain character, and creates the impression 
that he has but little. Great talkers are never looked up to. 
Trained conversationalists may, by right, hold the floor, for they 
assume the role of lecturers. 

Requirements. — When it is proper to convey information, 
and when the occasion demands sociability, talk all that is neces- 
sary and no more. Listen well at all times to proper remarks. 
Never let the mind wander. 

Losses. — At the end of this course estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent., using your own judgment as to your worth. 



LESSON THIRTY-EIGHT. 
THIRTY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

EASE OF MANNER. 

Second Day Out in the World. Road No. 2. 

You are now on Road No. 2 moving toward the East Gate 
of the Citadel. Behind you are the nine stages in the Second 
Workshop. These should be committed to memory in their order 



116 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



and recited every morning as a prelude to the "Morning Quota- 
tions" 



1. Absorption. 

2. Nature. 

3. Kind Voice. 



4. Flozvers and Music. ?. Biography. 

5. Home. 8. Nobility. 

6. Literature. p. Conscience. 



This road is quite different from the others. It leads to an 
entirely distinct Cardinal Point of Character. We have before 
called it the most delightful of the four journeys. 

What more pleasing sight is there in the social relations of life 
than to see a lady or gentleman perfectly at ease. Good presence is 
always a mark of character. Grace of body in all its parts from 
the carriage of the head to the position and movements of the 
hands and feet, is an all-important factor in this charming accom- 
plishment. All persons are born awkward. If grace ever comes as 
a gift it is the result of our associations. We unconsciously imi- 
tate those whom we admire, and the continual presence of graceful 
persons will soon cause us to reproduce the same grace in a lesser 
degree. The systematic study of grace is the better and shorter 
method. The body should be made supple by taking out all the 
stiffness and awkwardness. Many persons invent exercises for 
doing this. The next step is to decrease the movements of the ex- 
tremes and confine the power of action as much as possible to the 
center of activity, the chest. This gives every person an ease that 
is wonderful, and apparently unconscious. To know that we are 
easy is not good, as it leads to affectation of manner. In the ab- 
sence of lessons from a living teacher or from a book (and you 
may have one in your library on the subject), the best way to ac- 
quire ease of manner, after becoming graceful, is to imagine your- 
self in a drawing room where several are seated and others coming 
in from time to time. You are to practice bowing to the new 
arrivals; being introduced to some who are seated, introducing one 
to another; conversing w T hile standing and again while sitting; and 
going through a routine practice once a week, unless you have had a 
teacher or book on the subject. 

Do not be afraid to practice the pantomime of grace. Others 
greater than you have done it. Edward Everett was constantly 
performing all possible movements of the body in the presence of a 
full-length mirror, using a book on Grace as a guide. The great 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



117 



French actress in her first lesson in grace was made to pick ivp a 
rose one hundred times. 

Requirements. — Carry out the provisions of this lesson as far 
as possible. 

Losses. — When you take your final reckoning estimate your 
percentage of grace and ease in the presence of others, on the basis 
of 100 per cent. Of course you could not reach perfection unless 
you have practiced a great deal. If you meet a loss here, you could 
make it up by triumphs in other Points of Character. 

LESSON THIRTY-NINE. 
THIRTY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

ALLY. 

Thied Day Out in the World. Road No. 3. 

You are now on Road 3, "Out in the World," and making 
progress toward the South Gate of the Citadel. Behind you are 
the nine stages of progress in the Third Workshop. These should 
be committed to memory and recited aloud every morning as a 
prelude to the "Morning Quotations." Do not mix the stages of 
one road with another road. 

1. Seriousness. d. Sympathy. 7. Execution. 

2. Decision. 5. Honesty. 8. Completion. 
j. Retirement. 6. Simplicity. y. Code. 

How shall we begin a subject which must have so great a bear- 
ing on the future of each pupil in this, the most important, train- 
ing in his or her life? 

The "Ally" is to prove a blessing if properly chosen. You 
need some friend and adviser, some one to go to for counsel in 
trouble, for help in distress, for encouragement in hours of gloom, 
and for aid in these lessons in particular. In Oriental countries 
among the refined classes a beautiful "Order of Two" exists. Two 
persons pledge a life-long friendship under the most solemn oath, 
and promise to aid each other when disasters, poverty or persecu- 
tion come; even to the very giving up of wealth and life. Such a 



118 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



friendship is not required here. But you must procure an Ally 
as soon as possible, after commencing the first lesson of this course. 
It may not be an easy task to do this, for the Rules are strict. 

The necessity for having an Ally is to aid you as heretofore 
stated, in general life, but particularly to assist you in firmly estab- 
lishing the One Hundred Points of Character. Many faults exist 
which cannot be corrected by your own efforts. A teacher is not 
necessary nor valuable. The Ally should be a friend, a personal 
friend, of the same sex, one who takes an interest in you and sin- 
cerely desires to have you master this course of lessons. The rea- 
son for each Rule will be apparent, or else will be given. 

Rules: 

Rule 1. — Do not act hastily. Consider the choice of an Ally 
a sufficient length of time to make sure of a strong personal friend. 

Rule 2. — The person must be one for whom you have a pro- 
found respect, and whose opinion you are willing to accept. 

Rule 3. — While the rules do not forbid the selection of a 
relative it is sometimes better to choose a person who is not too fond 
of you, for the opinion given you by that friend may be too much 
in your favor. Disinterested good opinions, and friendly correc- 
tions help us most in life. An Ally will conceal your fault from 
others, but not from yourself. 

Rule 4. — Your Ally need not be an owner of this course of 
training. If such friend knows the full weight and bearing of this 
course of training, a bond of sympathy must exist in the work. 
The Ally must be one who feels from personal experience the same 
noble aspirations and desires; one into whose life is wedded the 
same glorious resolution to succeed. All others would fail to be in 
touch with you. You can afford to wait until such an Ally can 
be found. 

Rule 5. — The Ally must be a person whom you have invited 
to be such. The selection must be wholly yours. 

Rule 6. — You cannot be the Ally of your Ally, except in a 
Negative sense. A Negative Ally is one who solicits you; an 
x\ffirmative Ally is the person solicited. Thus you would be Neg- 
ative to your Affirmative; and if some third party should select you, 
and you accepted the trust, you would be that person's Affirmative 
Ally, and you would then have to advise and aid such a one in car- 
rying on the work of these lessons. 



ONE HUNDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



119 



The reason why you cannot act as Affirmative Ally to your 
Affirmative Ally is because such a relation would call for a mutual 
exchange of opinions. Xo nature is perfect. A teacher cannot 
teach his teacher and respect him as completely as if the relations 
were natural. It would be sad to endanger the permanency of the 
bond existing between your Ally and yourself. His (or her) critical 
opinion o*f your faults must have an important bearing on your 
final standing. If the opinion should be given with a knowledge 
that you are to give yours in return, such knowledge would color 
the interchange, as both parties would desire to stand well. AVe 
ha\e often seen two persons of the most honest character endeavor 
with full sincerity to point out the faults and merits of each, and 
exchange personal opinions; but the feelings were invariably 
wounded or else nattered. Such a system of friendship cannot 
exist as long as human nature is as it is. The method we suggest 
has been tested these many years and found to be grandly perfect. 
It originated from the private life of one of America's greatest 
statesmen. Try it, if you wish to know what true friendship is. 

Rule 7. — Your Affirmative Ally must accept the trust in 
writing. 

Rule 8. — Xo final reckoning shall be made until the Affirma- 
tive Ally has been conferred with. 

Rule 9. — The Affirmative Ally must point out to you once a 
month your faults in all the Points of Character as far as you have 
gone; must give you an opinion monthly of your percentage in such 
lessons as require an estimate of the judgment to determine them: 
must do the same at your final reckoning; -must give you counsel 
in matters of perplexity; must confer with you by appointment to 
be made by you before the fourth day of each month after accept- 
ance of the trust; and, when you are discouraged, must use all rea- 
sonable means to strengthen your resolution to succeed. 

Many a happy hour of life could be spent in the sunshine of 
his company. [We use the word "he," "his/ 7 etc., as implying 
cither sex.] The search for beautiful quotations, for noble 
thoughts, for good literature: the reading aloud of these lessons; 
the comparing of records; all these would afford an opportunity 
for mutual growth. We live in the past and future, never in the 
present. Our life is made up of anticipating the years to come, 
and contemplating those we have spent. Our present is a period 
of history-making — rolling the future into the past. The more 



120 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



we live in the past the happier is our lot, if that be noble, pure and 
good. In the society of your Ally, each bonded in an unsenti- 
mental but solid friendship for the other, clasping hands with an 
honest pressure, enter solemnly upon a series of meetings that shall 
make your future a delightful memory when time shall roll it into 
the past. 

In some such meeting read aloud, by turns, the present chap- 
ter, and if one of you has not yet signed the following pledge, do 
so in the presence of the other: 

BOND OF FRIENDSHIP. 
Pledge No. 10. 

I solemnly promise myself that I will comply with all the 
foregoing Rules in every particular, whenever I shall become an 
Affirmative Ally to another; that I will not in any case perform 
the duties, or any part thereof, of an Affirmative Ally to the per- 
son who may be my Affirmative Ally; that I will not permit my 
Negative Ally nor any other person to perform the duties of an 
xlffirmative Ally to me under any circumstances; that I will see 
that my Negative Ally meets or corresponds with me once every 
month, commencing as soon as this bond of friendship is made; 
that I will make an appointment with and meet or correspond with 
my Affirmative Ally likewise; that in our meetings no .other person 
should be present, excepting any one who is a Record Pupil of the 
'•'School of Character;" that I will examine the records of my 
Negative Ally, and if they are not properly or sufficiently filled out, 
1 will advise him as to the better compliance with the provisions of 
each lesson; that I will not jokingly refer to any topic or matter 
connected with this course of training, and will not permit (if pos- 
sible to prevent it), any flippant or trifling remarks in my presence 
tending to bring this friendship into ridicule; that I will not be- 
tray to others any counsel or confidence occurring between myself 
and either Ally, as long as I live, subject, however, to the law of 
the land and the rules of nff religion. 



The foregoing pledge will be as effectual if signed before the 
selection of an Ally as if signed after. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



121 



LESSON FOETY. 
FORTIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

, TURNING CONVERSATION. 

Fourth Day Out in the World. Eoad No. 4. 

You are now on Eoad 4, endeavoring to reach, the West Gate 
of the Citadel of Character. Behind you are nine stages in the 
Fourth Workshop. These should be committed to memory and re- 
cited aloud in their exact order as a prelude to the "Morning Quo- 
tations" It is not necessary to recite the stages of all four roads 
every day ,but those only which belong to the road on which, you 
may be traveling on that day: 

1. Ambition. 4. Tact. 7. Respect. 

2. Conquer Failure. 5. Superstition. S. Sabbath. 

5. Examine Discouragement. 6. Thought Control, p. Newspapers. 

In this lesson we have the second Iron Clad Promise. It deals 
with gossip, that reptile of human nature which no system of train- 
ing has yet eradicated. Yet we know of noble characters who re- 
fuse to read the sensational news of the press, and who constantly 
carry out the provisions of the three Iron Clad Promises. Such 
persons are few. It is our .purpose to make a life-effort to fight 
down Gossip. We love to learn all the news — and is it not true 
that, if some person has won a little more success in life than our- 
selves, we hear with sadness (?), mingled with a slight — very slight 
— tinge of satisfaction, of any reproach upon his character? At 
least we want to hear the news. If he is a rascal, if she is not 
pure, it is our duty to know the facts and be on our guard. Such 
is the specious excuse which satisfies us that it is right to listen to 
gossip. A good excuse can be found to satisfy every desire. As 
long as this process of reasoning is allowed to influence us we shall 
listen to gossip; and gossip will go on cursing homes, blasting repu- 
tations, making crime, causing suicides, and depleting character. 
Men and women of character will not speak ill of another, and will 
not permit even a criminal to be abused. This course of conduct 
they pursue from principle and not from habit. The records of 



122 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



the private lives of these noble people are permeated with this 
great trait of character. From the lofty purity of such persons 
there is a sliding scale of increase down through the meaner na- 
tures of so-called "non-gossipers" — who advertise the fact that 
they "never speak ill of another" — to the bawdy-house brothel 
where gossip and cheap abuse fill the atmosphere. 

A person familiar with human nature and the common rules 
of evidence, founded on natural logic, could, by examining an 
abusive bit of gossip, discover its improbability and grossness; but 
people are too ready to believe a falsehood. Truth has no travel- 
ing power. It rises by virtue of the law of purity, and can be seen 
only when we look up. Falsehood skims along the earth on myriad 
legs. It cannot rise, and as our baser natures refuse to look up to 
search for truth, we can see only the lie. 

A woman who can conquer the habit of gossip and listening 
to it is entitled to greater credit than man. We say this solemnly. 
It is not our purpose to disparage the sex; but all fair-minded peo- 
ple will admit that there is a class of women, whose occupation, 
habits and inclination make it easier for them to indulge in gossip 
than for a man engaged in business. Yet a man situated as these 
women are, would yield to the same temptation. The author once 
spent a vacation in a little village; and there heard a woman spend 
ten hours daily during his entire stay in discussing her neighbors, 
and always to their disadvantage. She inveigled women into her 
house and lost no time in getting all the news and telling it. 
From Mrs. A. she learned certain facts which she increased two- 
fold in repeating to Mrs. B., and so on. Nearly all gossip com- 
mences by praise for the intended victim. Beware of the person 
who uses excessive praise. There's a store-house of abusive gossip 
there. The most dangerous lie is one associated with a truth. 
Gossipers love to convince. So they grow astute as their tongues 
are sharpened, and very shrewdly present a truth to impress a lie. 
A gossiper with a motive always lies. If one person has an interest 
in the downfall of another gossip is quickly fabricated, with not a 
word of truth in the whole of it. 

Many snaky gossipers adopt an old-time method of abuse by 
pretending not to believe a certain fact which they tell. "I heard 
so and so [here they tell it all], but of course I do not believe it. 
Such a person could not be so bad." This kind of a gossiper is the 
most dangerous, for the dishonesty is double and the snaky disposi- 



OXE HUXDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



123 



tion concealed, like a serpent in ambush. A profound contempt 
for such persons, openly shown, is the only remedy. 

Another kind are too cowardly to speak out, but do what is 
worse. They "oh!" a thing or "ah!" it, in such a way as to leave 
the impression that something very bad might be told. Stamp 
them as cowards. 

You are now about to be called upon to take a step in life that 
may be difficult. We hope it shall prove easy. We are determined 
to fight this evil, and consider it the worst in the nature of man or 
woman. It cannot be suppressed by easy means. Heroic treat- 
ment is necessary. By our system of "Allies" and "Chains of In- 
fluence" we are going to sweep the country with the power of this 
great work. Back of it are men and women pledged to push this 
system to the front. We need your help. Will you give it? Are 
you in earnest ? 

The Iron Clad Promise is of the strongest kind. It is in- 
tended to be effectual. Make up your mind slowly, and then bring 
to the test your strength of character for Decision and Execution. 

Pledge No. 11. 

SECOND IKON CLAD PEOMISE. 

I, the undersigned, being firmly convinced that gossip is a 
species of depravity, and that it is encouraged and allowed to 
flourish by being listened to, hereby pledge my sacred honor that 
I will carry out the following provisions of this promise: 

1. I will not participate in any conversation where gossip is 
going on. 

2. If in doubt as to whether a conversation is gossipy or not 
I will take the benefit of the doubt for the suppression of it. 

3. I will first seek to turn the conversation to some other 
subject by interrupting it at the first opportunity and assuming 
control of the conversation; and if no such opportunity shall occur, 
I will turn the subject at all hazards. 

4. I will prepare myself with proper subjects of conversation 
to use in such an emergency. 

5. I will, when alone with any person who persists in gossip, 
pleasantly but firmly tell him that I am under pledge not to engage 
in, or listen to gossip of any kind, or that such is my wish. 



124 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



6. I will endeavor in my small circle of influence to advance 
the cause of this battle against gossip by enlisting pupils into the 
"School of Character." 

7. I will daily make in this book a record of success or failure 
as to the first five provisions of this promise. 



Requirements. — The signing in ink and observance of the 
foregoing pledge is insisted upon. 

LossES.-^For every failure to carry out the provisions of the 
foregoing pledge, record a loss of two marks. 

Triumphs. — In case it becomes unusually difficult to change 
the subject, and you finally succeed in so doing; and also in case you 
are obliged to leave the room or place where the gossip is going on; 
— record a triumph of two marks. If you express to a gossiper 
your disapproval, record a triumph of two marks. If you win any 
gossiper into the "School of Character/' record a triumph of one 
hundred marks. 

For the definition of gossip, see Lesson 44. 



LESSON FORTY-ONE. 
FORTY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 
INFLUENCE. 

Fifth Day Out in the World. Road No. 1. 

A person would be very weak indeed who did not possess some 
influence over others. Some can frighten, some coax, some com- 
mand and others draw their fellow-beings into the circle of their 
influence. This power over others is sometimes the means of mak- 
ing or marring the whole career of those who are guided by it. A 
wife may be the ruin or fortune of her husband, were she to develop 
a strength of character equal to the possibilities that lie within her; 
and so may the husband guide the wife. 

The training afforded by the "One Hundred Points of Charac- 
ter" should be insisted upon by every young lady before giving her 
hand in marriage to her future husband; and we assert that if 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



125 



every married couple should pass through this course of training 
there zvould never be another divorce in the land. 

If we feel consciously stronger than, those about us, our in- 
fluence should be exerted very carefully. If we are frivolous or 
flippant, or if we use slang, they imitate these things, especially as 
they come from one whom they look to for guidance. Many things 
that are not wrong per se should, nevertheless, be avoided ; first in 
ourselves, and second before others. 

The future citizen, and the future mother — (one the country's 
power, the other the queen of home) — are before us in childhood 
now; and their lives are being shaped by the influences that sur- 
round them. It is a weak character that will use unfit language or 
indulge in ill-bred conduct before a person who is in the pliability 
of youth. Nobility may be acquired by seeking to influence a per- 
son to a better condition; or higher ambition in life. 

The failures of so many in the great struggle for success are 
due in a large measure to their inability to resist temptation. 
Temptation comes from two sources: 1 — Solicitation. 2 — Cir- 
cumstances. Of the latter we shall speak in a subsequent lesson. 
As the fall of so many can be traced to their yielding to the solici- 
tation of others, who are their tempters, the consequences, which 
are often terrible, lie at the tempter's door. 

Did you ever ask a fellow-being to do a thing that was wrong? 
You took from yourself a large share of your self-respect in so 
doing; and you lost some of your friend's regard for you. Character 
is not builded in this way. 

Bequirements. — You must never tempt another to do wrong; 
if you have any doubt as to what is wrong, give the benefit of it to 
the right. Take no chances. The moral questions of gambling and 
drinking alcoholic liquors you may settle in your own mind your 
own way, according to the dictates of your conscience; but under 
these requirements you must never ask any person to do either. 
Use your influence to do good. In the presence of persons over 
whom you may have influence, always carry yourself according to 
the "One Hundred Points of Character." 

Losses. — For every failure record a loss of one mark. 

Triumphs. — For every time you exert a good influence over 
another record a gain of one triumph. 



r 

126 THE NEW EDUCATION 

LESSON FOKTY-TWO. 
FORTY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 
SOCIABILITY. 

Sixth Day Out in the Wokld. Eoad No. 2. 

The art of good conversation and good manners will render a 
person properly social. Subject to the limitations of the lesson on 
"attention" all persons should be duly social. It is an art capable 
of the highest cultivation. Weak characters do not know how to 
entertain unless the wine is brought out. Shallow minds talk by 
the hour of the weather, personal ills, politics, "shop," and similar 
subjects, which a fertile mind excludes from good conversation. 

The art of sociability comes slowly to a person, and we cannot 
expect you to acquire it in one year. All may win success in this 
species of refinement by careful attention to their conversation and 
manners; and by having a storehouse filled with general knowl- 
edge drawn from good literature. 

When the occasion requires that you fill the capacity of 
listener, it is unnecessary to assist in entertaining. Attention is all 
you need give. But a retirement that attracts attention, a crisp 
manner of reply, a cool reserve that is both unnatural and offensive 
border too much on the disrespectful. 

Sociability is generous; the lack of it is selfish. A stranger 
needs an encouraging smile and a welcome grasp of the hand when- 
ever he visits your locality or enters your church for the first time. 
Indications of friendly feeling bring out the good in a man, while 
a cool reserve often unfolds the meaner nature. Having due re- 
gard for etiquette, it is greatly to your credit to lighten the burdens 
of life for all around you by a pleasant word, a kind smile, a friend- 
ly chat, or any evidence of kindly feeling and interest. It costs 
nothing, it develops the better side of your fellow-beings, and it 
makes character for you. 

There is too little Sociability in the world. Selfishness is the 
foremost element of human nature. Sociability develops generosity; 
it is generosity itself, and a species of favor that is inexpensive. 
The more we give away the more we have left. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



127 



The human race should be bound together by one cord — 
affection. -A lesser degree of love, yet a potent factor in lessening 
sin, is this undercurrent of affection with which all mankind should 
be made one. ' 

Keqttirements. — After being satisfied that you understand 
the rules of etiquette, and have acquired good manners, easy ad- 
dress, and judgment, it is better to form the habit of making your- 
self pleasant to all, upon all occasions. It requires a little nearer 
approach to dignity in dealing with children than with older peo- 
ple, but you should make yourself a part of the life of each and 
every person you meet Study to do it. 

Losses. — At the time of the final reckoning form an estimate 
of yourself on the basis of 100 per cent, and record your rank ac- 
cordingly. 

LESSON FOKTY-THKEE. 

FORTY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 

« 

SINCERITY. 

Seventh Day Out m the Would. Eoad No. 3. 

The present lesson does not deal with the question of honesty. 
That is a positive wrong. So deception of any kind is to be avoided. 

But there is a species of indiscretion, not absolutely wrong in 
itself, but calculated to lead to subsequent evils. It often enters 
the border land of dishonesty; and at times has misled persons, 
though without the intention of so doing. 

It is a common practice to joke by making statements which 
are untrue; merely to produce fun, often at the expense of another. 
The untruths are, of course, always explained before the party 
breaks up. Boasting, at times, is harmless as far as its breach of 
honesty is concerned, but its enlargement of facts is injurious both 
to the character and reputation of the boaster. 

All persons love to picture certain events to their own ad- 
vantage. This is exaggeration, but cannot be called dishonesty, in 
its milder degrees. It weakens our self-respect and relegates us to 
a place of unpopularity in the opinion of others; neither of which 
can be afforded. Insincerity stamps itself upon the face with un- 



128 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



•erring certainty. It colors the voice; for spoken words always re- 
flect in their tones the standard of our character. A stream can 
rise no higher than its head. An orator gets to the level of his 
character in speaking his words, no matter how much beauty, ex- 
cellence of style, or solidity of thought may be contained in the 
written composition. Nor can a reader or reciter put more into a 
selection than his own character contains; although quoting beauti- 
ful thoughts aloud, the first thing on arising, in the morning, will 
cause us to absorb them, and thus develop character rapidly, if we 
feel them. 

The more personality, or strength of character, we can build, 
the better we can speak or recite. 

It is on this principle that insincerity colors the voice and 
quickly exposes us to the detestation of the world. You, perhaps, 
■are not aware of the disregard which many people have for you. 
The flattery of friends is the most dangerous of all criticisms. 

Eequieements. — Never tell a falsehood even in joke. Never 
•exaggerate; nor underestimate. Be exactly right. Never overrate 
nor underrate yourself to others. Both are wrong. Never boast 
at any time. Tell no stories, nor anecdotes that involve untruths, 
-even if the falsehood is too apparent to deceive the smallest child. 
The monstrous exaggerations of some writers and anecdote-tellers 
produce merriment of a low order. If people laugh, they do it for 
politeness. The true element of humor is lacking. Surprise, only, 
is earned; and that is exhausted after the first story. 

Be sincere at all times. Tell facts as they are, with no varia- 
tion, whether in earnest or in fun. 

Losses. — For each breach of the foregoing requirements, how- 
ever slight, record a loss of one mark. 



LESSON FOHTY-FOUK. 
FORTY-FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

GOSSIP. 

Eighth Day Out m the World. Eoad No. 4. 

The grave error of reading gossip is discussed in the lesson de- 
voted to "Newspapers" 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



129 



That of listening to gossip is disposed of under the title of 
"Turning Gossipy Subjects." 

The meanest of all traits of character is the inborn, and al- 
most ineradicable, disposition to speak, listen to, or read, gossip. 
The speaking of it is the worst of the three modes of keeping it 
active. If no one spoke it, the sin would vanish. These lessons 
are arranged to attack it on three sides; and your aid is invoked in 
each and all of these attacks. You are pledged not to read nor 
listen to it. The final of the three Iron Clad Promises is given in 
this lesson. Before signing it, you should know just what you are 
doing. 

Definition. — Spoken Gossip consists of a discussion of the 
private acts of some person not present to defend against it. 

It is an attack behind the back, and always bears the stamp of 
cowardice. 

No generous person will do it. No person will do it who is 
not a coward. Every person who so discusses the private acts of an- 
other, not present to defend against it, is stooping to the meanest 
phase of cowardice. 

It makes no difference whether the facts are favorable or un- 
favorable to the victim who is being slaughtered, the discussion of 
the private life of any person is gossip. In the first place it is no 
one's business. In the second place it conveys no information of 
value to any one. In the third place it is wasting the time of your- 
self and of somebody else. In the fourth place it is meddling in 
other's aff°irs of no concern to you, which, if discovered, may in- 
volve you in trouble. In the fifth place it brings you down in 
character, making you appear weak to yourself and untrustworthy 
to others. 

The difference between gossiping and speaking ill of another 
is this: Gossiping is any reference to the private life of a person; 
speaking ill of another is any remark derogatory to the public or 
private life of a person. 

By public life is meant the holding of an office by virtue of- 
election by the people. Campaign lies are so frequent and the im- 
possibility of their denial so complete that they will stay with us as 
long as we have the present system of selecting candidates. Yet no 
politician has a right to aid in circulating damaging rumors until 
he personally knows of their truth. What would be evidence in 
court should be evidence on the stump. The nobler statesmen 



130 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



never descend to this business. A man is dishonest and unsafe to 
vote for, who makes a personal attack upon the character of the op- 
posing candidate. He cannot possibly know the truth of it. The 
voter who wishes to do a service to his country, as well as lend a 
silent influence to a great cause, should refuse to vote for a man 
who maligns another. As a rule the candidate who is the most 
severely attacked is the safest man to support. Malice can do more 
injury to purity than to villainy. AYe do not insist upon any of 
these things, nor is it required of you to refrain from speaking ill 
of any public official who holds his office by election. 

You have no right to speak ill of an official who is appointed; 
for a higher power is responsible for his misdeeds. There can be 
no appeal to the people. If you personally know of any offense 
which should deprive him of his office it is your duty to prefer 
charges in writing to the removing power. The presentment of 
charges in this way will subject you to criminal prosecution if they 
are false, and him to removal if they are true. 

You must not speak ill of any employer, or employe, of any 
business man or woman, of any person in any rank in life, rich or 
poor. 

If you know a business man is dishonest, you and your family 
and such relatives as are dependent upon you may be told of it. 
But hearsay is not knowledge. If a friend of the purest honesty 
should tell it to you it is better, on general principles, not to believe 
it even then. Motive colors all feelings, and honesty is the most 
susceptible to the coloring of incorrectness. In court the gravest 
falsehoods are told by the most innocent persons, and are open to 
detection; whereas perjurers concoct a story out of nothing, and 
state it so uniformly that detection is impossible. It is safer not 
to believe a thing you do not personally know to be true, especially 
if it is a damaging story. 

Persons trying to live good lives are most subject to malignit} r 
from the world at large. Even clergymen cannot escape it. The 
most serious evil in church matters is the frequency of gossip 
among members, generally bearing upon the doings of the pastor. 
If this course of lessons could be made a secular code for the gov- 
erning of the private life of each member, there would be no gossip 
and gossipers to render the poor man miserable. As it now is he 
has but little peace, for every act (both open and private) of his life 
during the 365 days of the year is made the subject of gossip. As 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



131 



he is there to administer to the wants of his flock they imagine tha,t 
his life must yield to the individual wishes of each and every one, 
so they take advantage of him. If he is independent he makes open 
enemies; if he yields to one he runs the risk of antagonizing an- 
other. This starts a quiet "feeling' 5 which preys upon all he does, 
and he is thereupon discussed. Nearly all open church troubles are 
started by gossip, and many a smouldering fire is found among the 
church members which could not exist if there were no gossip. 
Societies, organizations, friendships, love matters are often dis- 
rupted by the slanderous tongues of some vile meddler. The records 
every year, in the United States alone, show scores of murders 
resulting from quarrels based on slander. There are thousands 
upon thousands of reported cases of slander and libel. All this is 
due to an evil tongue. 

It may be saf ely alleged that there never was an instance where 
speaking ill of another has done any real good. Persons have been 
saved from dire evils, all of course imaginary, by being warned of 
some villain; but when the! cases are fully examined, and all the 
after-results known, it will be found to have been useless; except 
where the person warned was mentally weak. The relation of 
parent, or pastor, or close family conversation, should give the 
right to warn; hut not otherwise. "Warning 55 is made a frequent 
excuse for circulating ill of others. 

Gossip has more excuses and more plausibilities to support it 
than any other sin. If some rigid system is not enforced it will be 
impossible to know where to draw the line. Character is more 
valuable than all else in life, and reputation stands next. The latter 
is often assumed — having no true foundation; and is often ruined. 
A noble character cannot be ruined by slander, but its reputation 
may. The virtue of many an innocent girl has been attacked by 
the biting tongue of a prostitute, whose own name goes untouched. 
From many years of observation and from the collected experience 
of a score of observers, it seems to be a settled fact, as much as a 
fact can be settled in this way, that the assailants of virtue in a man 
or woman are libertines or prostitutes. No woman or man whose 
past lives have been virtuous ever attacked the virtue of another. 

Every time you hear a man attack virtue, you will be safe in 
putting him down a libertine; and every time you hear a woman 
attack virtue you may put her down a prostitute; and you will not 
make a mistake in either case. This theme is to-day, and always 



132 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



has been, the most frequent source of gossip. Its results are the 
most deadly. If, every time you hear such a charge made, you 
should reply "I have good authority for saying that every person 
who makes such a charge is guilty of the same offense," the gossips 
would quickly drop it, except the most abandoned. 

The guilty are rarely ever attacked unless they are the brazen- 
faced wantons plying their trade; and, excepting this class, the as- 
sailed persons are rarely ever guilty, as charged. 

In the hope that, by the effort of your Ally united to your 
own firm resolution to support this movement, a complete reform 
may be made, and the world may become happier, we present the 
third Iron Clad Promise, knowing that you will agree with us that 
it must be very stringent, or it will fail. 

PLEDGE NO. 12. 

THIED IKON CLAD PEOMISE. 

Believing the sin of Gossip to be the most prevalent and most 
damaging of all sins, both to character and mankind, and desiring 
to aid in its suppression, I cheerfully obligate myself to the follow- 
ing promise, which I solemnly agree to perform in each and every 
particular: 

I will daily make a record in this book of every success and 
failure. 

I will not speak ill of any person under any circumstances, 
except under due process of law as a witness. (Here you may re- 
serve the right to warn any member of your family, provided you 
have personal knowledge of the offense.) 

I will not discuss the private life of any person. 

I will not excessively praise any person. 

I will not by look or sound, or any sign' or action, help to con- 
vey the impression that I know ill of another. 

I will to the best of my ability keep a constant watch on my 
actions and guard my tongue, so as to carry out the suggestions 
of this lesson. 



Losses. — Two hundred days' compliance with the foregoing 
(one hundred of which must be consecutive), shall be necessary to 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



133 



pass 100 per cent. For every day omitted in the two hundred days, 
record a loss of three marks. 

Triumphs. — Whenever an unusually strong temptation to 
yield to the speaking of an ill-remark shall be overcome after a hard 
struggle, record a triumph of three marks. 

LESSON FOKT Y-FIVE. 
FORTY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

SECRETIVENESS. 

Ninth Day Out in the World. Road No. 1. 

There are things in life that should not be told. The convey- 
ing of information for proper purposes where some end is to be 
gained is often a necessity; but there aire instances occurring in 
everyday life where secretiveness is a virtue. 

The details of a man's business should never be told by an em- 
ploye, whether the employer demands secrecy or not. A principle 
is here involved. The business is that of the employer and not of 
the employe, and the latter has no right to tell it. Neither does it 
sound well for a business man to tell how he transacts business, nor 
to disclose any of the secrets of the trade. 

A married person shows ill-judgment to take any person on 
earth into the secrets of his or her home. The tender and sacred 
confidences of the marriage relation are protected by law and 
should be guarded by the parties with solemn care. For the hus- 
band to disclose to his friends, or the wife to tell her mother or 
lady friends of the interchange of secrets, is grossly wrong; but it 
occurs altogether too often. 

If a friend confides any trouble or other matter in your keep- 
ing it is an evidence of undeveloped character to tell it to your 
other friend, even in confidence. It makes no difference whether 
you have been requested or not to keep it secret; it is your duty to 
hold it. No person could be weaker than one who has to be asked 
to "not tell." 

How beautiful and grand is that confidence which comes from 
knowing that anything said is kept sacred. Yet if you ever promise 



134 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



not to tell, nothing should ever wrest the secret from you, except 
a court of law. 

The question sometimes arises, "What shall I do if I am 
present at some wrong doing ? Shall I tell that ? If it is a crime 
and you tell it to any one, you should first report it to the police; 
for the law makes it an offense to conceal an offense', and you are 
liable to punishment for the concealment. This, however, is never 
enforced and is practically obsolete. The better way in the case of 
minor offenses is to use your judgment, looking some way ahead at 
all the consequences. 

Requirements. — Form the habit of secretiveness in accord- 
ance with the foregoing suggestions. 

Losses. — At the time of making the final reckoning estimate 
your rank on the scale of 100 per cent. 

LESSON FORTY-SIX. 
FORTY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

COMPARISON. 

Tenth Day out in the World. Road No. 2. 

"Comparisons are odious." They are mistakes. 

The creations of enmities unnecessarily tend to embitter life. 
When once we lose all faith in mankind and our sympathy turns to 
hatred we become misanthropes, a class of forlorn beings who play 
no part in the history of life. Unnecessary enmities show a lack of 
tact, of good management. 

If a person does a thing well tell him so, but do not enlarge 
or decrease it. Learn the knack of telling a thing exactly as it is. 
If he does it poorly do not venture an opinion, unless asked, in 
which case tell the truth, if alone; and if not, ask to see him alone. 
Be as frank and honorable about it as you would like to have a true 
friend be with you. 

But whatever you say do not compare your friend with another 
person. It is pure flattery of a dangerous kind to* make a person be- 
lieve that he is the equal or greater than another, if that other be 
renowned; and if the comparison is disadvantageous it should for 
that reason be avoided. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



135 



If you play any game or enter into any contest and win, do 
not boast of it or mention it in the presence of the defeated party. 
If asked by any one in his presence refer the inquirer to your op- 
ponent. If you are defeated it is manly to be the first to tell it; 
and do not offer any excuse or theories to account for the defeat. 

Never parade your superiority over any person; nor compare 
the inferiority of another with yourself or others. 

From time immemorial it has been considered obnoxious to in- 
dulge in comparisons. They often involve an innocent third party. 

To say that Mr. A. is as awkward as Mr. B., or no brighter than 
Mr. C, or as talented as Mr. D., is a species of gossip. Mr. B. 
might hear of his awkwardness, Mr. C. might object to his dullness, 
and Mr. D. might feel insulted to be put on a par with Mr. A. 

You cannot imagine a comparison to another that would not 
offend the other. 

Requirements. — Avoid making any comparisons of any kind 
whatever where one person is estimated by another's standard. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning place an estimate on your 
•character in this respect on the basis of 100 per cent. 

LESSON FORTY-SEVEN 
FORTY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

DETAILS. 

Eleventh Day Out in the World. Road No. 3. 

If greatness of character and greatness of the more general 
Tvind were to be traced to one trait, the present lesson would proba- 
bly furnish it. Genius is lazy when not guided by tact. In this age 
genius is never sought after. There is a slight hatred for it. Its 
two chief characteristics are conceit and laziness. Tact wins all the 
battles of life; genius sits on a cold rock enthroned in obscurity. 
The union of the two makes greatness. Genius hates details and 
work of all kinds. Tact leads genius into the workshop, and there 
batters his head, pounds his body and breaks him up generally. 

The little details are ignored by unsuccessful people, but tact 
uses them. 



136 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



A great singer, when a student, went to take a long course of 
lessons requiring years of study. Nothing but the scale was given. 
It was sung in every possible manner until, disgusted at years of 
time apparently wasted, she asked: "When am I to sing?" She was 
not aware that the thorough training in the details of her art had 
made her a complete singer. 

Edwin Booth once asked his father for advice as to his studies, 
and was substantially told to master the details or elements of the 
foundation of the art. 

The details are the important parts of the whole structure. At- 
tention to them wins success. No person can leap the valley in life 
and rise to the summit without climbing. True genius, that is the 
kind that wins victory, is always wedded to tact, and tact never 
takes chances. It loves hard work. Some great man once said 
that the genius of hard work was the only real genius in life. Some 
men work very hard and persist in it against obstacles for years,, but 
bring no results, for they ignore the details that make up success. 

An elocutionist once said that he had practiced six hours daily 
for years, and had worked very faithfully all the time. But on being 
asked the nature of his practice said he had recited aloud, studied 
the thought and tried to manage his voice so as to give each thought 
the correct expression. But he had never practiced one vocal ex- 
ercise, had never studied the principles that underlie emphasis, and 
knew nothing of the many hundreds of details that make up good 
delivery. 

Yet a person becomes a good elocutionist from studying noth- 
ing but details; which, when mastered, make a complete talent, 
even before a single piece is taken for recitation. 

Requirements. — Never neglect the slightest details. Estab- 
lish a habit of searching for the small factors that make up the 
great whole, and learn the art of perf ecting them. 

Losses. — At the time of your final reckoning estimate your 
rank on the basis of 100 per cent. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



137 



LESSON FOKTY-EIGHT. 
FORTY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
CRITICISM. 

Twelfth Day Out in the World. Eoad No. 4. 

It is neither a mark of good taste nor of character to volunteer 
a criticism of another. If asked for an opinion it should be ren- 
dered in accordance with the provisions of the lesson on Gossip. 

The efforts of another to do well should be left to stand or fall 
on their merits. Favorable criticism, if false, may do harm by foster- 
ing upon the world a class of people who are too conceited to think 
failure possible, and too lazy to work out the details of success. 
The better rule of conduct seems to be this: whenever the person 
apparently belongs to the class named the benefit of any doubt as to 
the person's merits should be given to silence. But when diffidence 
and lack of self-confidence are present and seem to retard the pro- 
gress of the person it is well to give encouraging words, but never 
falsely. An opinion is often elastic, and honestly variable. 

The habit of criticising at places of amusement should never be 
indulged in, except publicly by the usual means of applause*. To 
pass an opinion on the merits or demerits of a speaker, reader, 
singer, or actor, either during the time, at intervals, or after, is evi- 
dence of conceit that is inconsistent with a solid character. In the 
first place the men and women who occupy the highest places in our 
estimation never indulge in this criticism. They show their ap- 
proval at the place by giving or withholding applause; and if asked 
afterward speak their mind in a few well-chosen words. To say, 
such a person or thing is "splendid" or "horrid," or to go into de- 
tails of opinion, is useless and frivolous. It does no good. It shows 
a vaunting spirit, as much as to say "I know more about how this 
should be done than the person who did it." A person whose opin- 
ion is valuable never gives it voluntarily. Neither can any value be 
placed upon a good motive in offering it. Jealousy prompts 
many an unfavorable criticism and friendship many a pleasant one. 

It is a good thing to be able to judge for one's self. The occa- 
sional torture of listening to a poor entertainer prepares the way for 
a better enjoyment of a good one, by contrast. 



138 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Requirements. — Do not pass an opinion on people whom you 
meet. Do not make remarks upon the habits, style of dress, man- 
ners, words or acts of your fellow-beings. Cultivate the habit of 
thinking to yourself, and not expressing yourself aloud. Never vol- 
unteer a criticism on public matters unless it is sought after, in 
which case dispose of it in a few well-chosen words. 

Losses.— At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
.basis of 100 per cent. 

LESSON FORTY-NINE. 
FORTY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

HASTY PROMISES. 

Thirteenth Day Out in the World. Road No. 1. 

It is an old adage that "a bad promise is better broken than 
kept," 

To be in a position where a promise must be broken is unpleas- 
ant. No matter what the case may be it is a dangerous thing to a 
noble character to be compelled to break a promise. Even if the per- 
son were to move to a far-away State and never meet his promise 
again, still the reflex influence on the character of the promisor is 
serious in the effect. A man could not look himself in the face with 
the same ease that he possessed before. A broken promise is a scar 
upon the soul. 

Yet it is true that a bad promise should be broken, and truer 
still that it should not have been made. The old patriarch who sac- 
rificed his son, the Roman ruler who ordered the execution of his 
own boy, were determined to keep the vows they had made. 

It is admitted to be better to refuse to- carry out an illegal, im- 
moral or improper promise. Deception in the inducing of it might 
vitiate it. Still a strong character would rarely be caught in this 
way. Think well before promising. An engagement to meet an- 
other, no matter how trivial and useless, must always be kept, un- 
less it is for an improper purpose. That matter will be discussed, 
in another lesson. A promise to do or not to do a thing should never 
be hastily made, unless you are clearly certain of its effects. Prom- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



139 



ises are necessary in order to carry on the ordinary affairs of life, to 
accommodate society and business, and to let others know what 
course of conduct on our part may be depended on by them. The 
person who never makes a promise is weak. Yet there are times 
when we should think carefully over a matter. 

Requirements. — Never make a hasty promise where any doubt 
whatever lingers in the mind as to the consequences. Sleep at least 
one night over a matter of ordinary importance, and longer 
when the case is serious, if such is possible. Where immediate de- 
cision is necessary act promptly, taking the benefit of the doubt to 
yourself. Do not allow any person to solicit you against your will. 
If you feel the influence of a stronger will acting upon yours, in a 
matter where your are sure you should either not yield or should 
deliberate longer, always excuse yourself from the presence of the 
other, go apart where you may talk to yourself, decide if you really 
wish to yield or not, make the decision on the side of right, put 
down the word "No" on paper, >return and stand by this "No" at 
all hazards. Make it a case of will power. For every victory so 
gained you will acquire an easier triumph in the next conflict. 

Losses. — Keep a record of your battles in this matter and 
record a loss of one mark for every failure. 

Triumphs. — For every victory gained in a difficult battle re- 
cord a triumph of one mark. 

LESSON FIFTY. 
FIFTIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
ANONYMOUS ATTACKS. 

Fourteenth Day Out in the World. Eoad No. 2. 
HALF WAY TO THE CITADEL. 

A question of this kind might have been disposed of under the 
head of nobility, for nothing can detract so much from one's 
grander nature than to strike in the dark. An open enemy may be 
met and justice done, but when the assailant is under cover of an 
anonymous signature, or strikes from ambush, the victim is helpless. 
One of the surest ways of curing an evil that no age has been free 



140 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



from, is tq increase our friendship for the person assailed. If the 
people who seek to injure by this midnight assault can be made to 
understand that the purpose fails, in that the intended victim is the 
gainer by it, the reaction becomes bitter indeed. 

Few persons have been free from this species of malice. The 
whiter the character and the more cowardly the assailant the more 
apt is this sort of warfare to be used. The author has invariably 
increased his friendship for persons who have been attacked by 
anonymous letters, even when they were almost strangers to him; 
and in two cases, on hearing of such a murderous assault upon per- 
sons who were entire strangers, he sought them out and established 
a life-long friendship between them and himself. In no case had he 
occasion to regret it. 

The cases of anonymous letter writing are so numerous they 
have often reached the courts, and in some instances have become 
matters for official report. The temptation to seek revenge by this 
means being so great, and the possibility of discovery so small, many 
persons resort, to it who would not dare to make the attack openly. 
Some one once made the assertion that "degradation and disgrace 
inevitably overtake a person who writes anonymous letters." If this 
is so, it may be accounted for on the following grounds: 

1. The moral status must be very low before the temptation 
could enter the heart. 

2. Yielding to such temptation debases the nature still more, 
and leaves little room for those grander feelings that are necessary 
to success in life. That ruin which is ascribed to "ill-luck" is but a 
logical consequence. 

Eequieements. — If the temptation ever enters the heart to at- 
tack a person by writing an anonymous letter to him or to another 
concerning him, read the lesson on "Nobility," and study the more 
inspiring Points of Character. Never, under any circumstances, 
either in earnest or in joke, for a good or bad purpose, allow your- 
self to think of concealing your true name and full address from any 
communication. The habit may be formed at first in an unimport- 
ant way, but will soon grow to more serious results. 

Losses. — For every time the temptation enters the heart 
record a loss of one mark. For each anonymous letter or com- 
munication hereafter sent by you record a loss of one hundred 
marks. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 
i 



143 



LESSON FIFTY-ONE. 
FIFTY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 
PROMPTNESS. 

Fifteenth Day Out in the Would. Eoad No. 3. 

The last lesson marked the close of the first half of your 
labors. One-half of the journey "Out in the World" is also com- 
pleted. The White Citadel of Character may be discerned on the 
summit of the Heights; but as the roads lead "Down in the Depths" 
it will be lost sight of. 

If you are following faithfully in these stages your progress 
will be marked even now, although it is said that true progress is 
not noticeable. Where we can see our own progress it is merely 
bloating. True growth is from within, and before it is visible from 
without it must permeate our entire nature. 

"Promptness" is our next Point of Character. It involves a 
recognition of the value of time. If two persons make an engage- 
ment to meet at a certain time and place, the one who is a minute 
behind the appointed time has the following accounts of profit and 
loss to his credit: 

He gains: 

1. The ill opinion of the other party. 

2. Future distrust by the other party. 

3. A reputation that "he is not to be depended upon." 
He loses: 

1. The time of both. 

2. Reputation for promptness. 

3. His own good opinion. 

Agreements and appointments should be promptly kept. A 
certain lawyer of some ability, but of an unsavory reputation de- 
cided to turn about and try to win the good opinion of the public. 
He sought the advice of a friend, who said: "Your reputation is bad. 
Among other things your word is not to be depended upon." The 
lawyer resolved to devote his attention to reforming one habit at a 
time, and resolved to make his word good at all hazards. At every 
appointment he was on hand one minute in advance of the time. 



142 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Every promise lie made, however trivial or unimportant, he kept to 
the letter. Once, intending to go to another city, he agreed to take 
a certain message to a business house for an acquaintance of his. 
Something prevented his going; but he hired a man at his own ex- 
pense to go with the message, and it was delivered promptly. This 
was found out and excited admiration for the lawyer. To-day he 
has risen to the head of the bar. 

All persons can "turn about" and win good names and noble 
characters. 

Requirements. — Keep every promise to the letter. If you are 
to be at a certain place at a certain time be sure of being there one 
minute ahead of the time, no matter if the appointment is unim- 
portant. Make a reputation for reliability. It will help you with 
others, and elevate the general tone of your character. Take no 
chances. Whenever in doubt as to how long it will take to reach 
the place of your ajypointnient, give the benefit of the doubt to an 
early arrival. 

Sign the following pledge: 

Pledge 13. 

Realizing the importance to others, and to myself in the for- 
mation of character, that I acquire the habit of promptness in all 
things, I hereby resolve to make a memorandum of the exact time 
which I may appoint in any engagement with another, in case it is 
of a nature that may be forgotten or misunderstood; and I will be 
punctual in such meeting in each and every instance. I further re- 
solve to be prompt in attendance at all places, meetings or gather- 
ings, whether of business, church, social, or other nature, and 
whether one or more persons besides myself are involved. Also in 
the assignment of duties for myself alone I will be prompt in meet- 
ing and performing them. 

Losses. — For every breach give yourself two losses. 

Gains. — For every act of punctuality under difficult circum- 
stances give yourself two marks of triumph. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 
i 



14a 



LESSON FIFTY-TWO. 
FIFTY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 

CREDULITY. 

Sixteenth Day Out in the World. Road No. 4. 

Character has its good arid its bad traits. The acquisition of 
the good and trie avoidance of the bad constitute the course of 
training now in progress. 

A successful man once ascribed his high position in life to the 
fact that he "never took anything for granted." This is his lan- 
guage. By it he did not mean to say that he trusted no one; but 
that he acquainted himself with the exact facts whenever it was pos- 
sible to do so-. In all cases where the issue is important it is better 
to be correctly informed. Memory is more deficient than we are 
aware. For instance, the report of the contents of a letter, book, or 
paper, is not so reliable as the thing itself. What Mr. A. tells you 
Mr. B. has said about you is generally sure to be incorrect, and often 
seriously so. To believe it is a species of credulity. The accounts 
in the newspapers are rarely ever half correct, and the percentage of 
error is often very large. The ambitious reporter cares more for his 
reputation as a gatherer of "spicy news" than for the facts. So- 
called "interviews" are often pure inventions. The author was 
present at the "interview" of a, United States Senator, who abso- 
lutely refused to open his mouth, except to say "good morning ;* 
but the next day's paper had an article nearly a column long. The 
questions asked by the correspondent were there, and long answers 
from the Senator followed each question. It is safe to put down all 
interviews as either advertisements or inventions. The system of 
fabricating articles has increased very much of late. European 
news are written in the newspaper office to a large extent. The 
shell or outline of a cablegram contains a few lines; but the long re- 
port is beautifully interwoven on this side of the Atlantic; and the 
American readers accept it all as fact. 

The credulity of the public renders it possible to carry on a vast 
amount of cheating in all lines of trade. Extraordinary advertis- 
ing, unusual claims of merit, and pretences of great bargains are 
factors in this system. The more modest the claim the safer it is 



144 TEE NEW EDUCATION 

to deal with the person making it. Do not be influenced by unusual 
methods of gaining your confidence. 

Belief in sign^ superstitions' and warnings is evidence of a weak 
character. Likewise, is it to pay money to or spend time with a for- 
tune teller, clairvoyant, or similar fraud. It would require a long 
explanation to convince you of the manner in which many "won- 
derful" things are done; but the fact remains that no human being 
can look into the future one minute ahead. 

Mind reading is an established fact, explainable on the 
principle that what exists in one mind may be communicated by 
nerve waves to another, as sound passes by its own waves from brain 
to brain; but what does not yet exist cannot be communicated. 
Predictions are mere guess-work. 

Kequieements. — Carry out as far as consistent in your daily 
life the suggestions of this lesson. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 

LESSON FIFTY-THREE. 
FIFTY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 

DIRECTNESS. 

Seventeenth Day Out in the World. Eoad No. 1. 

Dishonesty is always cowardly. There are things winch every 
person dislikes to do. It is both refreshing and inspiring to gather 
from the private lives of great men and women their curious 'and 
earnest efforts to build character. Each has had some code, some 
standard to live by. One of the most curious methods, was that of 
the Duke of Wellington. He had a motto, "Always do what you 
don't want to." Properly applied to the life of any person this be- 
comes a most important point. It is a good plan every morning on 
starting about the duties of the day to select those which should be 
performed, but which are the most dreaded. Never walk away from 
duty. If you owe an apology go directly about the making of it. 
If you are indebted to a person and can pay, then do so at once; but 
if impossible, seek the person. Never wait for him to call on you. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



145 



If your promise to pay must be broken (and it never should be if 
there is any possibility of its fulfillment), go like a man and tell the 
facts. Do not wedge in an excuse. Make no pretences. You 
know your circumstances and what you can probably do in the fu- 
ture. Do not overcolor, or undercolor a single fact. It is far 
nobler to go to prison than to lie. As a matter of policy you will 
gain the friendship and leniency of the creditor by stating the facts 
as they are; and as a matter of grand character development you 
will add to the stature of your manliness by this method. Policy 
and true character lean together. We gain the most when we are 
most worthy. 

Coming straight to the point is a mark of moral strength. 
Cowards beat about the bush. If you have a tiling to say that ought 
to be said, give it utterance. Directness need not destroy politeness. 
Bluntness and coarseness are far different from directness. The lat- 
ter states the exact thing at the proper time and place; while blunt- 
ness may state the improper thing, and is always out of place. 

Some people so dislike to say "~No" when asked to oblige a 
friend when they should not, that they invariably say "I will see/*' 
or seek to put off a decisive answer. Say "No" kindly and promptly. 
Excuses are unnecessary as a rule. An explanation of your reasons 
for saying "No" leads to argument, and a more astute opponent 
may convince you against your will and turn your "No" into "Yes/' 
We can imagine no better way to test your strength of character 
than to say "No" kindly and with all directness when duty de- 
mands. 

Kequirements. — Adopt in your everyday lives the sugges- 
tions of this lesson. Keep a record -of every battle and victory. Be 
direct without being blunt or coarse. 

Losses. — For every failure record a loss of two marks. 

Triumphs. — If any struggle with yourself is unusually severe 
and you ultimately win, record a triumph of three marks. 



146 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON FIFTY-FOUR. 
FIFTY-FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER , 
GENEROSITY. 

Eighteenth Day Out m the World. Road "No. 2. 

The question of Charity is not involved in this lesson. Both 
are physical or emotional, with an interlinking of each with the 
other. Neither is the question of sacrifice at stake. The latter can- 
not be classed among the Points of Character. To be willing to 
make a sacrifice of property, time or life for the benefit of another 
is governed by local causes. 

We can be generous without making a sacrifice. If in a con- 
test our opponent is defeated we can omit mentioning it in his pres- 
ence, or causing any self -adulation to reach his ears. If our neigh- 
bor is ill we can do him many favors without making any sacrifice 
except of disinclination. If he is maligned it is our duty to in- 
crease our friendly feelings for him. A man who has fallen is never 
entirely worthless. Go to such an one, talk with him, and the 
chances are he will tell you the world is against Mm, and no one 
cares whether he lives or dies. 

Life is so short, death comes so unexpectedly to us all, and the 
meaning of our existence here is so strange, so weird, so incompre- 
hensible, that no mistake can occur if we regard the human race as 
one family, and deal generously with each member of it. 

It costs nothing to aid others in a hundred ways. A mean, 
narrow disposition will shrink from yielding to another even the lit- 
tle courtesies that make up the sweetnesses of life. 

As far as the financial part of this question is concerned there 
are many times when generosity costs no more than selfishness- 
The man who gives twenty-five cents or a dollar a dozen times or 
more in a month to tip a waiter and cannot afford to give a few dol- 
lars a year to the helpless poor is selfish. This is only an illustrat- 
ing case. There are hundreds of ways of squandering money that 
add nothing to a man's comfort. "Tipping" waiters brings into use 
a system of snobbishness which reacts on the persons who inau- 
gurate it, for they are compelled to pay double price for food in 
order to get the same attention which they are entitled to in anj 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



147 



case. Gambling is another species of wastefulness which takes 
away a man's opportunity for broadening his nature by generosity. 

Beqtjieemexts. — Look searchingly into your nature and dis- 
c-over if selfishness is there. If so, commence to eradicate it by dis- 
carding all the smaller evidence of it. Be generous at first in little 
things that cost no time, money or effort. Gradually broaden the 
heart by inviting the nobler and grander forms of generosity into 
it, Use judgment, Think kindly of your fellow-beings. The best 
of them are capable of moral improvement. Deal generously with 
their faults. Never wound the feelings of any one. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your percentage on 
the basis of 100 per cent. 



LESSON FIFTY-FIVE. 
FIFTY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
MOMENTS. 

Nineteenth Day Out m the Would. Eoad No. 3. 

The ocean is made of drops; the earth of grains; time of mo- 
ments: and a full life of the use of them. 

Character cannot be builded of large parts; but is composed of 
the finer and more delicate particles which are capable of the most 
exquisite finish. The greater the man the more value he places 
upon that small division of time winch includes but sixty seconds. 
A moment to a full life is the means of accomplishing something; 
but to an aimless life it is far too small to be heeded. The majority 
of people who have anything to do wait till they can find time to da 
it. There must be a holiday, a whole evening, or some spare hour 
when '''the mind can be upon it," "How can I be expected to ac- 
complish anything unless I can devote my whole attention to it?" 

To such a person a moment is of no value. Yet genius com- 
bined with tact would find value for a minute. Of course it is bet- 
ter to have time to yourself; but to wait for this would delay all 
ordinary undertakings, and prevent great ones from being accom- 
plished. 



148 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



One can learn to think on a subject even in the midst of other 
duties. The mind is able to shut out all noises and disturbing in- 
fluences and concentrate itself upon some theme requiring close 
thought; even in the midst 1 of the busy hum of life. This habit is 
quickly acquired or lost by practice. 

From the time we arise in the morning until we retire at night 
we find small parcels of time distributed through the day, in quan- 
tities varying from one minute to a half hour, when nothing im- 
portant is at hand. To invent some method for using these mo- 
ments is your task. Can you do it? They cannot be called vacation 
moments, for vacation is variety. By this we mean that he who puts 
the most variety into his mind obtains the profitable vacation. If 
you pass the spare moments idly, your brain will probably be filled 
with thoughts of your work or daily occupation, and you will have 
performed two days' work. Hard brain work is a relief to the mind 
and body if it changes the thoughts to new channels. 

Some persons carry note-books to write in during their spare 
moments; others good literature to read; others lessons to be 
learned; others devote themselves to personal care and the acquisi- 
tion of politeness, self-control and refinement. If you have no 
other means of filling in these moments, take this book with you 
and commit to memory the One Hundred Points of Character, first 
by Separate Boads, and then in the order of the lessons, as traveled. 

Eequiee^iexts. — Sign the following pledge: 

Pledge ~No. 14. 

I solemnly promise to waste as few of the single moments or 
small parcels of time as possible; and I will aid myself in this direc- 
tion by applying to these moments the First Point of Character, 
"Self-Effort" or as much of it as requires energy. 



Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 



ONE Hl'XDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



149 



LESSON FIFTY-SIX. 
FIFTY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
INSPIRE AMBITION. 

Twentieth Day On in the Woeld. Road Ho. 4. 

Under the title of "Influence' we discussed a trait of character 
which was intended as a stepping stone to the present one. It is 
probably an unusual task which you are now called upon to per- 
form. Your life has been very commonplace, perhaps. Xo desire 
for the better joys of success has yet come to you. Y'our everyday 
humdrum mode of living has closed out the romantic yearnings, 
and left you very commonplace. They say that one learns a thing 
best by teaching it to others: a very important truth. So in the 
building of character. For every endeavor made to ennoble those 
around us we ourselves grow twofold in the same direction. 

In an effort to inspire others to a grander life great tact should 
be used. The wrong words would defeat the purpose. It is a good 
opportunity to practice the art of using tact. This art must be ac- 
quired, and we might as well begin to learn it now. There are 
many kinds of ambition which we may inspire in others. It be- 
comes very simple work at times. For instance, a poor girl who 
earned very small wages at manual labor could not read or write 
well. A lady in five minutes' conversation advised her to spend her 
spare moments in improvement in this direction and told her where 
she could procure the books and material. That accidental conver- 
sation resulted in changing the whole course of one life, at least, 
There is no person who does not appreciate a kindly interest in his 
welfare, if properly shown; although all would resent unwarrant- 
able meddling. Many yearn for some fellow-being's sympathy. We 
who are strong and desire to be stronger should freely give that 
sympathy. It often brings tears to the eyes of some weary mortals 
who thought no one in all the wide world took the slightest interest 
in them. 

The earnest, kindly face, the sincere voice, speaking the right 
word at the right time, are brighter jewels in the pathway of a dis- 
couraged being than a new empire would be to a victorious general. 



150 THE NEW EDUCATION 

Bequikements. — Select your theme to suit the case of some 
friend, or even stranger. Find out what interests him, what ambi- 
tion he has, and what are the limits of his desires. If experience 
has given you greater advantage and more valuable knowledge than 
he possesses, you could direct him minutely. But if he is of equal or 
greater rank, advice and a sincere interest in his future would win 
him to a thinking mood. Eo being is so far above you. in wealth or 
social rank that your interest in him, if sincere, would not have 
some influence. It is estimated that nearly every great man and 
woman that ever lived has first been inspired to a noble ambition by 
some friend or stranger. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 



LESSON" FIFTY-SEVEN. 
FIFTY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
ADAPTATION. 

TWENTY-FIEST DAY OUT IN THE WORLD. EOAD No. 3. 

Ambition inspires restlessness. This restlessness is a spirit of 
activity, which, if governed with tact, becomes a moving and irre- 
sistible force in character known as energy of purpose. 

Laziness furnishes an example of a lack of energy. The latter, 
however, may be present in persons who cannot be called lazy, but 
who have no purpose in life. They are discontented. A steadiness 
of purpose sweeps on regardless of collateral influences, and adapts 
itself to all the changes that take place about it. 

Discontent is a blot upon a good life. If we are not doing the 
best we can there is a fault somewhere; but if we pursue our daily 
life to the best of our ability and make all things tell for a better 
future, there can be no excuse for discontent. 

It is a species of philosophical nature to be able to adapt our- 
selves to circumstances. Some persons believe they are specially 
selected by fate for the reverses of life. This is weakness. We are 
generally what we make ourselves. There is a time in the life of 
every person when opportunities come for bettering conditions. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



151 



Tact, even without talent, can seize upon such opportunities; and 
they then become stepping stones for another series of means where- 
by we rise still higher. The discontented person whines and frets, 
grows irritable and peevish, and has not one particle of strength of 
character upon which to rest. Therefore acquire contentment; or, 
if you believe that is impossible, learn to adapt yourself to circum- 
stances. 

In another sense, it is advantageous to be influenced by your 
surroundings. In moments of danger one is justified in becoming 
pliable in the hands of another. Likewise where the best that can 
be had at your disposal, your philosophical nature should tell you 
that the only thing to be done is to do the best that can be done. 
It is one of the most effective principles in the social art that the 
man who can mold himself into the circumstances that surround 
him is better able to rise above them than he who spurns them from 
under his feet, and thereby loses his footing. 

This power becomes a strong force in some characters. The 
man of business, who must deal with all grades of intelligence and 
ignorance must suit his methods, his manners, his language, and his 
ideas even, to the capacity of those who come to him. The profes- 
sional man is compelled to do the same. It would be folly for the 
university graduate to use the vocabulary of his accustomed plane 
in conversation or address to the men and women of the ignorant 
classes. They would not understand him, and he would not benefit 
them. 

We recall with pleasure hearing a famous clergyman preach to 
a fashionable and learned congregation one Sabbath forenoon, and, 
in the afternoon, repeat the sam.e sermon before a very humble class 
of people in the intellectual scale. In the latter case his remarks 
were plain, simple, dignified and powerful, yet couched in language 
that would be understood by any ordinary child of ten. The orators 
of the professional ranks adapt themselves to their audiences. 
Lawyers, like Choate, have done the same thing. In some instances 
the juries are composed of enough men of intellect to sway the rest 
of their number, and such men are addressed in a vocabulary suited 
to their mental capacity. Again, it happens that juries are all 
farmers, or all miners, or all laborers, or something apart from the 
intellectual classes, and the skilful lawyer will appeal to them in 
terms that they may most easily understand. We recall the in- 
stance of a metropolitan advocate who went to the far West on a 



152 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



special case and was obliged to argue before a jury of farmers. He 
dressed in typical clothes of- the country, learned in a day or two 
their peculiar phrases, and made himself one of them as completely 
as though he had been raised there. 

In greater breadth of meaning, this Point of Character is in- 
tended to be brought home to your life. It may not fall to your lot 
to emulate the examples stated; but they are a few only out of 
countless possibilities for putting in practice the trait of character 
now under consideration. True adaptation means the ability to 
seize upon an opportunity, whether favorable or unfavorable, and 
turn it to good account. There is good in everything. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 

LESSON FIFTY-EIGHT. 
FIFTY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

ETIQUETTE. 

Twenty-second Day Out in the Would. Road ~No. 2. 

Some persons despise "Etiquette." Perhaps the lesson on 
"Fads" will suit them. "Etiquette" is .that agreed or prevalent code 
of manners which governs the sensible portion of society. It is 
founded upon common sense, if genuine; and when not so founded,, 
it becomes a series of "Fads." A man or woman might be accred- 
ited with full strength of character and know little of "Etiquette;" 
yet he would destroy a great part of his usefulness, and this would 
react upon his real character. 

Persons who are well informed upon this art of address have a 
decided advantage over others. Two things are necessary: first, to 
know the code of good manners; second, to put them into use by 
constant practice until they become second nature. 

In order to know the code of good manners, books and friends 
are necessary. Here is seen the value of the "Ally." You have the 
right to demand of your "Ally" all the information he has upon the 
prevailing Etiquette of the community in which you live. He is in 
duty bound to help you, and cannot for his honor disclose your 
name or query to any living being. If he is not fully informed he 



ONE H VXD RED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



153 



may ask his "Ally" and his "Ally 3 may ask his, and so on until the 
chain of influence is exhausted, although these chains we hope to 
make endless. By this system of ''Allies''' every species of informa- 
tion can he obtained; for if yon select a good friend in the "Chain 
of Influence/'" as provided in the Xinety-sixth Point of Character, 
yon will have a grand source of knowledge at your command. 

By this means, and by hooks, yon will he thoroughly informed 
upon the question of ''Etiquette'' at least. The next thing to do is 
to put the code of good manners into practice. This should be done 
at home. Good manners never rest well upon a person who uses 
them only when in society. Etiquette must he put into practice in 
the presence of our parents, our sisters and brothers, our friends 
and acquaintances. It then becomes natural. Do not sit in your 
own room in a lounging, awkward manner. Do not eat at your own 
table like a boor and expect to he nice and refined when dining out. 
Naturalness is habit. It grows as we direct it. Good manners or 
had manners may become natural by establishing the habit of 
using them at all times and places, spiced with rich common sense. 

Keqeieemexts. — Carry out the suggestions of this lesson. 
Seek the aid of your "Ally." 

Losses. — For every break of good manners (as far as you have 
acquired them with your best effort to do so'), record a loss of one 
mark, whether the break is made at home or not. 

Tbeoiph. — If you succeed in acquiring the full code of good 
manners in vogue in your community, record a triumph of ten 
marks. 

LESSON FIFTY-NINE. 
FIFTY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
THOROUGHNESS. 

TWEXTY-THIED DAY On IX THE WOELD. PiOAD Xo. 3. 

"What is worth doing at all is worth doing well/ 5 
Some persons lose interest in a thing soon after the novelty 
wears off. These are weak and vacillating characters. Others keep 
on with a dogged persistency after their interest is lost: and the 
work is done in a very unsatisfactory manner. 



154 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Stimulus to do a thing well cannot always be furnished. The 
■character of a person can often be told by watching a trifling game 
or amusement. If he is far ahead or behind his opponent he plays 
carelessly perhaps. This is not thoroughness. It is a good habit 
to do your very best at all times, whether in earnest or in fun. Let 
little matters call out your hardest efforts, and great ones must. 
Napoleon played chess with the same zeal that won battles; and the 
private memoirs of his family declare that he played with children 
■with the same thoroughness. 

The habit of half doing a thing or neglecting any of the details 
is a bad one to tolerate. An office boy had to sweep out every 
morning. He removed the furniture and articles from the corners 
and obscure places, where neglect never would have been detected; 
and one morning was observed by his employer. He afterwards be- 
came a partner in the business. Thoroughness has its reward not 
merely from its results in the matters done, but more effectually in 
its influence upon the character. Even if no eye ever saw it out- 
wardly, the man is growing within. 

"Completeness" and "Thoroughness" would van almost any bat- 
tle of life; and when united with the many other noble traits of 
character, the man or woman must be grand types of the race. 

Here we see the value of "Details" It is upon them that 
"Thoroughness" should be exercised, for what we do with the "De- 
Jails" will affect the entire structure. 

Requirements.— Do everything well. In fun or in earnest be 
thorough. In study, in work, in reading, in meditation, be thorough 
Cultivate the habit and apply it to little matters in particular. Make 
everything bear the stamp of your character. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
•basis of 100 per cent. 

LESSON SIXTY. 
SIXTIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
INSPIRE NOBILITY. 

TWENTY-FOUBTH DAY OUT IX THE \Y0ELI). ROAD No. 4 

By a smaller standard, but with just the same solemnity and 
grandeur of purpose, we should inspire nobility in children as we 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 155 

do ambition in maturer people. The entire character and calibre of 
the American of the next generation are growing in the children of 
to-day. We who are advanced into manhood" and womanhood are 
in the habit of treating children as though they were never to know 
anything. Coarse language, brutal jokes, and cheap flippancy are 
too often thrown at boys when they are old enough to come in 
contact with those of ten or twenty years more, and girls are rarely 
ever made to feel the possibilities before them. 

You have, or should have, a vast influence over children. Thev 
will respect you if you are respectable to them. But if you tell them 
monstrous stories, or make them believe things which they after- 
wards disprove, or trifle with their confidences, or ape some buf- 
foon, or feed their minds with trash, you are throwing away an 
opportunity to do them good and add to your own character. 

A child should never be deceived. If you make a promise you 
should keep it just as readily with the ragged urchin of the street as 
with the President of the United States. 

The little mind peers eagerly out into the mysterious darkness 
of the long future and readily grasps the outstretched hand of one 
whose feet have trodden the self-same path. In the midst of ;ts 
plays and thoughtlessness it will stop and listen to anything that 
will throw light upon that path. x\ word in a serious vein now and 
then will fall upon rich soil. 

Children are so accustomed to hearing nothing but trash (ex- 
cept at home), that they at first treat lightly an approach to a seri- 
ous conversation; but a kind voice and earnest face will quickly win 
them. Boys from ten to twenty years are very tractable if they be- 
lieve you are in earnest. 

You often meet children who may be benefited by what you 
say. Instead of making life a burden to them, why not inspire them 
with a noble ambition? There are misanthropes who hate children, 
because many are vicious. Misanthropy is pitiable at all times, but 
when it is leveled at children it is ungenerous. Some are vicious, 
and so were their parents. Some are nuisances, but their parents 
misgovern them. To locate blame in this world is a difficult task. 

Keqtjieements. — Carry out the suggestions of this lesson 
whenever opportunity offers. 

Losses. — Take into consideration all your opportunities and 
the proportion neglected; and estimate your rank on the basis of 100 
per cent. 



156 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON SIXTY-ONE. 
SIXTY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 

EXCITEMENT. 

Twenty-fifth Day Out in the Would. Eoad No. 1. 

When you come to sum up all the stages on Eoad No. 1, you 
will find them all leading to one side of character, the Cardinal 
Point of which has not yet been told you. It will be found written 
over the North Gate of the Citadel. 

The present "Point of Character" calls for considerable Self- 
control. There are critical points in life when excitement may be- 
come disastrous. In women, especially, it seems to be prevalent. It 
may excite pity, but never sympathy. 

A little thought would disclose the foolishness of giving way 
to the weakness, but as women receive impressions more readily 
through the emotions than through the mental activity, it is diffi- 
cult for them to be philosophical. Some men of hysterical tenden- 
cies often give way to excitement without cause. Even when the 
cause is sufficient, to become excited never produces any good. A 
strong character is calm. 

If danger is at hand, keep cool. 

If some one about you is frightened, keep cool, for yo'U may re- 
assure him. 

If you are successful in any undertaking or contest do not be- 
come excited. If failure is your lot, be calm and try again. If a 
person seeks a quarrel with you do not get excited. If you never 
answer a quarrelsome remark the dispute will stop there. If you 
are in the wrong admit it coolly, and make such an apology as ac- 
cords with the place, circumstances and people. 

In the midst of work or play maintain that steady dignity of 
manner which commands respect and retains for you the use of all 
your faculties. Success comes to those who are cool. If you are 
talking to children do not allow them to see you excited, for ex- 
citement means uncontrol; and children instinctively know how to 
take advantage of you. 

Many persons there are, and their number is legion, who get 
excited over anything and everything that happens. They look as 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 157 

though the last vestige of judgment had fled to the four corners of 
the sky. They lose that steadiness of self-guidance that is essential 
to the performance even of small duties. They embarrass and un- 
nerve others by the flurry and flutter of noise and motion which 
they give way to on the least provocation; and they may he put 
down as undeserving of confidence in the management of any affair. 

Excitement shows itself in the voice in the high pitch, the 
voice running high in proportion to the degree of excitement pre- 
vailing. It occasionally shows itself in a rapid low register of the 
voice, hut this is rare, and even then means grave seriousness in the 
excitement. 

Habits can be quickly formed. 

We have seen many women learn to keep cool by careful atten- 
tion and firm resolve; and after awhile the calmness became natural. 

Requirements. — Be calm. Do not get excited. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 



LESSOX SIXTY-TWO. 
SIXTY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 
CHARITY. 

Twenty-sixth Day Out in the World. Eoad Xo. 2. 
This quality varies from "Generosity." 

It would be an excellent plan to learn the meanings of the two 
words, carry these meanings through the lessons. 

In the sense in which we use it "Charity" may have two appli- 
cations: 

1. Physical. 

2. Emotional. 

In a physical sense we apply it to contributions of money, 
property or value to relieve the distress of others. 

In an emotional sense we apply it to the feelings and treatment 
which we show to those who are unfortunate. 

As far as contributing to the relief of the poor, that matter is 
left to your conscience. If you can afford it you certainly will 



158 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



broaden your nature, ennoble your heart, and add to your character 
by daily charitable deeds. It is better to have some system about 
this, so as to avoid professional beggars, many of whom are wealthy 
and dishonest. Nearly all street beggars belong to this class. How- 
ever, the pleasure of giving even to the undeserving is very great, i£ 
we "nothing know" of it. A system of helping the poor at their 
homes, so that they may not be compelled to go to the public poor- 
house, would be very charitable. 

Every person should cultivate charity. The churches are the 
safest medium for contributing to the poor. All church charities 
are commendable. 

In its emotional sense charity is within the power of us all. 
Forgiveness is its first great trait. The intentional wrong done us is 
repented of. Forgive it. Do not harden yourself against this kind 
of charity. Your friend has fallen into disgrace. He was entirely 
to blame. Do not cut him. Spare his feelings and encourage him 
to lead a good life. Let him know that if he does right you are his 
friend and faithful helper. A man is convicted of crime and serves 
a term in the penitentiary. He comes out, and starts life anew in 
some other community. No one knows his past but you. Do not 
tell it to his neighbors and thereby disgrace him. He is entitled to 
a fair show; and if he is sincere he merits your help. 

Kequirements. — Do unto others as you would that they 
should do unto you. Cultivate some commendable charity. Deal 
leniently with all who are unfortunate. 

Losses. — The estimation of your value in this matter is left 
entirely to your discretion. The basis is 100 per cent. 



LESSON SIXTY-THKEE. 
SIXTY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 

JUSTICE. 

Twenty-seventh Day Out in the Wokld. Eoad No. 3. 

This may seem to conflict with charity, but it need never do so. 
Justice in the abstract requires the letter of the law; but when tem- 
pered with "Charity" is just ais effectual, and serves its intended pur- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 159 

pose better. The letter of the law could not be enforced at all 
times with justice to the guilty party. The magistrate knows this 
and deals with erring humanity accordingly. 

In our contact with the people of the world we have many 
opportunities for displaying a spirit of fairness, which are 
often neglected. Prejudice outweighs "Justice" when we deal with 
friends as well as enemies. When a person succeeds where we have 
failed something like regret at that success enters into our nature;, 
and when our failure is accompanied by theirs we feel a sense of 
pleasure over it. Both these moods are due to envy, and this colors 
the judgment of mind, preventing exact "Justice." 

There is a spirit of fairness due to ourselves which should, 
prompt us to protect our own interests and those dependent upon 
us, when injustice will be done to no others. The man who smokes 
or "treats" when his family may be suffering for the small income 
that he thus squanders is doing them an injustice, and always him- 
self. The woman who gives her time, attention and best thoughts 
to subjects that deprive her husband and family of needed affection, 
is doing them an injustice, and always herself. 

The decision of disputed matters may often rest upon us, and* 
friendship tempts us to lean away from exact justice. Here comes a 
good test of character. We feel a sense of honor in the knowledge- 
that we have cast aside all prejudice, all friendly leaning, and have 
dealt by each party with exact fairness. To decide against a friend 
for the purpose of winning public approval when we fear to be 
charged with bias if we decide for the friend, is only weakness. 

More harm is done in the name of justice and in the execution 
of its mathematical laws than by a breach thereof. The point of 
character has two sides. One demands the dealing out of justice 
where good to the individual and to the public may be attained. 
The other requires that justice be not meted out when nothing can., 
be gained by it. There is every possible variety of consideration 
that may be given this study; and we have not the space to devote 
to one per cent, of it all. It will be sufficient if we succeed in 
making clear the propositions that serve in the main to sustain the 
value of this trait of character. 

First let us lend a hand in the meting out of justice to those - 
who will be benefited by it, where the rights of the public demand 
it at the same time. We cannot cite all the typical cases, but will 
mention a few to show what is meant. Take any instance at ran- 



160 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



dom. The systematic idleness of millions of our people renders 
the exercise of charity toward them a decided wrong to them and 
more particularly to the public. The woman who feeds the tramp 
at her door invites an endless succession of these professional idlers. 
She may feed them through fear; hut even then there is injustice 
to herself and to the public. We secured the agreements of five 
hundred families to deny all traveling beggars; and, whereas they 
had. averaged thirty-two tramp visitors a month, the number of 
visits fell away so that there was not an average of one a month, and 
268 of the families never had a tramp after the first month of 
denials. This shows that tramps understand each other; and that 
there are no honest men among them. 

In nearly all cities a great proportion of the idle classes may 
be found systematically dishonest, While it is true with the white 
Americans to some extent, it is more prevalent among the foreign- 
ers who huddle in the slums of our cities; and especially so among 
the negroes. They know where they can get food, fuel and cloth- 
ing every winter, and much of the open season, and they do very 
little work except on brief occasions when in need of spending 
money. While at work they steal more than double the value of 
the wages they receive. A certain proportion of the negroes and 
other slum classes are industrious the year around; but they are not 
those who follow the organized charities for a living. It is to the 
latter that we refer. The tests that have been made can yet be 
made; and the report of one who. has been active in the dispensing 
of charities may be taken as conclusive. If any person chooses to 
challenge it, let him make the same test and be silent until he 
knows the facts. 

From this report, made by a well-known churchman whose 
integrity cannot be doubted, we get the following information: "I 
have always recommended giving with equal hand to all who are 
in sore distress whether one case is more meritorious than another. 
I have now changed my opinion to some extent, and this is my rea- 
son. I find upon investigation that there are hundreds of able- 
bodied men and women in our city who get their chief means of 
support from our charities. We have had work offered them 
through sources not apparently connected with us, and they have 
either refused to work, or have done it indifferently so as to be dis- 
charged. Many steal openly, or so as to be detected. Others work 
for a short time and quit. Outside of the ranks of those who are 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



161 



helped by public alms are many who never feel the blessing of 
charity, yet who are more deserving in every way. What I wish to 
emphasize is the fact that a great number of those whom we help 
have no right to any aid at all. It would be wrong to give to them, 
even if we had plenty. It is most emphatically a wrong when we 
are compelled to deny help to the really needy. My plan this year 
is to find out the families of those who have worked and are now 
incapacitated through misfortune. Here are two cases, both arising 
on the same day. The driver of a street car was ill with pneumonia, 
caught in the exercise of his duty. His wife had been an invalid 
for two years. Three children were starving in the house. I 
called and found no fire, no fuel, no food, no help in the house. 
The man was sober, faithful and industrious. The help of our 
organization had been denied because three hours before our funds 
had run out. Early in the day a family of burly negroes, all in 
good health, had received help from us; and on being asked to do 
a little work at the usual wages refused to do it. The men folks 
that evening caroused in a saloon-grocery." Where was the justice 
in that management of the funds collected from the alms-givers of 
the city? Thought and care are necessary in the administration 
of good." 

Then comes the question of justice in dealing with wrong- 
doers of the criminal and non-criminal classes. Crime is a mental 
disease due to the status of the individual; but there is no criminal 
who cannot be deterred by the fear of certain punishment. It is 
the hope of escape, the expectation of leniency, or the laws' 
chicanery that leads him on. Experience has proved in every case 
where justice is speedy and certain that the criminal is held in 
check. The peculiarity of this law of human frailty is seen in the 
lives and conduct of the insane, especially in milder cases. The 
certainty of restraint deters them. This is true of all low orders 
of intelligence, and of the brute creation. 

Wrongdoers of the criminal status are rarely ever reclaimed. 
They may be reformed by the certain assurance of justice; but this 
is rare and exceptional. On the other hand all wrongdoers of 
the non-criminal classes may be saved, reformed, reclaimed and 
placed upon a high pedestal of morality. They do not possess the 
criminal disease. The distinction is a wide one, and is well recog- 
nized to-day by criminologists. Here there is no justice in pun- 
ishment, degradation, disgrace and lifelong calumny. Some of the 



162 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



best men and women of earth have erred and been saved. In fact 
a large number of ministers of trie gospel have sinned and dropped 
into offenses that entitled them to long terms in the penitentiary; 
yet have come up out of the depths reclaimed. Perfect morality is 
not found. With us all it is simply a question of degree of sin; 
often stimulated by the degree of temptation. 

Then there is a sort of white-livered justice that does a thing 
to keep its word. The father has promised to punish his boy for an 
offense, bad enough in itself, that sprang out of impulse; and, after 
the lad has shown true penitence, he is made to suffer disgrace. A 
promise of that kind may be broken. The Eoman magistrate who 
put his son to death for a technical violation of a law, and in the 
way of example to all others was a Eoman. His spirit was Neroic, 
not heroic. In mathematics twice two is four. In the realm of 
justice every offense is not the subject of punishment. 

Because of the difficulty of its administration with nice dis- 
crimination, this trait of character is one of the best means of build- 
ing up a strong personality that any man or woman could find. 
When to mete out justice, when to forgive, when to be silent, when 
to spare the feelings of unfortunates, when to recognize the rights of 
others, these are all fruitful subjects of the most earnest study. 
Do not forget that justice requires your due attention to home, to 
family and to the sacred duties of domesticity. Herein most men 
and women, most parents and children, fail. 

Eequirements. — Form the habit of dealing justly with all 
mankind, including yourself, your family, your friends and the 
world at large. The Philadelphia lawyer who won a verdict from 
a defendant, and learning of its injustice, paid back the loss out of 
his own pocket, furnishes us an example of justice. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 



t 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 163 

LESSON SIXTY-FOUB. 
SIXTY-FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
CHOICE COMPANY. 

Twenty-eighth and Last Day Out in the Wokld. 
Road No. 4. 

All things come to an end. The twenty-eight stages Out in 
the World are completed. We are known by the company we keep. 
If our friends are not what they should be, it is not necessary to 
deal uncharitably with them, nor to cut them; but to make them 
companions is quite another thing. Sin is a disease, for which the 
guilty party is both responsible and irresponsible. Ambition is 
the chief stimulous to a pure life. The person must have some hope 
left in the heart, or sin comes in as the consequence of recklessness. 
When a person does wrong, he hopes it may not be discovered. 
The fear of the result is a greater punishment than the result itself. 
Charity will do more to reform sinners than severity. 

The most despised criminal on earth, in all his wretchedness, 
is an object of pity, and Charity should temper Justice, always re- 
membering that some Justice is due the community. No perfectly 
well or sane person can commit murder. It is an impossibility. 

Having due regard to the limitations just stated, it is a duty 
you owe yourself to select choice company. To associate with un- 
worthy persons is to encourage them in their errors. There are six 
classes of people for you to deal with in a social sense: 

1. Acquaintances. 

2. Friendly acquaintances. 

3. Friends. 

4. Intimate friends. 

5. Companions. 

6. Allies. 

These divisions explain themselves. 

Classes five and six should always include persons above re- 
proach. They are supposed to be of the same sex as yourself. An 
Ally may be of either sex, but always of the highest moral purity. 



164 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



It is to your advantage in the great battle of life to have as many 
Allies as possible, and thereby be in as many Chains of Influence. 
See the 96th Point of Character of that title. 

Kequikements. — Sign the following pledge in this book. All 
pledges should be signed in ink, whether so stated or not: 

Pledge No. 15. 

I solemnly promise that I will not entirely cut any person for 
any cause; but will deal charitably with all mankind, with perfect 
Justice to them and to myself. I also solemnly promise that I will 
protect my good name by keeping good company; that I will not 
permit myself to associate intimately with a person who uses slang, 
flirts, is immoral, or coarse in language or conduct. 



Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 



LESSON SIXTY-FIVE. 
SIXTY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
REVENGE. 

Eikst Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 1. 

The confinement of the Workshops was relieved by the stages 
Out in the World. Having for twenty-eight stages been in contact 
with the world, and learned by experience the defects in our na- 
tures, we are now compelled to pass many dark Nights Down in the 
Depths. It will be seen on examination of the various phases of 
our character-growth that the Days Spent in the Workshops dealt 
with ourselves in a preparatory sense; that the Days Out in the 
World dealt with our association with people in every walk of life; 
and now we are still continuing in the World, but in its Darkness. 
The stages ahead of us affect the darker places of our nature. But 
until we have gone into the Depths and emerged from their gloom 
to the glory of the heights we can never know what true character 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



165 



is. The darker points belong to character, but they are negative 
traits, and instead of being acquired should be dropped. 

Commit to memory and recite aloud with the Morning Quota- 
tions, every fourth day, the following stages already traveled: 

Ho ad No. 1. 

Leading to the North Gate of the Citadel. 

Stages m the Wokkshop. Eoad No. 1. 

1. Self-Effort. 4. Health of Body. 7. Automatics. 

2. Right-Rising. 5. Health of Nerves. 8. Cleanliness. 

3. Irritability. 6. Exercise. 9. Memory. 

Stages Out in the Woeld. Eoad No. 1. 

10. Attention. 13. Hasty Promises. 15. Adaptation. 

11. Influence. 14. Directness. 16. Excitement. 

12. Secretiveness. \ 

The day wanes. Night is coming over the world, and at the 
same time the road has just reached the edge of the thicket which 
soon blends into the dense forest. Descending by the tortuous 
path we are lost. The sky is clear and a single star guides us to our 
destination. It shines over the White Citadel of Character. 

The Cardinal Point which will be found, in letters of gold 
over the North Gate, affects the entire road leading to it. It will 
be seen by examination that each of the four Eoads carries us over 
a separate phase of character. 

There are twenty Negative Points of Character which must 
be eradicated from our nature. The first is Eevenge. We all 
know what that is. There are times in the lives of all when some 
enemy, real or imagined, has awakened this feeling in our hearts. 
It is not prompted by Justice, for that deals fairly between the 
parties. If our f eelings have been hurt, our pride lowered, or some 
vice exposed, we desire to make the causer of this suffer as much as 
we have suffered. 

Among humanity this evil spirit is most in evidence. It is 
most easily stimulated, created even out of a sweet and perfect 
calm of good nature, and acts with greater promptness in effecting 
its end. Only among the very fairest of our race is it seemingly 



166 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



held in check; and, from that plane down to the lowest ranks of 
vice and ignorance, it runs an increasing gamut of force until it is 
the paramount faculty of the meaner classes. The best-tempered 
man or woman of to-day may be the most vindictive of to-morrow. 
It is hard to explain the prevalence and ease of arousing of this 
malign influence. Few lives are free from it. 

There are two phases to this trait of character that may be 
held up to comparison. In one we see the spirit of revenge strong 
in proportion as the individual is of mean or ignorant nature. The 
nobler men and women are less inclined to be vindictive. Then in 
the other phase we note the peculiar fact that there is a reckless re- 
fusal to forgive among the sentimental or high-spirited classes. 

The desire for revenge completely upsets the judgment, and 
the reasoning powers are held in abeyance as much as if there were 
a vacuity of mind as far as relations pertaining to this particular 
matter were concerned. Thus a business man is involved with 
another business man in a transaction of the highest importance; 
the latter has uttered to a mutual friend some word of criticism of 
which there is no doubt; it was wrong to commit the error; but this 
man now hunts him down for revenge, and actually sacrifices valu- 
able interests in order to vindicate himself; all after the offender 
has offered ample apology. This folly has occurred numberless 
times. 

Lasting moods of revenge exist most frequently where there 
is blood relationship. Brothers and sisters after marriage are led, 
through the influence of estranged conditions, to set up family 
feuds that cease only in the hush of the grave. The accuracy of 
this statement was once challenged by a man who thought he knew 
the ways of the world; and, to convince him of his lack of real 
knowledge, an investigator took him to a strange town drawn by 
lot, where the two were to spend time enough to learn what facts 
they could. In ten days they ascertained that a wealthy widow and 
her family were not on speaking terms with her brother's family, 
residing near by; that a married woman and her family of social 
prominence were likewise cool to all her sisters 5 families; that two 
brothers were not on speaking terms; that a married woman had 
died and been buried with no relative present, excepting a brother, 
although two sisters lived in the same town; and so on until thirty- 
seven families were found to be estranged; and the only causes 
ascertainable were those founded in a spirit of revenge. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 167 



Cases of the kind exist everywhere; and the causes, although 
not easily learned, are too often of the most shallow substance. 
You know of such, and it may be that this evil-eyed fiend has 
already invaded some of your family ties or their branches. Be- 
venge is a desire to retaliate. It may have "good reason" for 
its existence if reckoned in the coin of malice, or it may be 
purely criminal. A church member who talked and laughed 
during services was pleasantly cautioned by the pastor; she took 
the reproof to heart, never came again, began to hunt for some 
means of retaliation and relentlessly followed the clergyman 
with scandal for years; until, on her death-bed, she confessed the 
facts. 

The trait is a common one. You will find it almost every day 
in your heart. Some fancied slight, some ill-natured remark, some 
mean act from another human being will give rise to this desire. 
In many cases punishment is merited. Eevenge seeks to add in- 
terest to the punishment. The baser our nature the deeper the de- 
sire for Revenge. If Justice has exposed our vices we hate it fully 
as much as we would a malicious enemy. There is but one way to 
eradicate this evil, and that is by the Daily Account. This is ex- 
plained in the following pledge: 

Pledge No. 16. 

DAILY ACCOUNT. 

I solemnly promise myself that I will take a daily account of 
the Twenty Negative Points of Character, and estimate at the close 
of each day the percentage of freedom in my nature from each of 
them; that I will commence with Revenge as the first, which will 
be reached about the 65th day after beginning this course of train- 
ing; that in estimating my percentage of freedom from this vice I 
will look through my entire day's existence'; think of my enemies, 
if any I have; think of my probable attempts to avenge any ill 
they may have done me; and if during that entire day I have been 
free from any desire to seek Eevenge, I will mark my percentage 
100; but if Eevenge has been present in my nature all day long, 
I will mark my percentage 0; and on this basis I will indicate as 
nearly as I can judge the true proportion between these two ex- 
tremes. On the next day I will add the consideration of "Strata- 
gem" to this daily account; on the third day I will add "Fads," and 



168 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



so on until all twenty of the Negative Points of Character are in the 
Daily Account; and this shall continue for one hundred consecu- 
tive days from the time the twenty are under consideration. And 
I further promise to make every effort in my daily life during these 
119 days to eradicate all of these evils from my nature; to think 
of them as undesirable: and injurious to character; to keep them 
prominently in mind, by committing them to memory, and re- 
calling them on the close of each day; and continue to hate them 
as long as I live-. The foregoing pledge shall be kept to the best 
of my ability. 



The Losses of Negative Points of Character are to be desired. 
Their percentage is provided for in the pledge 1 , which must be 
signed in ink in this book. Write the words Daily Account at the 
top of the blank pages opposite each lesson in the Depths, and fol- 
low the requirements of Pledge No. 16 exactly. The time of the 
119 days cannot be shortened. 



LESSON SIXTY-SIX. 
SIXTY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
STRATAGEM. 



Second Night Down" in the Depths. Eoad No. 2. 

Commit to memory and recite aloud with the Morning Quota- 
tions, every fourth day, the following stages already traveled on: 

Eoad No. 2. 
Leading to the East Gate of the Citadel. 



Stages in the Wokkshop. Eoad No. 2. 



1. Absorption. 

2. Nature. 

3. Kind Voice. 



4. Music and Flowers. 7. Biography. 

5. Home. 8. Nobility. 

6. Literature. p. Conscience. 



t 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 169 

Stages Out in the Would. Road No. 2. 

10. Ease of Manner. ij. Anonymous Attacks. 15. Etiquette. 

11. Sociability. 14. Generosity. 16. Charity. 

12. Comparison. 

While some of the foregoing appear to be negative in their- 
nature they are not so per se at all times, as those In the Depths are. 

"Stratagem" is the point which we must next remove from our 
life. It is boasted of by some as a valuable business talent, espe- 
cially by those who have been long in mercantile pursuits. A_ 
young man buys a horse for fifty dollars and by stratagem sells it 
for one hundred. No deceit was practiced. The sale would 
stand in law. He boasts of the profit and the particular pro- 
cess of skill whereby he won his victory. He has lost two parts of' 
his character. Boasting is always evidence of a small soul, and 
stratagem gives the face a foxy, sharp look. It is doubtful if even 
a temporary advantage can be obtained from the use of this two- 
edged weapon; and very few strategists ever win good names in 
life; and then only by reform. People read faces by instinct. 
They shrink from the face of a sly, foxy man or woman. In order 
to be free from this fault it is not necessary to hurt your own inter- 
ests by foolish dealing. No stronger character lived than Glad- 
stone. He was honest, simple and powerful. He knew how to- 
protect his own interests, his name, his property, his pride, by 
direct strokes of policy, by tact; but he never stooped to strategy. 

Of course this trait of character may run into dishonesty, and. 
it is often on the line; but there is a cunning course of conduct 
which is less than dishonesty, and far from the strong defensive 
policy of good judgment, which should be abandoned. Some- 
people call it trickiness. In times of war and in any combat where 
life is at stake, if our own opponent presses us to necessity, any 
means of warfare is justifiable. But these lessons are written not 
for war, but peace; in the hope that the adoption of these prin- 
ciples will make war a thing of the past. 

The Losses are to be estimated as Victories, in accordance: 
with Pledge 16, which see. 



170 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON SIXTY-SEVEN. 
SIXTY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

FADS. 

Thikd Night Down in" the Depths. Eoad No. 3. 

Commit to memory and recite aloud with the Morning Quota- 
tions, every fourth day. the following stages already traveled on: 

Eoad No. 3. 

Leading to the South Gate of the Citadel. 

Stages in the Wokkshop. Eoad No. 3. 

1. Seriousness. 4. Sympathy. 7. Execution. 

2. Decision. 5. Honesty. 8. Completion. 

j. Retirement. 6. Simplicity. 9. Code of Morals. 

Stages Out m the Wop^ld. Eoad No. 3. 

10. Ally. 13. Promptness. 15. Thoroughness. 

11. Sincerity. 14. Moments. 16. Justice. 

12. Details. 

The emptiness of some phases of society life makes itself evi- 
dent in the adoption of silly notions, which are assumed merely to 
attract attention. The small boy becomes father of the man in 
this respect when he apes some person or thing, or makes grimaces, 
or runs past you with a jump, or squeal, to attract your attention. 
A "Fad" serves no other purpose. If there were no people to see 
you and comment upon the notion you would never adopt it. So- 
ciety and sociability are two different things. One makes caste 
and the other levels it. The refining influence of aristocratic 
society is a blessing to mankind. Were it not for this, the drift of 
life would be toward coarseness and common animalism. Etiquette 
in its best — that is when founded on common sense — is another 
blessing. We should all make ourselves worthy of the highest rank 
in Society, not for our wealth or ancestry, but for our refinement 
and perfect qualities. But when we accomplish all we desire in this 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 171 

regard we must fight against that silly exuberance of unemployed 
time combined with mental weakness — "Fads." They bring good 
society into disrepute, and make it hatef ul to the most refined peo- 
ple. Of course they are harmless; but imagine Gladstone or Wash- 
ington or any noble character stooping to "Fads" They have 
always existed, under other names. The attempt to reform society 
is a futile effort, and must always result in failure; but you can 
reform one member of it — yourself — and no one will think less of 
you for it. You will draw from all others that priceless jewel, 
Respect. 

The refusal to indulge in "Fads" will not subject you to criti- 
cism or even notice, for there are many noble men and women 
who occupy the highest social rank, who would refuse to stoop to 
this bit of foolishness. Dudes and dudesses should have the ex- 
clusive monopoly of "Fads." 



LESSON SIXTY-EIGHT. 
SIXTY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

ENVY. 

Eoueth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 4. 

Commit to memory, and recite aloud with the Adorning Quota- 
tions, every fourth day, the following stages already traveled on: 

Eoad No. 4. 
Leading to the West Gate of the Citadel. 

Stages in the Workshop. Eoad No. 4. 

1. Ambition. 4. Tact. 7. Respect. 

2. Conquer Failure. 5. Superstition. 8. Sabbath. 

3. Examine Discouragement. 6. Thought-Control, p. Newspapers. 

Stages Out in the Woeld. Eoad No. 4. 

10. Turning Gossipy Subjects. 14. Inspire Ambition in Others. 

11. Gossip. 15. Inspire Nobility in Children. 

12. Criticism. 16. Choice Company. 

13. Credulity. 



172 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Before taking "Envy" into your Daily Account it is well to look 
at its definition in the dictionary. "Envy" is often misapplied in 
a flattering way; as "I envy you your beauty/ 7 where no fault ex- 
ists in the heart. 

A fallen woman once confessed her sin and asserted that the 
richness of her neighbor's dresses led her to hope for some equally 
as good. Her husband had an income of two thousand dollars a 
year, on which he was able to dress her very well indeed; but the 
neighbor on the right was the wife of a merchant who made five 
times as much money, and the neighbor on the left was still more 
fortunate. This woman was beautiful and envied her neighbors 
their more elegant dresses. She yielded and f ell. 

A young man whose character was exemplary, entered a bank 
as messenger, at three dollars per week, and by industry rose to> be 
cashier. He loved good horses, and was happy, until a gentleman 
moved into his neighborhood who had a horse of unusual speed. 
The cashier envied him, and as his salary was consumed in the sup- 
port of his family he resorted to speculation in order to obtain the 
means to buy a faster horse. He is now in Canada,, a fugitive from 
the law, while his wife and children are scattered in misery and 
want. "Envy" is the cause of the downfall of more men and 
women than any other single vice. It should be crushed out of the 
heart as soon as its first impulses are felt. Ambition is always noble 
when free from Envy, for it leads us to win on our merits; while 
Envy tempts us to win by sin, for its origin is in sin, 

Every good and noble attainment in the character of another 
should inspire in us an ambition to equal it in ourselves; and when 
we have it we are glad that others are equally as blessed. But 
Envy, like Revenge, seeks to outdo some neighbor or rival, who 
irritated us when we could not equal him, and whom we now wish 
to humiliate by outdoing. 

Keep your Daily Accounts, and crush this vice out of your 
heart. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 173 

LESSON SIXTY-NINE. 
SIXTY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

LOW HUMOR. 

Fifth Night Down in the Depths. Road No. 1. 
We are back to Road No. 1. 

The human species is only one of all the animal kingdom 
that is given risible muscles, and is the only one capable of laugh- 
ing, of enjoying a joke, of appreciating a witticism, or reveling in 
a comical situation. Other animals play and frolic, but there is no 
evidence to show that they exchange stories calculated to provoke 
mirth. 

A certain public entertainer who has been regarded as refined 
was engaged to amuse a party by anecdotes and impersonations. He 
wrote to his would-be employer: "I have a large fund of new 
stories, and wish to know if the party is to be a 'stag* gathering, or 
will ladies be present. You are aware that some stories will not do 
if ladies are to be there." The gentleman handed the letter to his 
wife. They both agreed upon the following reply: "After consul- 
tation it is necessary to cancel your engagement. We cannot bear 
the thought that we have in our employ, under our roof, a person 
whose refinement is not genuine." The rebuke was merited. 

Very few gatherings of the male persuasion are free from this 
taint of low humor. Ask any man who is willing to confess the 
truth, and the answer is sure to corroborate our statement. Club 
rooms abound in tobacco, liquor, wines, beer, cards and indecent 
stories. We put the matter fairly before a hundred men of as 
many different clubs of males in various cities: "We are gathering 
facts for a certain work, and wish to be accurate in what we say, 
and we promise not to mention you or your club in any way, but 
will return your letter at once." The men addressed were our 
patrons, knew our purpose and responded in the right spirit. 

It is true that some of the wittiest of jokes are found in the 
low humor of indecent stories; but as they rarely reach the ears of 
the pure, they can remain in obliquy without disturbing the pleas- 
ure of the world. The source of a thing is always capable of its 



174 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



parentage. The assertion has been made that every filthy joke was 
born in a house of ill-repute. The only legitimate offspring of 
that resort. Men get the vile stuff there and carry it to the club 
rooms; other men take it to their wives; and thus it may travel the 
circuit of both sexes. 

In a clean mind, regardless of the moral condition of the heart, 
there is no place for low humor. There should be but one guide 
for the individual, and it is this: Whatever can be said by a man 
in the presence of women whose respect is valued, should be the 
standard for a man among other men; and no woman should de- 
grade herself in the company of other women by stories of low 
humor that a gentleman would refuse to tell to the same woman. 
Here is a lady with two young daughters; she has a lady friend who 
persists in peddling filthy stories among her acquaintances of the 
same sex; the mother, to save her girls, is compelled to cut the 
friendship, and rightly, too. A father has been in the habit of tak- 
ing his son to a certain meeting once a week, where men only were 
present; but as the boy got to the understanding age the father de- 
cided that he must either leave him at home or remain away him- 
self. His choice was the better one, for he devoted the evenings 
to other engagements where he could take the lad without a blush 
of shame. 

In nearly every brain, male or female, there is a filth center, 
and out of its source, down through the dirty avenues of the head 
to the vile channels of the mouth, comes the stream of mud taint- 
ing every good thought that flows continuously to it. In some 
individuals, we are glad to say, it is a thin and almost harmless 
stream. But it is there. A lofty character will neither tell nor listen 
to a bit of low humor. The fact that the tendency of the modern 
stage is to the encouragement of this low trait, in the hope of draw- 
ing audiences, shows the widespread existence of it, and proves the 
necessity of cultivating a higher standard of refinement. 

As the present subject is too important to dispose of in the 
usual way, we append the following pledge, to be signed in ink: 

Pledge No. 17. 

"In addition to the requirements of Pledge 16, 1 further prom- 
ise solemnly to abstain from all stories of an unrefined or coarse 
nature, or such as would be improper to repeat in the presence of a 
party of ladies and gentlemen; and I pledge my honor that I will 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 175 

not permit any person living to relate any such story, anecdote or 
remark in my presence, no matter what may be the consequences.*' 



Tkiumph. — Whenever you are compelled to rebuke a person, 
or to withdraw, in order to avoid the hearing of such a story, record 
a triump of ten marks. 

LESSON SEVENTY. 
SEVENTIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
PRACTICAL JOKING. 

Sixth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 2. 

This is pleasant. It adds spice to life; makes our friends merry 
and creates enmities. No matter how earnestly your friend may 
protest that he does not care, he does, nevertheless. His sense of 
friendliness prompts him to wish not to care, but he is human. A 
feeling of distrust will widen your future relations. A practical 
joke humiliates somebody. The others laugh heartily, but if they 
are true gentlemen they will laugh sadly at the same time. You 
alone feel the utmost enjoyment, and you boast vividly over it. 
The habit of playing practical jokes has led to serious conse- 
quences; and its immunity in one case makes it easier to be serious 
in another. Often we do not know with whom we are dealing. The 
chagrin of humiliation tempts a hot-tempered man to kill; while 
some women have been ostracised by the ladies whom they have 
thus insulted. The victim more often suffers the most. A girl 
played ghost to frighten her brother; he is in an asylum, where he 
has now been for twenty years, hopelessly insane. She has never 
had a happy day since. A boy played burglar to frighten his 
parents. He is in his grave; his father, who shot him, died of a 
broken heart. Even where death does not follow fright, the con- 
sequences to the nervous system can hardly be appreciated, until we 
follow out the lives of nearly all of the victims. 

No practical joke is harmless. It is ghastly fun. Good humor, 
sweet pleasantries, and loving surprises, are far removed from the 



176 



THE XEW E DUCAT I OX 



mildest practical joke. The latter makes persons unhappy at the 
expense of a victim. The former makes the victim, happy at our 
own expense. 

Men there are who take advantage of innocent children to 
play their jokes. Such a joker would make a cripple walk around 
a block to go half a square, or would twist a cat's tail to watch its 
facial expression. Many persons think it excusable to devote their 
pranks to helpless animals. From childhood up to full maturity, 
some people make merry at the expense of cats, dogs, insects, and 
other forms of creation. These kinds of fun all come under one and 
the same category. 

If you carefully suppress your joking propensities in dealing 
with your acquaintances, you will rarely ever fall to the more debas- 
ing form. No person of noble character will ever play a joke upon 
any being. 

The Daily Account is increasing each lesson as we are pro- 
gressing through the Depths. Remember Pledge 16. 



LESSON SEVENTY-ONE. 
SEVENTY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 
FLIPPANCY. 

Seventh Night Down in the Depths. Road No. 3. 

Fads belong to unfertile minds in society and to all persons out 
of society who try to ape the most marked features of those who 
are in. 

"Flippancy" is the mental stamp of all persons who lack fer- 
tility of thought. Infants who have it are called "precocious/ 7 
When grown to childhood they are termed "smart." Next, in boy- 
hood and girlhood, they are "silly;" and when they reach the 
-age of eighteen are called "flippant." In the serious years of life 
"flippancy" falls flat indeed. It jars upon the sensitiveness of ordi- 
nary people, and is disgusting even to its own adherents. 

A flippant person jokes on all small occasions. He has learned 
that a fool may pass for a wise man by his silence; and accordingly 
-on important occasions when he realizes his pigmy stature, he 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



177 



keeps quiet. A man who is compelled to keep quiet in order to pass 
for a person of ordinary intelligence is an average illustration of a 
flippant man. People resort to this accomplishment for two 
reasons : 

1. Lack of mental development. 

2. Desiring to amuse or "appear funny." 

Their only attainment in the line of sociability is their flow of 
senseless remarks, made to hear the sound of their own voices, un- 
der the impression that it is a fascinating diversion. To-day we 
heard the summer boarders at a mountain hotel discuss a funeral 
which they had attended. One said it was a very successful funeral; 
another it was quite a treat; another it was a change from the mo- 
notony of the week; another, "Miss H sang 'Kock of Ages' 

beautifully."' "Yes, as beautifully as she sang f And She Winked the 
Other Eye/ "It was a pity the poor dead man could not hear 
it." Perhaps we may be blamed for being in such company, but 
the people who indulged in these remarks were representatives of 
the better social classes. It is so easy to drop to flippancy when 
the audience seems willing to hear it. But a grand character will 
make its presence felt at such a time, and how quickly one rises in 
the estimation of everybody when self-respect asserts itself against 
such humor. 

Do not make any empty remarks, no matter where or when. If 
you have a good story to tell, or possess true wit, so much the bet- 
ter. A happy disposition is an accomplishment; so is fertility of 
mind. The two combined balance each other and add to the 
charm of good conversation. Never turn a serious conversation 
into a joke. Never make light of an earnest person. Never notice 
an error, a slip of the tongue, or an accident. If you cannot be 
funny without being flippant, be serious. Humming snatches of 
cheap tunes, ejaculating words that have no meaning, making 
sounds, turning serious remarks into puns or jokes, speaking empty 
nothings, aping some half-witted ideal — all these, and more, fill up 
the commonplace lives of a vast majority of humanity. Stop it, 



178 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON SEVENTY-TWO. 
SEVENTY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 
SULKINESS. 

Eighth Night Down m the Depths. Koad No. 4. 

Where this mood comes from is a problem. It appears in chil- 
dren whose parents are not inclined to it, and often is not seen 
where parents are famous for it. A sulky person is mentally dis- 
eased. The quality of our three great natures, the mental, physical 
and emotional, appearing in their doubles, form an intricate study. 
The mind is never purely mental. Its union with the physical or 
emotional gives results entirely dependent on the proportions em- 
ployed. Thus where the emotional mental has an overproportion 
of the emotional the brain runs to diseased extremes. Were it not 
for some balance in our minds and hearts we would fail in life's 
great ends. For every excessive moment of joy you see in the open 
life of a, person, you may depend on it, there is a balance of depres- 
sion. This balance is not always, nor often, exact, nor is it true 
that a person who is generally very pleasant has the opposite. This 
denotes the temperament. Excessively happ}^ people are gloomy 
in their retirement. Excessively gloomy people are happy in their 
retirement. The prevailing temperament prevents an exact bal- 
ance. Sulkiness is a species of mental disease, not often cured, but 
easily made better by proper treatment. That a sulky person can 
abate a large proportion of the nuisance has been repeatedly proved 
by the following experiment: Obtain his or her consent to write 
down on a little tablet the words, "I am hurt or slighted by some 
remark or neglect which has just been made. I think if I sulk a 
little, or keep very quiet, somebody will wonder at it, and I will 
attract attention. It will cause people to coax me, to make of me, 
to pet me. I will be a baby. Will it pay?" The person who sulks 
should have these words printed on a card, to be taken out and 
looked at when the disease gives warning of its approach . 

A charming youug lady came into a family to spend the win- 
ter. In a few days she became silent, except to exchange common- 
place remarks. Her silence was dignified, stately and refined. In 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 179 

four weeks and two days somebody by an excess of coaxing found 
out that she had become offended (but declared that "she was too 
much of a lady to show it") "by the offer of the smallest pear at 
the table." 

Causes that appear ludicrous at a distance are serious precipi- 
tators of sulkiness. The person, man or woman, who sulks is always 
a nuisance. If they are coaxed it is not for love of them, but to re- 
store the pleasure of the occasion. The cure is in the double 
method: 

1. Use the card referred to. 

2. Do not allow any person present take notice of the sulker. 
As attention is what the sulky party is after, total neglect is a quick 
way of curing it. 

LESSON SEVENTY-THREE. 
SEVENTY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 

EXCESSES. 

Ninth Night Down in the Depths. Road No. 1. 

Still in the Depths, and far down into the Valley. It is mid- 
night's approach. 

"Excesses" apply to every kind of thing, good or bad. To use 
a good thing immoderately is objectionable and to use a bad thing 
thus is ruinous. We touch all humanity in this the antipodes of 
nobility. The very impulses that make existence possible, flow out 
at the weakest parts of our nature. The person who is easily tem- 
perate in all things is great in none. The deadest timber in hu- 
manity is that which cannot grow and cannot die. To rise out of 
this moderate state to any of earth's achievements it is necessary 
to meet on the arena of the soul some human passion and battle 
with it then and there. We may be defeated or we may win. In 
any case victory makes the foe weaker, and defeat is disastrous; but 
the battle is never ended until one or the other is annihilated. To 
possess the great passions is a splendid evidence of our future possi- 
bilities; to conquer them is greatness. They and the battles they 
give us furnish magnificent warfare in the grand battlefield of the 
soul. 



180 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



It is hardly necessary to enumerate these excesses. You know 
yours; you have two. They are not the same two of your neighbor. 
All persons of a strong impulse have two excesses. You need not 
inform us of them, unless it would he a relief. You need not inform 
your Ally of them unless sympathy and counsel are wanted, in 
which case your Ally is hound t.o help you by the sacred vows of 
friendship. Select your two excesses, write them down on the op- 
posite page of this hook, sign the pledge which is given in the pres- 
ent lesson, and live up to all the One Hundred Points of Character. 
If anything earthly will help you to fight down these excesses, and 
rise superior to the storms that rage in the depths of the heart, it is 
the "School of Character." 

Pledge No. 18. 

"I solemnly promise myself to keep a daily record by marks 
and signs of my failings, if any, in the struggle to overcome ex- 
cesses; to never erase the record; and I furthermore promise to 
make every effort in my power to overcome these excesses, and not 
to cease my efforts by reason of discouragement or failure. 



Tkiumphs. — Wherever the battle has been unusually hard and 
you have won, record a triumph of five marks. 

LESSON SEVENTY-FOUB. 
SEVENTY-FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

SARCASM. 

Tenth Night Down m the Depths. Eoad No. 2. 

Sarcasm is always evidence of some brilliant mental encoun- 
ters in the past with foes worthy of your steel. It may be a neces- 
sity at times, but. is generally reactionary. It would be difficult to 
find an instance where it ever did the person using it any real good. 
Sharp rebuke*, severity of tongue, or the skilful exposure of the 
weakness of an adversary are legitimate weapons in certain kinds 
of warfare. They are as far above sarcasm as honesty is above 
stratagem. They are manly, straightforward and win the respect 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 181 



of friend and foe. Sarcasm is mean. It turns the worthy thought 
into the unworthy. It ridicules a good trait, and. treads on the holy 
ground of the heart to put a thorn in a flower where Nature never 
intended it to grow. It is sharp, and therefore stings. Sarcasm 
never convinces. It is pyroteehnieal and brilliant at times, but 
lights up the bad without disclosing the good. It would be worth 
while to> examine the history of a sarcastic individual. If this hap- 
pens to be a woman, she is acid and sweet* with the former quality 
subdued but active in the underflow — a female porcupine whom 
those who know avoid, and all others meet, but once. There is as 
much glory in possessing sarcasm as the hedge hog might show in 
a coat of pointed quills which the victim carries away in his skin as 
reminders of his opponent's smartness. If the sarcastic person is a 
man, he is generally left to himself, except by an occasional oppo- 
nent who hears of him and comes his way to match skill. It is then 
the battle of two porcupines. In oratory it is considered a neces- 
sary weapon, but a temporary triumph achieved by the use of sar- 
casm brings after-results that are never entirely overcome. The 
history of sarcastic orators proves this. Our own statesmen are 
sooner or later overwhelmed by the enmities which they create in 
this way. 

It is not only of no advantage to Character, but is a positive 
injury to noble growth. It is ungenerous, unkind and impolitic. 
The temptation to give evidence of our smartness causes us to use 
this dagger. You must suppress it. To< prevent its use from becom- 
ing common with others, it is only necessary to show your disap- 
proval of it. Never answer a sarcastic person with sarcasm. 

LESSON SEVENTY-FIVE. 

SEVENTY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
THREATENING. 

Eleventh Night Down in the Depths. Koad No. 3. 

It is proper to warn another of impending danger, or the cer- 
tainty of punishment. This is not threatening. While the word 
may be somewhat large for all the cases which are included in it, 
it nevertheless covers the entire ground. The habit is very preva- 
lent, more so than one would believe until he comes to examine it. 



182 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



It is acquired in early childhood from, parents who are constantly 
threatening the child with some punishment which does not ar- 
rive, thereby defeating the 'expectation of the offspring. This mode 
of controlling an unruly heir is a prey upon itself, and quickly be- 
comes useless. So an attempt to bribe the child is in the same 
line of principle. Even in dealing with so small a class of people 
as children the parent who threatens loses character. It would be 
much better to either not to make the threat or else fulfill it, and 
never make it without the full intention of fulfilling it, If a warn- 
ing is more effectual it would be an easy matter to say, "John 
Henry, remember what you got the other day for disobeying me." 
But if parents had true character and the magnetism which every 
parent should possess, it would never be necessary to strike a child. 

As we grow old we carry into our larger life the habit of 
threatening others, on slight provocations it may be; or often in 
malice and revenge. Such threats are rarely, if ever, carried into 
action; and the lie is then stamped upon them. "A barking dog 
never bites." A threatening person is generally harmless, unless 
taunted with the dog analogy; in which case he becomes reckless. 
Revenge rankles deeply in base minds, from which emanate the 
direst threats, either of physical harm or public exposure. Fi- 
nancial gain prompts a class of persons known as blackmailers, who 
live on their wits, to extort money or advantage under threat of 
exposure of some kind. America is infested with an army of men 
and women who are living on money extorted by threats of this 
kind. A blackmailer should be turned over to the police. The 
exposure is less harmful than the fear. 

Never stoop to threaten a human being. It is beneath a pure 
heart and a noble mind. 

LESSON SEVENTY-SIX. 

SEVENTY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

OBSTINACY. 

Twelfth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 4. 

Obstinacy may be akin to Sulkiness, but if so, is but a distant 
relative. A sulky person is obstinate in a negative sense. He re- 
tires, or holds silence, or pouts. An obstinate man persists in doing 
or not doing something where reason does not guide him. A -firm 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



183 



man has come to his position by means of his reasoning faculties. 
An obstinate man holds his because he thinks somebody does not 
want him to maintain it. 

This trait of character is, therefore, distinct. 

It is born in everybody. Its evil lies in the fact that it is il- 
logical, and fully as apt to be wrong as right. As it proceeds from 
a weak function of the brain, backed by a preponderance of the 
physical nature at the expense of the emotional, its indulgence is 
harmful to> character. 

An obstinate person is shut against conviction from without 
and conviction from within. It is the end of argument, solicita- 
tion and warning. The senses are closed, not to be opened again 
until something happens to' distract his attention. 

An obstinate person generally carries his point. He says he 
will not, and he does not. He has achieved an empty victory, and 
with obstinate pride wears the face of a victor. People have not 
learned to like him. They do not wish his friendship. His services 
are not sought after. His advice is worthless, for the habit of 
obstinacy cuts off the reasoning process of the mind. When pleas- 
ure or profit, social success or business enterprise are desired, he is 
left out; unless some kind persons, taking pity on the wife or rela- 
tives of such person, are compelled to invite him. 

Of course, it cannot be pretended that obstinacy is beneficial 
or even harmless to character. It is in every way injurious. It 
is manly and womanly to acknowledge your error, if you are in the 
wrong; and the more frankly you do this the nobler is your nature. 
If you are defied to do or not to do a thing, remember that this is an 
appeal to you made for a special purpose. Do not blindly take a 
stand either way. 

Many persons dislike to yield a point to another. What better, 
what more polite, gallant and refined than your graeiousness when 
Justice is not absurd? It is a privilege to yield or give in to one 
whom you ought to love. The surest way for a wife to win the de- 
votion of her husband is to yield to his every wish, reasonable and 
unreasonable, until he feels the responsibility of the charge placed 
in his hands. A husband can safely yield to a wife whom he re- 
spects. If either party is apt to make mistakes, these errors become 
guide-posts to a safer future, and thus serve their purpose. 

Do not be obstinate. Be firm as a rock when it is right. Yield 
freely when you are in the wrong. 



184 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON SEVENTY-SEVEN. 
SEVENTY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. . 

PROFANITY. 

Thirteenth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 1. 

It is probable that Profanity is made a crime in every civilized 
country on earth. If a few cases could be brought into the courts 
to let the public know that there is a law prohibiting profanity, it 
would have a wholesome effect upon the line of men, from fifteen 
to fifty, who occupy the sidewalk and swear by the hour. The habit 
of swearing, as the word is popularly used, grows rapidly. It is al- 
ways caught from some person. No one ever originates a complete 
oath. In moments of extreme anger there is nothing wicked enough 
to be said. The man who pounds his thumb hates his Creator for a 
few seconds. The purpose is to give vent, to that utterance which 
will cast blame in the most telling mauner; and, therefore, from the 
pit at the lowest depths of our nature we cry out against the 
holiest, purest, whitest of all the Universe 1 — God and His Affinities. 
The first oath hurts us, if we acquire it after the dawn of reason; 
but if it was instilled into our infancy and early youth, we rarely 
know its true meaning. When once it' becomes easy to indulge in 
Profanity the habit grows to its full power, so that there is no< oath, 
however terrible, which we do not dare to utter. 

Some persons defend it, on the ground of disbelief in God. 
The defense is untenable. An infidel's God is the author of his 
existence; and his Christ is the inspirer of that yearning which 
every human heart possesses; and it is against these divinities that 
all blasphemy is directed. 

It is not only illegal, but would not be tolerated in the presence 
of ladies; nor would a gentleman, true to the instincts of his nature, 
permit it. 

To cure it the work must begin in the moments of soliloquy; 
for it is at such times that all people do their heaviest swearing. A 
little thing goes wrong; you ejaculate. Thus is the habit formed. 
You are required by the terms of this lesson to desist from all ejacu- 
lations of whatever nature. 



OXE HUXDRED POIXTS OF CHARACTER 



185 



To say "damn 7 * is not blasphemy; but as it is used as the central 
word for all blasphemy, without which the vocabulary of the 
swearer would fail of its richest power; and as no lady would toler- 
ate its use, it is classified as a. "swear word/' 

Our requirement is that you must desist from all ejaculations 
made in moments of anger, irritability or impatience; and in ren- 
dering your Daily Account you must mark yourself accordingly. 

. An experience with flies in the summer time will serve as a 
battleground for testing your strength of character in this direction. 



LESSON SEVENTY-EIGHT. 

SEVENTY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

SLANG. 

FOUETEEXTH KlGHT DOWX IN THE DEPTHS. EOAD No. 2. 

"Slang" exists in song and phrase. It is the sister of flippancy, 
and was never so prevalent as at this moment. Its increase seems 
to be in the ratio of the speed of a falling body, or the value of 
diamonds. There have been "Anti-Slang Societies," originating in 
California, but the lack of daily training and the vigor of that 
climate, tog-ether with the omission of the traits of Character which 
should accompany this,, resulted in the lapse of those societies. 

Character cannot grow in a one-sided way, and no one Point 
can be established at the exclusion of others. The structure should 
rise simultaneously in all its parts. 

This is an age of slang. The meanings of words are so lost or 
changed that an innocent person can hardly feel safe in speaking 
aloud. Refined and cultured people at first feel the shock of this 
word-abuse; then tolerate it, and fall into the error themselves. 
Nothing but a united effort to check this perversion of an already 
weakened language can remedy the fault. By an examination of 
the English, as compared with other languages, it will be found 
that the slang of the latter is far less than that of ours, and its effect 
upon the dictionary still less; while in America the standard au- 
thorities are constantly bending to reflect the new meanings put 
upon words by the use of slang. We, who hope that the English 



186 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



language may one day become the universal language of the world, 
are making it a language impossible to learn. 

But slang is wrong per se. It represents in its origin a lack of 
mental fertility, and therefore is often pure flippancy. The man 
on the stage of a variety theatre before a coarse and beer-soaked 
audience, who sets in motion a series of cheap phrases, is making 
the dictionary of the future. "In the Soup" to him is the equiva- 
lent of words that his limited vocabulary does not contain. But the 
great dailies of New York perpetuate the slang by using it in their 
choicest Editorials. The complete gentleman even then never uses 
it; and the lady could not. There can be no such a thing as per- 
fect refinement in one who uses slang. A young lady who defended 
the use of innocent slang was heard to say, "Fll be darned," and "In 
a pig's eye," and other equally innocent and refined expressions. 
There is no place where the line can be drawn, as one degree laps 
-over its neighbor. 

Will you join the ranks of those in the "School of Character/' 
who are determined to put down this evil, and aid in establishing a 
pure language, spoken by a r efined tongue ? A million of our mem- 
bers can do this. If you procure your "Ally" and commence a 
"Chain of Influence" you will have done your duty. 

The following pledge must be signed in ink: 

Pledge No. 19. 

I solemnly promise to avoid using slang, and to aid in sup- 
pressing it. 



LESSON SEVENTY-NINE. 
SEVENTY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

FLATTERY. 

Fifteenth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 3. 

"Flattery" is false or excessive praise, made from habit, or with 
:a purpose. In the latter case it is generally the tool of some villain. 
In any event it accomplishes more than the person flattered is will- 
ing to admit. Who does not like to be praised? The modest man 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



187 



•shrinks from it, but he does not shrink very hard. The lady 
mever shrinks from it unless its deception is apparent, and then she 
becomes angry because it was not made in earnest. 

It is a species of deception that cannot be called dishonest in 
its milder form, yet it deceives. To please another by incorrect 
statements may not tinge a conscience trained to believe it justifia- 
ble; but it opens the way to a deception a shade stronger which un- 
folds the nature to that complete "Code of Insincerity" which 
marks all high society. 

Who knows of any city where the patrician ranks of society 
•are not permeated with insincerity? What is a reception, a party, 
but an interchange of insincerity? The excessive flattery over- 
flows in the superlative degree, and when the "sweetest," "splendid- 
•est," "most elegant" phrases are worn threadbare, the meanings 
-are crossed, and one is "awful sweet," "terrible nice" and "excru- 
ciatingly splendid." 

No man or woman who has ever risen to the highest place in 
the esteem of the world has been willing to be flattered and has 
rarely stooped to flatter. Many a sycophant of the highest 
•social rank has been severely rebuked for committing this offense, 
by men and women who can read the heart in the face. It is unsafe 
to attempt to flatter a person of true character. 

The social interchange of falsehoods, it would seem, should die 
by its own hand, for the receiver knows just as well as the giver 
how false it is, and listens in an empty way to these "formalities." 

Do not tell a person more than you believe to be true of a 
person's good qualities and talents. Good judgment is necessary, 
even then. Proper praise in some cases should be temperately im- 
parted. 

A flatterer is soon classified as such, is mimicked by third par- 
ties when absent, and often loses the esteem of those he seeks to 
flatter. 

Do not forget that the Daily Account requires attention every 
night. , 



188 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON EIGHTY. 
EIGHTIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. . 
SELF=HARM. 

Sixteenth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 4. 

Of late some State laws have made an attempt to commit sui- 
cide a penal offense, thinking to deter the unfortunate through fear. 

"Self-H-arm" is the out-growth of sulkiness, a species of insan- 
ity. It is quite easily controlled if hope can he once put in the 
heart, for where hope is dead the light of life hums low. Coaxing 
rarely brings a person out of this mood, while sociability often 
does — but a sustained ambition seldom fails to effect a cure. 

It is for you, who may be subjcet to this disease which affects 
the whole character, that we write this lesson. If you have no 
other ambition in life, adopt the "One Hundred Points of Charac- 
ter." Live up to them, and your days will be well spent. When 
you have graduated from them, if not perfect in rank, try them over 
again; and, if perfect, try them still again, and endeavor to make as 
many triumphs as possible. 

Where all other ambition is dead, the attempt to live up to the 
"One Hundred Points of Character" will result in something that 
is akin to a new birth, a beginning of youth and life over again, a 
springing in the heart of a new fountain, from which will be 
evolved the ambition that is desired. 

So, by this means, we request you to overcome any feeling to 
do harm to yourself. It is not manly or womanly to contemplate 
suicide. Discouragement tends to develop the disease, which is 
generally temporarily, — the result of thinking on one subject too 
long. The sameness of food, of reading, or employment, of think- 
ing, tends toward this evil, although not reaching it in many cases. 
Variety of mental activity is better than absolute rest of the brain. 
All lives should be made as variable as possible in the details, while 
the main purpose should not be altered. 

The character weakens at once when self -harm is contemplated. 
The nobility of the stature of your nature is gone. The face 
changes, the brain is erratic and the heart is uncertain. The ability 



VNE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



189 



to say, "I will not entertain this thought," is often, the means of 
suppressing it; but the main cure is right here in the "One Hun- 
dred Points of Character." 



LESSON EIGHTY-ONE. 
EIGHTY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 
GAMBLING. 

Seventeenth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 1. 

A recent writer in a prominent magazine in this country con- 
demned and defended "Gambling" The condemnation was made 
on the usual grounds. The defense was applied to persons who 
were able to bear the losses without feeling them. To a man of 
great wealth, who has no one dependent upon him for support, the 
loss of ordinary amounts would hardly be felt, and perhaps extra- 
ordinary losses would do no injustice. The question arises, what 
harm would be done if he should stake all his property in a moment 
of excitement and lose it? It might probably be divided among the 
poor classes in the course of time, get into the channels of trade, 
.and do hundreds good where it before hardly benefited one. Still 
against that we would have the wreck of name, fortune and charac- 
ter, as a blight upon the nation. 

Gambling is always wrong, and wrong in itself. It gives one 
the chance of winning property, or value, without an. exchange. 
It unsettles the nobler ambition of the mind to earn what is ob- 
tained, by planting in its place the hope of getting it for nothing. 
The heart is soon calloused, the nerves made unsteady, and the 
body unfited for honorable exertion. 

Any attempt to obtain value in business transactions by spec- 
ulating in pure chance is as reprehensible as gambling in a dive. 
The fever of expectation allures men to the stock exchanges, where 
fortunes are made at a single stroke; but where one wins scores go 
away ruined, to return to blighted homes, or seek refuge beyond 
the pale of the country whose laws permit stock gambling. 

The people make the constitution and the statutes. Yet the 
people permit the existence of these legal gambling dens, where a 
:few men draw a dollar a day from the pockets of each and every 



190 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



citizen of America, and where "corners" can be made in the most, 
necessary articles of food for gambling purposes, while the gaunt 
finger of poverty stretches in vain after the crust of bread that life- 
may be sustained a short while longer. The people can change all 
this. Will they? 

You are excluded from playing any game where actual value 
is at stake; from raffling; from purchasing tickets in any lottery,, 
legalized, law-defying or connected with any church or society; 
from speculating in a stock exchange, or similar gambling hell;, 
from betting of all kinds; and from all chance-taking where value 
is at stake, except in the usual course of business and investments. 

There are some very common forms of gambling that arc- 
insidiously planned to feed the almost universal thirst for the same,, 
and not expose the gamblers to the glare of disapproval. The in- 
genuity of evil is almost evidence of a personal devil. Everything, 
wrong is dressed in inviting colors. The pits of sin are* sugar- 
coated, without weakening the relish of their taste. It is not that 
the channels through which gambling reaches the great masses of 
people are in themselves evil, but that ingenuity of evil knows 
whereon to lay its hands for working out its end. 

Thus it cannot be said that card-playing, stock-buying and 
horse-racing are wrong in themselves; but being means of carrying 
the gambling fever, they are loaded with that crime. It is not tha- 
particular card which you throw upon the table, and by which you 
win the game, that is harmful, but the very likeness upon the face 
of that card has stared in the countenances of hundreds of thou- 
sands of criminal gamblers, has seen the wretches thrust it out with 
blood-red eyes in the hope of regaining lost fortunes, has felt the 
greasy touch of suicides while yet the breath of despair was hot on 
the lips, has been the tool of fraud, has haunted the young men al- 
lured from honorable homes to dens of vice, and has witnessed the 
unspeakable misery of those who could not shake off the horrible 
dragons of temptation this side of the grave. Such are the associa- 
tions that follow the likenesses on the cards used in innocent 
amusement. 

The fashionable gambling of the social and business world of 
wealth is in stock-buying and selling when done on margins. If ai 
person chooses to purchase stock at their market value, whatever 
that is, and the dividends they pay are reasonable, there is no ele- 
ment of gambling in the transaction. But to buy outright any 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



191 



shares that are not productive of dividends, or not likely to be, is 
gambling. Nor is it possible to buy or sell on margins without be- 
coming at once a gambler of the lowest stripe. It is a merciless,, 
heartless, cold-blooded transaction if it succeeds, for it robs of some- 
one else every dollar it puts into the pocket of the winner; and if it- 
fails it is a contribution to the pocket of some unprincipled wretch. 
There is no element of business in it. It is neither smart, bright 
nor shrewd, but merely a game of roulette led on by blind fate to & 
fool's goal. 

The law of the land should attach a severe penalty to all trans- 
actions in stocks and margins, for they are too often indulged in 
by men who seek to gain wealth rapidly, and become embezzlers in: 
order to do so. Their danger lies in the ease with which any per- 
son may plunge into them in the hope of realizing great wealth with 
apparently little risk. One thousand dollars of actual cash invest- 
ment may bring from ten to fifty thousand dollars in return, if 
all goes well. A man may lose his first thousand and his second,, 
and every thousand up to the tens or twenties, but he feels sure 
that in the turn of fortune he must guess aright sooner or later, and 
he confidently goes on until the little sums have counted up to a 
princely fortune in themselves; and then is the time he awakens,, 
unable to understand how it is. 

Few, indeed, ever come out of the game unsinged. For every 
success of the lamb there are five hundred failures. The profes- 
sionals too often indulge in "profit taking," and then the lambs are 
sheared. These lambs are bank cashiers, bank clerks, bank tellers,, 
treasurers of various concerns, trusted employes, men who have 
saved a few thousand dollars during years of toil, men who have 
made money in business and wish to add ten to fifty times its bulk, 
very suddenly; young men who have inherited a small fortune that 
they never could have earned, and who* seek to surprise their ac- 
quaintances by a princely rise to sudden affluence, whereupon they 
immediately proceed to give orders for a magnificent residence, 
which is never built; these, one and all, without exception, meet 
disappointment. With faultless apparent reasoning that success- 
is certain sooner or later, they go blindly on, — and the same old 
story is told. It is ruin for some 1 , despair for others, the peniten- 
tiary for many and suicide for the usual proportion. Those who re- 
solve to go slowly, to take no great chances, to keep on sure ground, 
to learn what they are about before they invest, etc., etc., they and 1 



192 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



the "know-it-alls/'' go under with the same unerring certainty that 
the victim disappears beneath the treacherous quicksands. The 
rule of any legitimate investment is this: Always purchase out- 
right, and buy no stock that will not yield a proper dividend. If it 
should rise in value, sell it if the sum to be realized can be invested 
in other ways that will pay better. Never deal in margins. Never 
deal in non-dividend-paying stock in the hope of its rise. 

While the foregoing species of gambling may appeal to those 
who have a sufficient amount of money within reach, or within 
stealing distance, to invest for such chances, the spirit of evil 
stalks forth in a guise that includes every grade of humanity, 
from the three-dollar-a-week clerk to the fashionable men and 
women of upperdom. It is the horse-race. This modified form 
of roulette and bull-fight entertainment is not only prevalent, but 
is on the increase every year. Why it should enlist the sym- 
pathies of politicians and political legislators was hard to find out 
until it was known that the stockholders of newspapers were di- 
rectly or indirectly interested in race-courses. In one case the 
owners of a leading paper protested vigorously and indignantly 
against the charge, but proof was secured that left no doubt of 
the fact. 

Race-course gambling is on the increase. It has the support of 
politicians, journalists, gamblers of every stripe, saloons, slums, 
bums, degenerates, prostitutes, men-about-town, idlers, clerks, un- 
successful business men and fashionable women. A chief of police, 
walking in front of the grand stand, said: "There is a well-known 
society lady who does not know she is sitting between two of the 
best dressed women of (a certain) street/'' meaning by the latter a 
locality of ill-fame. Another officer at another race-course said: 
"When the races come they draw every gambler, prostitute and 
bartender that can get away. There you have the basis of the 
crowd at every race." On tins basis you can build. The fact that 
certain men and women of unimpeachable character attend also 
does not remove the basis. Some fine houses are built on mud. 

The evil of race-horse gambling is in its easy allurement of 
youths and callow women, of high social standing if need be said, 
who are tempted to try their luck, to pick out the winner, to get 
tips, to know the whole game, to spend money thoughtlessly that 
is soon missed from home, to seek large profits with little to risk, 
to gamble. Many a clerk who knew it all has had to wear his sum- 



f 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 193 

mer clothes through a long and chilling winter, without overcoat to 
conceal the fact, because he gambled on horses. Many a wife has 
used the money given her by her husband for household needs in 
the same kind of gambling. One success is dangerous. It leads to 
further hopes, efforts and failures. The honest race would be largely 
a game of chance. But the usual race is "doctored." After the 
public has ascertained the true merits of the horses, so that it is easy 
to pick the winners, they are not allowed to win. The review of 
any one "season" will amaze any thoughful mind; that is, if every 
race could be read and compared with all others at one time. 

Horse-racing is on the increase. It is always attended by 
gambling. It is ruining enormous numbers of young men, unfit- 
ting them for business and hurrying them into the all-the-year- 
round gambling hells of towns and cities, there to find their dis- 
grace an insurmountable barrier to a life of usefulness and honor. 
This condition soon amalgamates itself with the saloon habit, and 
there is but one step more. The best friends of horse-race gambling 
are the newspapers. If you do not believe it look carefully into 
their constant parading of the racing. Some papers merely report 
results. Prefer those to the vivid and exciting pen pictures of this 
f orm of gambling that appear in sheets whose owners are financially 
interested in the races. 

LESSON EIGHTY-TWO. 
EIGHTY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 
SUSPICION. 

^Eighteenth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 2. 

What we know about ourselves we look for in others. It is 
more usual to look for the evil than the good. If we find our friend 
all goodness we rest content, but if a little bad is present we look 
further, and probe, by a process peculiarly human, to unearth more 
of the bad; which, if we do not find it, causes us regret; or, if we 
do> we keep on, expecting to disclose a coal mine. The law of self- 
protection gave rise to "Suspicion" in the human heart. To know 
the designs of our fellow-beings is to be protected from many harms. 
Under the title of "Credulity" we provided an off-set for this fault 
known as suspicion. As a fountain can rise no higher than its 



194 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



head, so we can originate no suspicion of a sin in another that we 
do not possess in ourselves. - ' 

This refers to the creation of the suspicion. Honest people 
take but little for granted if they are good readers of human nature, 
but they never suspect without cause of evidence. There is far 
more honesty in the world than a pessimist is willing to admit. A 
suspicious nature is'small and mean; narrow and unfruitful; always 
on the defense, rather than among mankind doing good. It is bet- 
ter to trust a friend and lose than never to trust at all. 

Jealousy is a hard word to define. Outside of the love-action 
of the heart it may be termed envy. When we love one who gives 
more of the return love to another than we get, we call it jealousy. 
A man is less often jealous than a woman. A true woman loves 
but once, and watches that love with her whole nature. If it is in 
danger of loss she is at once jealous. This is justifiable where the 
danger is real, but the mistake which the woman makes is in show- 
ing her jealousy; for it is the surest way of estranging the real love 
of the husband, that perhaps was only in abeyance. It is said that 
a woman cannot be convinced by argument; and this is evidently so; 
for a thinking woman must see that a man's love cannot be cor- 
ralled nor driven. It must be drawn. 

Whenever a woman suspects her husband without cause, and 
he learns of it, the process of hate commences in his heart at once, 
and the loss of his love is only a question of time. If you suspect 
another, never let it be known. 

Jealousy and suspicion can work their will and accomplish 
their purpose fully as well if their existence is not disclosed to the 
other party. 

When known, the friendship or love is seriously hurt. 

LESSON EIGHTY-THEEE. 
EIGHTY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 

FLIRTING. 

Nineteenth Night Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 3. 

Flirting is right or wrong as measured by the standard of those 
who come in contact with its influence. The desire furnishes the 
strength of that standard. Among the class of people who live up 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 195 

to the rales of good "Etiquette," as well as among all self -respecting 
people 1 , it is impossible to begin an acquaintance by flirting. When 
this stage is passed, however, the participants call nothing that en- 
sues "Flirting" If the formality of an introduction can excuse 
all the after-history of an acquaintance, then there is but little 
flirting going on in the world. It is true that street walkers ply 
their trade among both sexes, but this class of persons is not in our 
minds. We call that prostitution, for any person who attempts to 
form the acquaintance of the opposite sex without an introduction, 
is of the latter class, except under extraordinary circumstances, or 
where the rules of Etiquette -are suspended. The method known as 
"picking up" among that class is an open advertisement of the 
business on hand. 

"Flirting' proper is a playing at love. Anything lower than 
that comes under the category just named. Flirts of the female seoc 
play at love by drawing men to them, encouraging them to open 
their hearts and declare their love, and then discarding them. Men 
take the opposite course; they declare their love, listen to the soft 
confession from their admirers, bask in the pleasant sunshine 
awhile, grow tired, and pass on to the next. Women who> have 
been treated in this way soon learn to seek revenge upon the sex. 
It is said that a true woman never loves but one, and that is the man 
of her fate; and a man never loves but one — himself. There is 
injustice in this. There are men, few and far, who have paid their 
life's devotion to a single woman. President Arthur never ceased 
to love the dead wife whose picture hung in the White House. 
Every morning he carried to that picture a bouquet of the most 
beautiful flowers — her favorites in life, and in silent love com- 
muned with her spirit. The tender devotion of this man should be 
an example to others. The faithless love is in sharp comparison 
with the splendid faithfulness of a true man. 

You who derive pleasure from false declarations of love should 
remember that your character drops each time you sin against the 
purest of all emotions — love. 



196 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON EIGrHTY-FOUK. 
EIGHTY-FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
INSINUATION. 

Twentieth and Last Night Down in the Depths. 
Egad No. 4. 

The darkness of midnight long since passed and the dim light 
of approaching day is climbing up the sky. Such a bursting and 
flooding of sunshine never crowned a night as that which awaits 
you if you have dealt honestly with yourself in the stages you have 
passed. There is no monarch in all this wide world too' great to 
travel on these roads., and no peasant too> poor. Like that unknown 
highway which spans Earth and — the hereafter, all are equal who 
go aright. The last of night drops from our pathway as we take 
the final stage Down in the Depths. 

The friends we make should be kept, and enemies avoided. No 
person is willing to be charged with wrong. Some people through 
habit, and some through cowardice, fail to state their meaning 
when they have anything to say. An Insinuation may become scan- 
dal when it is intended to leave the impression of something serious; 
and it is more harmful than a direct charge, for the imagination of 
those present is left to roam at will. As an instance of this, a party 
of fifteen or more were listening to a reference to a lady when an- 
other lady interrupted and said, "Excuse me, — but, — well, Fll not 

say anything." "Oh , do, Mrs. " It was of no avail. From 

that insinuation six different scandals arose about the poor woman, 
all traceable to this meeting. 

Insinuations made to the face of a person are less damaging if 
no one is present, for the guilty party generally gets his punish- 
ment. It is a bad habit for a husband or wife to exchange glances 
in church when some sin is attacked, or to read from the Bible or 
other literature such advice as fits the case of either, while the ex- 
pression on the face says: "That hits you." Such insinuations are 
not in good taste and weaken your character, while doing other 
damage to the relationship existing between you. All references 
to a past of error should be sacredly avoided. "Let the dead past 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 197 

bury its dead." Give the human soul a chance to repent. Many a 
man and woman might reform and make our best citizens were it 
not for some slimy tongue throwing out insinuations of their past, 
hints which stalk, like ghosts, into the new growth of the soul 
blasting the garden of hope. 

There are hundreds of forms of insinuations which become 
hand-tools of slanders, and work injury both ways. 

The Daily Account must be continued for one hundred days, 
including this day. It must embrace all the Negative Points of 
Character each day, until the time expires. Keep your percentage 
with that nice sense of Justice which will afford you the clearest 
conscience at the end. May you never have to travel in the Depths 
again. 



LESSOIST EIGHTY-FIVE. 
EIGHTY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
TEMPTATION. 

Fiest Day on the Heights. Eoad No. 1. 
"On the Heights at last!" 

The dawn breaks beautifully. In a cloudless sky the sun rises 
full and bright over a vast landscape stretching to a far distant 
horizon, down which we gaze in the rapture of victory. A dot on 
the edge of a populous world attracts our attention toward the 
North. It is the first Workshop of Character, where our early 
struggles took place. Passing from that through the selfish and 
heartless world, the course runs sinuously along till it is lost in the 
blackness of forest depths; but simultaneously with the new dawn 
the path reaches up to the magnificent heights on which we stand. 

One parting salutation to the long past, and we will turn the 
back upon it; for, as we anticipated, the White Citadel is at the sum- 
mit of the Heights, It is necessary to recall the stages we have 
traveled on the road. They should be committed to memory and 
recited aloud every fourth day as a part of the "Morning Quota- 
tions 



198 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



EOAD No. 1 
Leading to the North Gate of the Citadel. 

Stages in the Workshop. Eoad No. 1. 

1. Self -Effort. 4. Health of Body. 7. Automatics. 

2. Right Rising. 5. Health of Nerves. 8. Cleanliness. 

3. Irritability. 6. Exercise. 9. Memory. 

Stages Out in the World. Eoad No. 1. 

10. Attention. 13. Hasty Promises. 15. Adaptation. 

11. Influence. 14. Directness. 16. Excitement. 

12. Secretiveness. 

Stages Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 1. 

17. Revenge. 19. Excesses. 21. Gambling. 

18. Low Humor. 20. Profanity. 

Whereas, we have blended with the world and have often been 
'Controlled by its requirements, to which we are reeompelled to 
shape the formation of our character, we now reverse the order of 
growth. Among the many beautiful opportunities afforded us 
On the Heights is the privilege of exerting an influence ever man- 
kind; and thereby building the loftiest character in ourselves by 
helping to shape the destinies of others. To do this we must con- 
trol the world in our own sphere of action. 

Temptation is a noble instructor. It originates from our con- 
tact with people; but often meets us in private. In the lesson on 
"Influence" we were forbidden to tempt others; in the lesson on 
"Excesses" we were to control ourselves; in the present lesson we 
must not allow others to tempt or control us. In other words, we 
should so control those around us that they will have no influence 
of a detrimental nature over us. 

Temptation comes to us in various forms: 

1. We are tempted to waste time. 

2. We are tempted to Gossip. 

3. We are tempted to quarrel, speak harshly, or give way to 
bad temper by the misconduct of others. 

4. We are allured to sin by the coaxing or soft blandishments 
of friend or associates. * 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 199 
To none of these should we ever yield. 

If any person is unmannerly enough to seek a quarrel, the best 
evidence of self-control on our part is to refrain from making any 
reply at all, either by look, word or action. 

If the solicitation is to commit wrong, it should be instantly 
checked. The cause of many a fall lies in the fact that we hestitate 
to wound the feelings of a friend, and permit ourselves to be coaxed 
into error, ere we are aware. A person of proper tact will have no 
trouble in rebuking such temptation without leaving any sting be- 
hind. Such moments are valuable to all persons, for strength 
comes to those who can rebuke the temptation, and still hold the 
friendship of the tempter. Cut it short at the very first solicitation. 
It will save you; and save your friend from many sad reflections. 

"We are tempted to scold children for their misconduct. Parents 
of strong character master their young by their own personality. A 
scold is never respected by any one, much less by children. For 
the sake of the future usefulness of those who are now growing up 
into character (good or bad), it is our duty to train ourselves in 
such a way that we are fitted to train them. 

Standing. — To maintain our position On the Heights it is 
necessary to preserve a constant watchfulness over ourselves in this 
regard. 

Slips. — We lose our standing On the Heights by a slip. This 
is to be marked in the record, to be kept on the opposite blank 
pages of this lesson in this Phase of Character. For each slip record 
a loss of one mark. 



LESSON EIGHTY-SIX. 
EIGHTY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

REFINEMENT. 

Second Day on the Heights. Eoad No. 2. 
On the East Side to-day. 

It is necessary to repeat aloud from memory, every fourth day, 
the following stages, as a part of the "Morning Quotations:" 



200 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



Road No. 2. 
Leading to the East Gate of the Citadel. 

Stages in the Woekshop. Road No. 2. 

1. Absorption, 4. Flowers and Mask. 7. Biography. 

2. Nature. 5. Home. 8. Nobility. 

3. Kind Voice. 6. Literature. p. Conscience. 

Stages Out in the Woeed. Road No. 2. 

10. Ease of Manner. 13. Anonymous Attacks. 15. Etiquette. 

11. Sociability. 14. Generosity. 16. Charity. 

12. Comparison. 

Stages Down in the Depths. Road No. 2. 

17. Stratagem. ip. Sarcasm. 21. Suspicion. 

18. Practical Jokes. 20. Slang. 

The cultivation of "Refinement" is too much neglected among 
people who are satiated with themselves. The desire to make a 
good impression on another is often an incentive to appear re- 
fined. For this purpose, if there is any purpose in it, society ex- 
ists. Were we to abolish all caste, human nature would drift into 
the brute. The backwoodsmen are, in some instances, descendants 
of the most polished social leaders of a past generation. Even in 
the lifetime of many of our refined citizens of the East who have 
spent years in the more primitive settlements of the West, we see 
illustrations of the degeneration of men. Nature may be either 
habit or inheritance, or both combined. Inheritance provides the 
tendencies, but habit may turn these impulses into new channels, 
and destroy the inheritance. Thus a man who is born a gentleman 
may become a coarse cow-boy. 

Nothing is so easily acquired or lost as "Refinement." By this 
we do not mean affectation. Pure awkwardness, if it clothes an 
honest heart, is preferable to the most polished affectation. But 
awkwardness, roughness, coarseness, or whatever may be the con- 
dition, will always handicap the possessor, no matter how brilliant 
his genius, or honest his soul. True refinement is the opposite of 
coarseness. In this age of cultivation no man is excusable for re- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 201 



maining a boor; yet the vast majority are such. Eefinement, in 
order to be natural, must begin at home, and be maintained in the 
presence of the least of our acquaintances. It deprives no one of 
the fullest enjoyment; for the most intemperate laughter and the 
jolliest fun can be refined, and will be if the indulger is capable of 
making it so. 

Standing. — To remain On the Heights it is necessary to cul- 
tivate true refinement, and maintain it in the presence of all per- 
sons, as well as when alone. 

Slips. — If you fail in -so doing it is necessary to record, for 
each slip, a loss of one mark. 



LESSON" EIGHTY-SEVEN. 
EIGHTY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
INDEPENDENCE. 



Third Day on the Heights. Eoad No. 3. 
On the South Side to-day. 

Commit to memory, and repeat aloud every fourth day as a 
part of the "Morning Quotations" the following stages already 
traveled : 



Eoad No. 3. 



Leading to the South Gate of the Citadel. 



Stages in the Workshop. 



Eoad No. 3. 



1. Seriousness. 

2. Decision. 

3. Retirement. 



4. Sympathy. 

5. Honesty. 

6. Simplicity. 



7. Execution. 

p. Code of Morals. 

8. Completion. 



Stages Out in the World. 



Eoad No. 3. 



10. Ally. 
IT. Sincerity. 
12. Details. 



J j. Promptness, 
14. Moments. 



75. Thoroughness. 
16. Justice. 



^202 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Stages Down m the Depths. Eoad No. 3. 



17. Fads. 

18. Flippancy. 



ip. Threatening. 
20. Flattery. 



2i. Flirting. 



In the acquisition of a virtue of so much importance as In- 
dependence there must be a true! balance of character-growth, or this 
will become offensive. Haughtiness is an excess of the present 
quality. Dependence is not the opposite of it, when we regard it 
aright; for the members of the human family will always be de- 
pendent upon each other in nationality, sociability and trade. 
True Independence is the result of right living. If we are just to 
ourselves and to all with whom we have dealings we shall be on the 
road to independence. Self-reliance is necessary for great ends. 
Advice is good when it is correct, but as a rule it is misleading to 
a person old enough to fight the battle of life, especially .in matters 
that come within his own notice. 

Learn to think for yourself, to wait on yourself, and to act 
on your own judgment as much as possible. Call to your aid the 
experience of every person, living or dead, who has been in a posi- 
tion to benefit you; but base your action upon your own good 
judgment. 

If you are poor and ignorant, or deficient in any important 
branch of education, use your "Moments" for study; and pursue a 
line of study that will better your condition. If you are poor and 
educated and in fair health it is your fault that you remain poor. 
Financial independence is within the power of every man and 
woman who is not in ill-health. Self-effort is the first great law 
of success. The author has traced the cause of poverty to the lack 
of this in many cases. 

Every man should have political independence. He should 
repudiate a party that caters to the lower classes for votes, and 
colludes with gamblers, liquor-dealers and bribers for the mere pur- 
pose of carrying an election. There are good men enough in this 
country to kill the evil; but they lack independence, and are made 
to believe by ranting demagogues and shrewd political bosses that 
fealty to a great party is a manly thing! Every woman should 
know if her lover, husband or brother votes with a party that 
-caters to the disreputable elements. 

Slips. — Eecord a loss of one mark for each neglect to main- 
tain true Independence. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



203 



LESSON EIGHTY-EIGHT. 
EIGHTY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

LOVE. 

Fourth Day on the Heights. Eoad No. 4. 
On the West Side to-day. 

Commit to memory, and repeat aloud every fourth, day as a 
part of the "Morning Quotations" the following stages already 
traveled: 

Eoad No. 4. 
Leading to the West Gate of the Citadel. 

Stages in the Workshop. Eoad No. 4. 

1. Ambition. 4. Tact. J. Respect. 

2. Conquer Failure. 5. Superstition. 8. Sabbath. 

j. Examine Discouragement. 6. Thought-Control, p. Newspapers. 

Stages Out in the World. Eoad No. 4. 

10. Turning Gossipy ij. Credulity. 15. Inspire Nobility 

Subjects. 14. Inspire Ambition in Children. 

11. Gossip. in Others. 16. Choice Company. 

12. Criticism. *j ; •■ , .. x j 

Stages Down in the Depths. Eoad No. 4. 

17. Envy. ip. Obstinacy. 21. Insinuation. 

18. Sidkincss. 20. Self-harm. 

Love is the great incentive to living. It is born in ns; is in- 
spired by Nature; is acquired. It may be divided into the follow- 
ing species: 

1. Love of inanimate objects. 

2. Love of creatures. 

3. Love of friends. 

4. Love of relations. 

5. Love of lovers. 

6. Love of husband and wife. 



204 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



The perfect man or woman possesses all these in large meas- 
ure. No matter what may be one's belief regarding a Creator, the 
wonders, beauties, splendors of all forms of existence about us de- 
mand our affectionate admiration; and the love of them will 
broaden our hearts and minds. The callous soul shuts itself 
against these mellow influences; but character requires them before 
•it can ripen. Under the lesson on "Nature" we discussed the love 
of objects. The creatures about us are Nature's offspring, often 
educated by man. There is such a thing possible as a fair inter- 
change of love between them and man, to the mutual advantage of 
both. 

We should have a full list of friends; but before we open our 
hearts to love them they should be persons worthy to be our Allies 
in the School of Character, or links in some "Chain of Influence" 
started by us; and, if possible, they should be so affiliated with us. 
We can then love them safely. 

Relatives claim our love by right. Too often they are denied 
the exhibition of it, until separation or death makes it demonstra- 
tive. Our dispositions have much to do with the love we obtain 
from them. Forbearance and unselfishness will win such a love,, 
where it may be lacking, and refinement will command respect, the 
great promoter of all affection. The study of the "One Hundred 
Points of Character' has already in its limited past made more- 
homes pleasant, revived more natural love, and brought in closer 
union more estranged relatives than could have been done by any 
other influence of earthly origin. 

But that magic spell which fills the life of many a man and 
woman, young and old, that comes from no source and vanishes to» 
its origin, is certainly the mystery of mysteries. It is a passion that 
knows no description, a pain that is happy in its intensity, a joy 
that suffers most in its best estate, an essence born of misery and 
consumed by satiety. Nature gives it to all life, for the purpose of 
bringing the sexes together. Pure affection is something far 
beyond that ecstatic state which clouds the reason of all lovers, and 
makes them declare that it will always be thus till death shall them 
part. 

The love of husband and wife is often different from the love 
of sweethearts ; and is generally acquired after marriage. The best 
love is not that which is brought into the marriage state; but that 
which comes after years of living together. Where persons have 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



205 



been estranged in affections for years, they should lay aside the old 
manner of dealing with each other, and begin anew. Respect is 
the cornerstone of love. Without this the structure falls. If you 
are not reputable you will not be respected. 

If you know of no other means of winning the good opinion of 
one whom you ought to hold most dear, you will find the "School of 
Character" the place for your efforts. 

Whatever your situation in life, love must enter into the for- 
mation of your character; and this love should be fresh, free, and 
far-reaching, as the morning breeze which is warmed by the sun- 
shine. 

In estimating your value in this regard take one hundred per 
cent, as a basis, and determine how much of this you are entitled 
to, as far as you are able to judge. 



LESSON EIGHTY-NINE. 
EIGHTY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
WILL POWER. 

Fifth Day on the Heights. Road No. 1. 

While this trait of character seems closely allied to such others 
as "Influence" and "Independence," it is yet distinct from them. It 
is a supporting strength to "Decision" "Execution" and indeed 
nearly all Points of Character. 

Will power must be present in the nervous organization be- 
fore you will be able to discriminate between Obstinacy and Per- 
sistency. The obstinate person may declare and actually believe 
that he is possessed of a very great will power, when in fact he lacks 
it entirely. 

The muscles perform the entire activity of the body. The 
nerves carry to these muscles a fluid which operates upon them. 
The will power directs the flow of nerve-fluid. The ganglionic 
cells accumulate, like storage batteries, an electrical force, the using 
of which is called magnetism. This force becomes restless and im- 



206 



THE NEW EpUGATION 



pels its own discharge, which takes place through the nerve fluids, 
thereby establishing that activity known as LIFE. 

Existence, therefore, is a restlessness. This philosophy has 
been explained and made useful to mankind in another book of the 
author's, known as "Lessons in Personal Magnetism?' 

It is well to keep in mind this simple principle which accounts 
for the activity of creation. Another way of stating it is this: 
"Whenever electricity is present there is restlessness; restlessness 
produces activity; this activity becomes life; life flows forth in 
channels established by Nature or habit. It may escape without 
the operation of the will — in which case it is automatic. Persons 
of weak will power have this automatic life. If, however, the flow 
of nerve-force is directed by a conscious control of itself the person 
possesses a perfect will power. The attainment of this supreme 
control of that spirit of restlessness, known as life, is the grandest 
accomplishment of man and should be his chief ambition. 

The accumulation of magnetism may be increased by exercises 
to a marvelous degree. It then requires a greater man or woman 
back of it to direct its energy into, the proper channels of life. The 
demand creates the supply. When a large amount of magnetic 
force is present the will power grows to equal it, or automatic 
escape would lead to ruin. 

Eequikements. — It is required of you to accumulate your 
will power by specifically directing what magnetism you have into 
a conscious use of it. This may be done by decreeing from the 
brain all movements of the body. The result is always pleasant 
and satisfactory. Magnetism must not be confounded with mes- 
merism or hypnotism; these are of no use, generally speaking, 
while magnetism is true life. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning you may estimate your per- 
centage on the basis of one hundred. It will be difficult to under- 
stand how to do this; and if the result is a mere guess it will have 
to stand. The majority of persons will understand it. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 207' 

LESSON NINETY. 
NINETIETH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

DIGNITY. 

Sixth Day ox the Heights. Eoad No. 2. 

This trait of Character, like many of those On the Heights,, 
may be said to be the result of one or more of those which are- 
found in the preceding lessons. 

Dignity means the escape from many childish or foolish ways.. 
It may be natural or assumed. Natural dignity must fall easily 
upon a person as an inherent part of his personality. It is then a 
talent, charming and winning. Assumed dignity is offensive. 
The lion's hide cannot fit the calf. 

Dignity is direct. It loses no motions, it makes no automatic- 
actions; it is not jerky. It has grace of mind, strength of heart, 
and straightforwardness of action. It does not decrease good- 
natured fun> but makes flippancy out of place. 

A good test of this power lies in the ability to rebuke; or in 
that carriage of one's self which makes a person the central figure 
of a group. Stupidity depends upon a silent tongue in order to be- 
respected. Dignity can talk and gain admirers. From this class- 
the public select their judges, presiding officers and managers of" 
enterprises. 

To acquire true dignity the following course of conduct is- 
recommended: 

Be the same at all times whenever the circumstances are sim- 
ilar. If you are morose at one time you are apt to be flippant at. 
another. Before performing any unusual act think it over care- 
fully to see how it will look when done. Before speaking aloud 
in the presence of another try to hear the remark mentally, to de- 
termine how it will sound. If this practice is followed you will 
soon form the habit of sifting your own actions and words and. 
throwing away the chaff. 

This added to your graduation in the "School of Character"' 
will render you naturally dignified. 

May a person unbend at times? 



208 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Yes. Cultivate good humor. The great judges are often 
jolly, but not silly. If, however, you play the ape at any time, you 
will carry the stamp of the monkey on your features, and in your 
movements. Get all out of life that you can, hut do not stoop to 
the level of the clown in order to find happiness. 

As an experiment try to win the respect of the humblest in- 
dividual you meet. The self-effort required to do this will add to 
your character. 

Losses. — Estimate your rank in Dignity on the basis of one 
hundred per cent. 

LESSON NINETY-ONE. 
NINETY-FIRST POINT OF CHARACTER. 
DISCONTINUE SOME VICE. 

Seventh Day on the Heights. Road No. 3. 

This lesson is intended to enter very closely into your private 
life. Its purpose is to draw from you some noble resolve which is 
to be recorded in your heart, or beyond the sight of earthly eyes. 
Not even your Ally should know the resolve unless he (or she) 
stands near to you in affection; and even then a secret like this 
should be cautiously imparted to another. What vices have you? 
The answer you can make to yourself. Out of the list select any 
one that is as strong as any other one and resolve to discontinue it. 

A vice is some habit or trait of character which is detrimental 
to your progress in this study. It may be one of the great vices, 
like Intemperance, Gambling, Unchastity, Profanity, Sabbath- 
breaking, or Dishonesty. 

It may be some deficiency in the qualities of the heart. 

In determining what one shall be selected the choice is en- 
tirely yours. Do not deceive yourself into the belief that you pos- 
sess no vices at all. Such complete goodness is not of earth. You 
may perhaps be able to reduce the list down to laziness or selfish- 
ness, or irritability; but do not decide that you are absolutely per- 
fect. 

The pledge that accompanies this lesson is of great help to 
those who have difficulty in conquering such a terrible vice as In- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



209 



temperance. It differs from the ordinary pi edge in its effect for 
the reason that it is constantly before yon; whereas the temperance 
pledge is signed and out of sight. Some years ago when the 
author had private pupils (by mail) in this course of training, there 
were several men who were brought under the influence of these 
lessons, who had previously broken their iron clad temperance 
pledge. By following the present system every one of them 
achieved success in discarding the vice. 

The pledge which is hereto annexed should be signed in this 
book and the name of the vice or its initial letter should be writ- 
ten or printed upon a card to be carried in the pocket, or part of 
the clothing where it will be readily discovered. 

Pledge No. 20. 

I solemnly promise to select some vice or some bad trait of my 
character, which I will discontinue. I will write or print the name 
or initial letter of the same upon some card, which is to be with 
me at all times; and I will look at this at least daily. 



Losses. — For every failure to comply with the foregoing and 
for every yielding to the vice so discontinued, record a loss of one 
mark. 

LESSON NINETY-TWO. 
NINETY-SECOND POINT OF CHARACTER. 

ELEVATED TASTE. 

Eighth Day ox the Heights. Eoad No. 4. 

How many persons have poor taste. It is shown in dress, 
manners, occupation, amusements, conversation, reading, and 
choice of company. Affectation is also the result of very bad taste. 

The love of display leads to exaggeration in dress. What be- 
comes you should 'be worn. The prevailing style should be fol- 
lowed as far as your circumstances easily permit. The young hus- 
band who had been in wretched poverty, and by a sudden turn 
of the wheel of fortune had been left twenty dollars by the death 



210 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



of an uncle, and invested the entire amount in a beautiful bonnet 
for his wife, who wore it to meeting the next Sunday with a faded 
calico dress, affords us an illustration of bad taste. 

The ill-assortment of colors, the profuse display of wealth, the 
crowding of the fingers with rings, the wearing of jewelry enough 
to attract attention, are all evidences of bad taste. In the fashion- 
able parties and balls of any large city, the butchers' families^ and 
those who have suddenly acquired wealth, come to the front with 
diamonds; while those who possess greater wealth and taste re- 
serve their display for grander and rarer occasions. In the matter 
of dress and style the aid of your Ally will prove advantageous. 

Your manners may not be in good taste. Some one should 
be consulted. Only conceit will forbid your inquiring of your Ally. 
He (or she) will tell you the truth, for no return advice is to be 
given. This must be remembered. You are not to give counsel 
to your Affirmative Ally. If such were permissible there would be 
an interchange of opinion tempered by what we receive or expect 
to receive. 

Your occupation should be consonant with the aspirations of 
your soul. In your home amusements, and in the places you at- 
tend, you should show an elevated taste. It is an exhibition of low 
taste to attend a circus performance, side show, dime museum, va- 
riety theatre, exhibition of honors, minstrel, ballet, seance, or hyp- 
notic exhibition. 

A classical drama is worthy of the highest taste, as is legiti- 
mate comedy; but melodrama, low comedy, clog-dancing, topical 
songs and gymnastic contortions, as well as the majority of all plays, 
feed only the fire of a low taste. 

Unfortunate subjects are often selected for conversation. 
Never originate such; and, if you find it in progress, always turn 
it into a new channel. In reading show an elevated taste; as well 
as in your choice of companions. 

Losses. — At the final reckoning estimate your rank on the 
basis of 100 per cent. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHAR ACT Eli 211 

LESSON NINETY-THREE. 
NINETY-THIRD POINT OF CHARACTER. 

HASTE NOT, REST NOT. 

Ninth Day on the Heights. Road No. 1. 

The immortal Grerman poet who uttered the words: "Haste 
not, rest not" struck the key-note of many a grand life. Its mean- 
ing must be clearly understood; for it is capable of many appli- 
cations. 

In our interpretation we evolve the following points: 

A steady purpose in life, attended by unceasing effort, will 
accomplish all or nearly all that one can desire. 

There should be no rush, no intemperate energy, no haste. 

In a smaller sense to hurry is to lose time. Here are two 
business men. Mr. A. comes to his office, full of purpose and with 
many things to attend to. He is compelled to hurry to accomplish 
so much. He takes off his coat at the expense of considerable 
strain upon it. His hat is injured by the fall it receives when he 
attempts to hang it too hastily upon the hook. He unlocks his 
desk. It is in confusion. In straightening it out in a hurry he 
misplaces an important document that requires two hours to find 
to-morrow, tips over a bottle of mucilage, and, after spending ten 
minutes in taking care of it, goes about his work. He hurries and 
becomes excited, making many unnecessary errors. 

Mr. B. enters his office in a hurry, hangs his hat up carefully, 
takes his coat off with thoughtful deliberation and opens his desk. 
It is in good order. Every motion he makes accomplishes some- 
thing; not one movement is lost. He keeps steadily on, with ap- 
parent slowness, but with remarkable results. 

So in everything we do in daily life, however commonplace, 
there can be haste that delays, and deliberation that hurries. It is 
one of the great sources of irritability to hurry, get excited and fail. 
The steady man or woman who is cool when others might be ex- 
cited, who goes calmly on with a smoothness of execution that 
plows its way through the details of work, is an example worth fol- 
lowing. 



212 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



In the selection of friends, new occupation, changes of resi- 
dence, or in other important matters do not yield hastily to any 
temptation to hurry. It rarely occurs that immediate action is 
necessary, but when it is, your good judgment must be relied upon. 

Standing. — In this Point of Character you must preserve 
your standing by a constant observance of the great principle of 
"Haste not, rest not.'' 

Slips. — Any slip made in this direction should be recorded 
with a loss of one mark. 



LESSON" NINETY-FOUE. 
NINETY-FOURTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

POLITENESS. 

Tenth Day on the Heights. Eoad No. 2. 

This is the accumulation of nearly all the traits of Character 
in this road with something added. Politeness is founded on two 
things, Kindness and Eefinement, yet it is not complete in these 
two. An unrefined person often has the instinct of politeness, but 
we take the will for the deed. He has matter, but lacks manner. 
An enemy may be polite without being kind, yet he has the man- 
ner without the matter. Politeness, therefore, is a noble trait. 

It is often said to be born in a person; but this is rarely true. 
An inheritor of politeness, brought up among selfish boors, would 
not show Ms ancestry; while the descendant of the latter class, 
reared among better influences, would give no trace of his unfa- 
vored predecession. 

Nothing is more certain than that politeness is easily acquired; 
and hardly assumed. The pretence of this trait is so thinly clad 
that the skeleton shows through the garment. No person can rise 
above a mere pretender who reserves all his politeness for special 
occasions. If you desire to be found in the ranks of the gallant 
knighthood you must observe the following: 

Eequieements. — Begin at home; or, if you have no home, 
then at that place which is the nearest approach to it. Do not 
imagine that politeness, showered upon unworthy individuals, is 



OXE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 213 

lost. It may "be wasted as to them, but you have gained by it. At 
the table you help others, if you are visiting; at home you secure 
what is within your reach for yourself first, and plead for help if 
you cannot reach the contents of the whole table. Your little sis- 
ter and brother are vigorous and can secure many things for them- 
selves by dint of effort. You could pass them several things, and 
look kindly after their wants. At the house of friends you would 
not sit in ungainly attitudes; but at home you put your feet on the 
chair nearby, or on the table; and you tip the chair back. This 
you do for comfort. But it is not comfortable. It is merely a re- 
lief from one position. If you are really tired, lie down. If one 
sitting position is uncomfortable, stand up. Constant changing is 
generally the result of habit, and akin to nervousness. It can be 
easily conquered. Do not attempt to practice politeness in society, 
for the attempt is apparent on its face, and it does not fit you. 
Indulge in your gallantry at home, and among the humble people 
of your acquaintance; then will you be able to forget the attempt 
in your society visits. Study to make every word and deed in 
every moment of your private life truly and thoroughly polite. 

Standing. — Your rank in this Point of Character must be 
estimated by yourself at the taking of the final reckoning. 

Slips. — For each slip record a loss of one mark. 

LESSON NINETY-FIVE. 
NINETY-FIFTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

PROGRESS. 

Eleventh Day on the Heights. Road No. 3. 

"Count that day lost whose low descending sun 
Views from thy hand no worthy action done." 

In fulfilling this Point of Character it is required of you that 
you accomplish something each day of your life, from the moment 
you reach this lesson until it is brought to a close. Your past 
lessons should be so taken that, at least, one hundred days elapse 
from the time the last is reached before you enter the Citadel. 
This would afford over one hundred days for the present lesson. 

In the accomplishment of something daily, you are to exclude 
the duties of your routine life. Thus a business man must make 



214 



THE XEW EDUCATION 



progress in matters not connected with the details of business. 
But a change for the better in the conduct of his general business 
affairs, or progressiveness in any outside matter, would count as 
progress. 

A housekeeper would be supposed to attend to her duties 
without suggestion; but to accomplish something in the direction 
of progress she must make her house brighter, her disposition 
sweeter, or her mind more cultivated. Any advance in study, any 
new idea acquired, any important fact learned, any kindness done, 
any charity shown, any evil conquered, any temptation overthrown, 
any step in a higher and nobler plane of life taken — these are 
things accomplished. You must do something daily. The first 
day's effort will prove very hard, for you are not accustomed to it; 
but if you persevere for a week or two in making this daily prog- 
ress, the habit will soon be fixed, and you will go happily on, with 
a love for the new mode of living. Nothing could bring greater 
peace of mind. To thousands of human beings, plodding along 
the monotonous path of life, this course of self-training will prove 
an unutterable blessing. 

At first you will object to give one minute daily to recording 
your progress, but a system of business-like habits will be bene- 
ficial for you in other departments. The entire course of study 
will take much less of your daily time than now seems likely; and 
many of the things are inseparably attached to the necessary duties 
of life. 

Sign the following pledge in ink in this book: 

Pledge No. 21. 
I solemnly promise to accomplish one thing in the line of 
"Progress" each day of my life for not less than one hundred and 
six days. [These need not be consecutive, but the final reckoning 
cannot be made until this number has been recorded.] I further 
promise to make a daily record of one thing so accomplished; and 
if more than one is achieved, the greater only shall be recorded; 
such record to be made in this book. 



Losses. — "When the one hundred and six things have been re- 
corded, mark yourself 100 per cent., less one mark for each day 
omitted from the time this lesson is reached until the final reckon- 
ing is made. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



215 



LESSON NINETY-SIX. 
NINETY-SIXTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

CHAIN OF INFLUENCE. 

Twelfth Day on the Heights. Eoad No. 4. 

Last day before unlocking the Gates of the Citadel. 

We come now to that place where the happiest moments of 
your life should begin. If you are able to grasp the importance of 
the Chain of Influence you will find the solace of true friendship 
in a life where such blessings are said to be rare. 

Before proceeding with this lesson you are advised, to go back 
and become intimately acquainted with the Eules for acquiring an 
"Ally," and the "Bond of Friendship." 

An "Ally" is necessary before graduating in the "School of 
Character," for it will be impossible to make the final reckoning 
without the aid of a strong friend who shall point out your faults; 
and especially in time to enable you to correct them. 

Definition". 

A Chain of Influence is a series of Record Pupils who enter the 
School of Character entirely at YOUR own solicitation and for whose 
graduation in the One Hundred Points of Character YOU alone are 
responsible. 

Do good in the world! 

Many people yearn for the golden opportunity of accomplish- 
ing some great thing for their fellow-beings. They fail because 
they seek to achieve grand results without touching the details. 

Your influence is constantly at work for good or bad; and that 
influence never dies. It will reach some distant generation yet un- 
born, however slight may be its power. You can make it felt for 
centuries, if you choose. As the wheel of time moves steadily on, 
the hand of fate points to the day when you shall cease from earth. 
Death spares none. 

As the last stroke of your clock is sounding what will you look 
back upon with satisfaction? Wealth is a poor legacy to leave to 
those you love if nothing else has been given them. But if you 



216 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



have saved one human soul from the wreck of life's disap- 
pointment; if you have pointed out the pathway to a glorious char- 
acter, even to one aimless being, you have done your share in 
making the world better. How much more creditable must be a 
"Chain" of Influence/' reaching into the future, building charac- 
ter for souls whose existence will commence long after you are laid 
in the ground. 

You are the starting link in each chain that originates at your 
command. Each person who comes into the chain is a new link. 
This chain will go on forever. If but few links are added in your 
lifetime^ it will still exist, for each member of. the chain is under 
obligation to perpetuate it. Unless that obligation is broken 
(which is not likely, owing to the solemn nature of the oath), a 
Chain of Influence would continue as long as the earth stands. 

The value of your influence will be felt in the present day; 
and you will probably live to see the world affected by the united 
strength of so many combined influences. What system can be 
better for checking the evil tendencies of the human race? It fur- 
nishes a standard to live by, which will be the next best thing to a 
religion. In its humble past this "School of Character" has already 
proved a valuable adjunct to religion; for there are many worship- 
pers in the various denominations who, by their own testimony, 
owe this change of heart to the influence of these 1 blessings. And 
at that time the lessons were not in printed form. There are men 
and women who have not connected themselves with any church 
who are living nobler and grander lives because of this system 
of self -training. 

What its future may be is not known, but it cannot fail to be- 
come a factor in the work of reforming humanity. 

As has been stated, an "Ally" is necessary; but a Chain of In- 
fluence is not. The choice is yours. If you desire to establish no 
chain you will be excused from doing so; and the only loss will be 
one per cent, from the grand total. If, however, yon conclude to 
start a chain you will receive a marking of perf ect in this lesson as 
soon as one link is added. For the purpose of this marking the Ally 
Chain does not count. 

It is hoped that yon will establish as many of the various 
chains as you can, for it is in this way that we hope to spread the 
usefulness and influence of the "School of Character." If each 
member will accomplish a little the grand total will become an 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



217 



irresistible tidal wave, sweeping before it the degenerating forces of 
ignorance, sin and weakness. 

The following Chains of Influence are the only ones that can 
be established. This lesson requires that you originate at least one 
in addition to the Ally Chain. For each additional one after that 
a triumph, equal to one per cent, (or one hundred marks), may be 
recorded: 

Chains of Influence. 

Ally Chain. 
Perpetual Chain. 
Controlled Chain. 
Gift Chain. 
Holiday Chain. 
Intellectual Chain. 
Friendly Chain. 
Name Chain. 
Religious Chain. 
Denominational Chain. 

Rules. 

Rule 1. — An Ally Chain shall be composed only of yourself 
as starter, your Ally as second link, your Ally's Ally as third link, 
and so on to the end of time. 

Rule 2. — A Perpetual Chain shall consist of yourself and one 
other. Only one person shall be permitted to enter this chain in 
your lifetime. Owing to the stringency of this rule, and the de- 
sire to perpetuate this chain to the end of all time, it is important 
that you make the selection with the utmost care. The person se- 
lected should be one who will probably outlive you, and he should 
select his successor with the utmost care. If he should not outlive 
you, a new link must be found by you; and this new link will rank, 
not as your successor, but as his. Persons known to be persistent, 
steadfast and changeless should be selected. 

Rule 3. — A Controlled Chain begins with you and dies with 
you, although it may be continued after your death by consent of 
all its members. All other chains are beyond your control after 
one link has been added by you, but in this chain you control all the 
members. Such a union may be turned into a useful and pleasant 
society. The starting link is perpetual President. 



218 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



Rule 4. — A Gift Chain is composed of a series of links, 
whose lesson-book in the "One Hundred Points of Character" has 
been presented to you, and bears your name and date of presenta- 
tion. No person shall belong to this chain unless you make such 
a gift to him (or her), although any subsequent link may choose 
the next number. This chain will afford you an opportunity for 
spreading the influence of this system of self -training. No member 
is allowed to add a successor to the Gift Chain until he has passed 
through the four Workshops. This guarantees good faith on the 
part of all. 

Rule 5. — A Holiday Chain is one established to commem- 
orate some public or religious holiday, or the birthday of yourself 
or other person. If you admit a member to the "School of Char- 
acter" on such a day, the chain thus started is to be named after the 
day or occasion, as "The Christmas Chain," or "My Birthday 
Chain," or "New Year's Chain." 

Rule 6. — An Intellectual Chain is one in which all the mem- 
bers are selected for their literary or scientific attainments. They 
are pledged to be of mutual help to each other in such studies as 
they may be familiar with. 

Rule 7. — A Friendly Chain is composed only of persons, all 
of whom are congenial to each other. 

Rule 8. — A Name Chain is one to which your name is at- 
tached; it is named after you. The first link of such chain is your- 
self; the second link must be procured by your solicitation, after 
which the added links are to be added at the will of any preceding 
member. 

Rule 9. — The same person shall not, under any circum- 
stances, become a following link in more than one chain, but may be 
a starting link in any number. The object of this is to cause an 
increase of membership, so that the influence of these lessons may 
spread rapidly. 

Rule 10. — Each person who adds a member to the chain 
which he has already joined shall be considered a starting link, no 
matter how many may precede him in the same chain, for the per- 
petuation of it depends upon his enterprise. 

Rule 11. — A list shall be kept by you in this book containing 
the names of all the chains you have started, all the chains of which 
you may be a following member, and all the persons who may pre- 
cede or follow you in each and every chain. 



» 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 219 

Rule 12. — A Tree of Influence is a chart or a diagram of a 
tree with your name on the trunk, and the name of your first added 
member in one chain on a branch; the first added member in the 
second chain started by you on another branch, and so on, with 
the second added member of the first chain as branch of the first 
branch, and continuing as long as the influence started by you can 
be traced in its divergencies. 

Rule 13. — A person who is a following link shall report to 
his immediate predecessor only the names of all links that may be 
added to any chain of which he is a member; and shall continue so 
to report until he has been informed of the fact that such infor- 
mation has been reported to the member next preceding such 
predecessor. 

Rule 14. — All members of a chain who change their permar 
nent residences shall report the same to all members of every chain 
of which they form a part. 

Rule 15. — You may start one or more chains as soon as you 
receive the first lesson in this system, or any time thereafter. 

Rule 16. — Any person who starts a Chain of Influence must 
first sign the following pledge in ink: 

Pledge No. 22. 

I solemnly promise to abide by the foregoing rules in starting 
a Chain of Influence, and before I add a member to the Perpetual 
Chain I will exact from such a member a solemn promise to perpet- 
uate said chain. Whenever I shall become an added link of any 
chain started by another, I will abide by the foregoing rules as far 
as they may apply. 



In order to pass one hundred per cent, in this lesson it is 
necessary to start at least one Chain of Influence before making the 
final reckoning. This must not be the Ally chain. A start is made 
as soon as a Record Pupil has been obtained. The link is then at- 
tached, and upon graduation it is welded into the chain. 

In the Perpetual Chain the link must be welded before it can 
be counted. 

No unwelded link shall be detached from the chain, but shall 
remain perpetually upon all the records as such, in the hope that 
such member may succeed in graduating. 



220 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



The Past History 

of these chains proves their value. All humanity loves fellowship, 
and good fellowship is preferred to> any other kind. Only those who 
are utterly debased are able to shut their eyes to the good that can 
be aroused in every worthy life by a system of ethics like the present 
School of Character. For this reason, and because there are count- 
less thousands who are yearning for the very food that these pages 
offer, there is a steadily increasing demand for this course of train- 
ing. It has helped men and women everywhere. It has uplifted 
young men and young women. The most gratifying of all facts is 
the placing of this volume in the hands of the youth by fond and 
hopeful parents. 

As this is now the third edition of the present work, we are in 
a position to intelligently review its past ten years of influence, and 
we would be remiss iu our duty if we did not cite from the reports 
we have received. These quotations are of a generic value. One 
may represent the sentiment of a host of others. The most pleas- 
ing of all the results thus far attained is the saving of so many per- 
sons from evil influences. "We quote from the earnest pupils who 
have gained in character and won better positions in the world. 
"In order to rise rapidly and permanently I find that it is necessary 
to observe every one of the One Hundred Points of Character. Not 
a single one should be slighted, no matter of how little importance 
it may seem." This is the sentiment of every person who has ac- 
tually succeeded in reaching grand results. 

Then we have a series of reports, all concurring in the follow- 
ing facts, or others similar in import. One lady says: "I could 
never give up certain habits until I joined the School of Character. 
I feel strong now against all evils." Another says: "I have three 
sons growing into manhood. They were all slaves to faults that 
gave me much uneasiness. I got the eldest interested in my book on 
Character. He then had his brothers take up the study. They 
all now have fine natures. I never saw young men rise so rapidly 
above their associates and win so much respect and admiration. 
They are leaders now. Since then I have established a Holiday 
Chain, and make it a practice to present one young man every JSTew 
Year's Day with a copy of the book. I cannot readily spare the 
money, but a few pennies saved each day will buy a dozen copies a 
year." A lady writes: "A young man who had been rather wild 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



221 



enlisted for the war. I did not know him very well, but took the 
liberty to present him with a Bible and a copy of the School of 
Character. He kept both books and has brought them back with 
him. He is reformed and has joined the church. He places a 
great value on the influence of the Bible, and says the book of Char- 
acter has been helpful to him, each filling important places in his 
life." 

A man of ambition writes: "I was asked to become an Ally. 
At first I said I would not bother myself about such things. But 
I got interested, then fascinated, then I went right through in 
earnest. I will say positively that this School of Character 
changed me from a sort of weakling to a strong man. I was an em- 
ployed clerk in a business establishment. The firm noticed a 
change in me, and the head called me in and said: 'We were about 
to discharge you at the end of the season. Now you have become 
too valuable to us to-let-you go/ He evidently thought I had been 
warned. I told him no. I lent him my book on Character, and he 
got a copy. I rose rapidly, and am now a partner. If this book 
will do so much for me, it will for others. It is my firm resolve to 
add one member a month to my Chain of Influence, and your rec- 
ords will show that I am in earnest." He kept his word, and is 
still adding to the* chain. He writes again, later on, and says: "I 
have a fine lot of young men taking hold of this study, and they 
are going to make representative citizens." He believes in helping 
to elevate the race. 

Another man says: "If the people who spend millions of dol- 
lars annually in educational and philanthropic work could spend a 
small fraction of the amount in bringing men and women into the 
School of Character, they would add to their own noble ranks and 
decrease the ranks of those whom they seek to help by charity." 
Another says: "The smallest grain of seed sown in spreading the 
influence of the School of Character springs up and multiplies in 
abundance. It is the only influence I know of where no seed 
ever fails." A mother writes: "I would rather have my daugh- 
ters as they now are since graduating from the School of Character 
than to have them as they were before, and millions of wealth 
added. It seems like a miracle when I notice the change that can 
be wrought by one little book." And we have many thousands! of 
reports that show the mastery of bad habits, like slang, gossip and 
others. 



222 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



If a person is not utterly selfish there ought not to be a mo- 
ment's hesitation in the matter of starting one or more Chains of 
Influence. The improvement in those for whom you hold some 
regard, as well as in the struggling youth of our generation, will 
pay you the largest dividend of any philanthropic action possible. 

LESSON NINETY-SEVEN. 

NINETY-SEVENTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 
Fikst Cakdinal Point. 

SELF-CONTROL. 

Unlocking the North Gate of the Citadel of Character. 
End or Road No. 1. 

The key is placed in your hands. The Gate unlocks, but does 
not open until the other three have likewise been unlocked. You 
may then enter the Citadel. Your footing On the Heights having 
been maintained there many days, you have but kittle left to do. 

As the result of the stages on Road No. 1 you should now 
possess the First Cardinal Point of Character — "Self -Control." 

A man who can master himself is fitted for a kingdom. He 
can and should rule others. 

Self -Control is best seen in the quiet moments of retirement. 
Run through the entire list of stages on this road, recite them from 
memory and see how many of them you have mastered. If any are 
lacking, proceed at once to meet the deficiency. Have Self-Controi 
enough to compel yourself to master these. Do not give way to 
irritability or lack of self-effort. 

In the presence of others carry yourself calmly, solidly and at 
all times under control. You will soon have that magnetic pres- 
ence which draws all people to you. A kingly or queenly bearing 
will rest well upon you if you are free from affectation, and have 
perfect self-mastery. This Cardinal Point is intended to apply 
more particularly to the control of your body, and those physical 
tendencies which help to make or mar the career of everyone. Ex- 
citement is generally inexcusable; do not give way to it. It grows 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



223 



on itself and leads to a hysterical condition, which might never 
appear if yon maintain self-control. 

In as far as yon lack this important trait yon will show it to 
those around yon and thns decrease yonr usefulness in life; and if 
you have perfect mastery of yourself that likewise appears and 
impresses others. 

The list of Points of Character which have been given you on 
Eoad No. 1 are now appended. It should be read from the bottom 
of the page upward, as it more fully portrays your progress in that 
way. 

The 25 Stages of Eoad No. 1, leading to the North Gate: 
Self-Control. The First Cardinal Point. 



TTqc^o Tircf "ro.ef nri'f \ 
Xiao I t; ilULj Ic&l 11UL. I 




Will Pmvpr > 

> V 111 X U VV t;l . / 


f) n th n T-I pi cr h f c 

\J lb Lilt iitt£/£tO. 


X tUIl [J Id. llUIl. J 




Gambling. ] 




Profanity. / 


' Down in 


Excesses. / 


the 


XlOW XlulllUI. 


Depths. 


Eevenge. ' 




Excitement. ' 




Adaptation. 




Directness. 1 


' Out in 


Hasty Promises. , 


> the 


Secretiveness. \ 


^ World. 


Influence. 




Attention. / 




Memory. 




Cleanliness. 




Automatics. 




Exercise. 


In 


Health of Nerves. 


S the 


Health of Body. | 


Workshop. 


Irritability. ' 


Eight Eising. 




Self-Effort. 





224 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON NINETY-EIGHT. 
NINETY-EIGHTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

Second Cakdinal Point. . ; 

KINDNESS. 

Unlocking the East Gate of the Citadel of Character. 
End of Road No. 2. 

Kindness will unlock any gate or find its way to any heart. It 
is the key to progress. It implies generosity, for it requires some 
sacrifice at times. It costs an eff ort, but rarely aught else. Many 
persons, whose ancestors were near to the savage arrogance of bar- 
barous age, believe it is humiliating to yield in any sense to an- 
other, and therefore, from principle, they never show a kindness. 
They keep a stiff reserve, a crusty demeanor for all they meet. 
Such people lack one of the Cardinal Points of Character; and being 
one-sided in their growth can never achieve the success in life which 
might otherwise have fallen to them. All great people are kind, 
and often as simple-hearted as children. 

Kindness, like all the Cardinal Points, should begin at home, 
and retain its growth into naturalness by contact with the humbler 
people of life. If reserved for special occasions it shows itself in 
harsh tones, forced facial expressions, and angular motions. As wo 
write, a group of ladies, now engaged in dissecting the private lives 
of their acquaintances, will presently give evidence of their real 
natures. One, who is trying to show great kindness, has a sharp, 
high-pitched voice, and ugly movements. That kindness is forced. 
She says: "Oh, indeed, I have known the whole family for years, 
and they are as nice a people as I ever knew, but there was an awful 
scandal twenty years ago about the son, although he has grown out 
of it and been a good man ever since." Then she goes on in an 
undertone and repeats the whole scandal, in all its horrid details, 
to four strapping females, who drink it in with gleaming eyes. 
They are all from one city, and on their return they will carry four 
separate versions, revised and enlarged, of this "new''' scandal, with 
which to blast the reputation of a good family. Probably the story 
was pure fiction at the start. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 225 



A person who speaks ill of a human being, or who discusses 
.fit all the private life of any one, is lacking in the first elements of 
Kindness. But in its larger scope this trait of character embraces 
all those stages which have preceded it. 

The 25 stages of Eoad No. 2, leading to the East Gate. 

Bead from the bottom upward: 



Kindness. The Second Caedinal Point. 



Politeness. 

Dignity. 

Eefinement. 




Suspicion. 
Slang. 
Sarcasm. 
Practical Jokes. 
Stratagem. 



Down in the 



Depths. 



Charity. 

Etiquette. 

Generosity. 

Anonymous Attacks. 

Comparison. 

Sociability. 

Ease. 



Out 



in the 



World. 



Conscience. 
Nobility. 




Biography. 
Literature. 
Home. 



In 



the 



Work- 
Shop. 



Flowers and Music. 



Kind Voice. 
Nature. 



Absorption. 



226 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON NINETY-NINE. 
NINETY-NINTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

Thikd Cakdinal Point. 

EARNESTNESS. 

Unlocking the South Gate of the Citadel of Character. 
End or Eoad No. 3. 

A young man, on asking a celebrated banker what one requisite 
of character would accomplish the highest success in life, received 
the reply: 

"Be in earnest." 

The same answer has been given ofttimes by noted men. The 
first trait is evolved from the stages which precede it along Eoad 
No. 3. 

Be in earnest with yourself. Do not allow that detracting in- 
fluence^ — laziness — to gain possession of you. Plodding activity 
amid the details of life, the earnest purpose attaching to the small - 
nesses of a great plan, achieve the greatest ends. To slight them, 
or to grow careless as to small things, is the surest way of destroy- 
ing earnestness. Have some well-defined purpose in all you do. 
When you speak do so with some end in view. See the end of the 
sentence ere you begin it, and make the saying of it worth some- 
thing. 

In all games of amusement play in earnest; so that in the 
more serious game of life the habit will cling to you. A good 
way to learn to read earnestly is to stop at the end of each page 
and mentally repeat the chief fact acquired and such minor ones as 
can be quickly recalled. This habit quickly develops a full reader 
and a retainer of all that is read. It also strengthens the memory. 

Be in earnest in all things, great and small, at play or at work, 
with children or with elders, with yourself and with all mankind. 
It builds character and gains a more enviable reputation. Serious- 
ness is opposed to empty nonsense; Earnestness pushes forward to a 
well-defined end and tries with all its might to reach it. Do not 
confound this Point of Character with others. If you have Ambi- 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



227 



tion, and are in earnest, yon will achieve snccess. A man or woman 
thoroughly in earnest is a resistless power. Whc ever knew such 
to fail? Whatever yon make np your mind to accomplish you will 
accomplish. All success is a question only of Earnestness and pa- 
tience. Above all things, be in earnest. 

The 25 Stages of Road Xo. 3, leading to the South Gate. 

Read from the bottom upward. 

Eaexestxess. The Thied Caedixal Poixt. 

Progress. 1 

Discontinue Some Vice. On the Heights. 

Independence. J 



Flirting. » T . 

\ Down 
Flattery. ) 

Threatening. \ in the 

Flippancy. V 

Fads ' Depths 



Out 



Justice. 
Thoroughness. 
Movements, 

Promptness in the 

Details. 

Sincerity. World. 
Ally. 



Code of Morals. 

Completion. 

Execution. 

Simplicity. 

Honesty. 

Sympathy. 

Retirement. 

Decision. 

Seriousness. 



In 
the 
"Workshop. 



228 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



LESSON ONE HUNDEED. 



ONE HUNDREDTH POINT OF CHARACTER. 

Fottkth Cardinal Point. 

OPTIMISM. 

Unlocking the West Gate of the Citadel of Character. 
End of Eoad No. 4. 
This is the last of the One Hundred Points of Character. The 
fourth key has been placed in your hands, and with it the last Gate 
is unlocked. On the Keystone of the arch, over each Gate within, 
is seen the Cardinal Point of Character that terminates the Eoad 
leading thither. 

The Four Cardinal Points of Character. 

NOKTH GATE. 

"Self -Control" 



o 



THE 

WHITE CITADEL 
OF 

CHARACTER. 



SOUTH GATE. 

"Earnestness" 

"Optimism" is the habit of looking upon the bright side of 
life. It leads to happiness, for it sees the other side of every cloud, 
and beholds the end of disappointment and failure. 

It infuses hope into every enterprise and lends a zest to the 
working out of its fulfillment. All optimists are cheerful, and 
therefore attractable. Cheerfulness makes good health, while de- 
spondency diminishes the activity of the respiratory organs, thereby 
producing ill health. 

An optimist is glad to see everybody, and everybody is glad to 
see him. His usefulness is enhanced by the fact that he finds easy 
access to all people. 

Success comes often to him, for he stops not in the vale of 
discouragement, but keeps on to ultimate victory — a thing that 
accounts for the result of many a battle. 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



229 



Optimism is one of the grandest traits of character, and should 
he taught to the young, that they may grow up to better and nobler 
lives. Then, when ill conies, or the bright anticipations of new 
enterprises are dimmed by failure, they will regard it merely as a 
stepping-stone to a more solid success. 

Troubles are light to the optimist, and uncrossed bridges never 
cause him anxiety; but the pessimist lives in his fears and is con- 
stantly thinking of crossing bridges that are never reached. 

The 25 stages of Road No. 4, leading to the West Gate. 

Read from the bottom upward. 

Optimism. — The Fourth Cardinal Point. 

Chain of Influence. 
Elevated Taste. 
Love. 

Insinuation. 
Self-Harm. 
Obstinacy. 
Sulkiness. 
Envy. 

Choice Company. 
Inspire Nobility in Children. 
Inspire Ambition in Others. 
Credulity. 
Criticism. 
Gossip. 

Turning Gossipy Subjects. 

Newspapers. 
Sabbath. 
Respect. 

Thought-Control. 
Superstition. 
Tact. 

Examine Discouragement. 
Conquer Failure. 
Ambition. 



On the Heights. 

Down 
in the 
Depths. 



Out 
in the 
World. 



In 

the 
Workshop. 



230 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



The four Gates are now unlocked, but will not open. You 
must sign one more pledge, and pass an examination. 

The following should be signed in ink and dated: 

Pledge No. 23. 

THE GOLDEN PROMISE. 

I solemnly obligate myself from this day ever after, as long as I 
live, to adopt as a part of my life the Four Cardinal Points of Char- 
acter: "Self -Control" "Kindness" "Earnestness" and "Optimism" 
and to commit to memory the One Hundred stages in the order in 
which I have made them, and to repeat them as often as once a 
month. 





The 100 Stages in the order in which they were made: 


1. 


Self-Effort. 


19. 


Honesty. 


2. 


Absorption. 


20. 


Superstition. 


3. 


Seriousness. 


21. 


Exercise. 


4. 


Ambition. 


22. 


Literature. 


5. 


Eight Eising. 


23. 


Simplicity. 


6. 


Nature. 


24. 


Thought-Control. 


7. 


Decision. 


25. 


Automatics. 


8. 


Conquer Failure. 


26. 


Biography. 


9. 


Irritability. 


27. 


Execution. 


10. 


Kind Voice. 


28. 


Eespeet. 


11. 


Eetirement. 


29. 


Cleanliness. 


12. 


Examine Discourage- 


30. 


Nobility. 




ment, 


31. 


Completion. 


13. 


Health of Body. 


32. 


Sabbath. 


14. 


Flowers and Music. 


33. 


Memory. 


15. 


Sympathy. 


34. 


Conscience. 


16. 


Tact. 


35. 


Code. 


17. 


Nerve Health. 


36. 


Newspapers. 


18. 


Home. 







ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



231 



37. Attention. 

38. Ease. 

39. Ally. 

40. Turning Gossipy Subjects. 

41. Influence. 

42. Sociability. 

43. Sincerity. 

44. Gossip. 

45. Secretiveness. 

46. Comparison. 

47. Details. 

48. Criticism. 

49. Hasty Promises. 

50. Anonymous Attacks. 



51. Promptness. 

52. Credulity. 

53. Directness. 

54. Generosity. 

55. Moments. 

5 6 . Inspire Ambition in Others. 

57. Adaptation. 

58. Etiquette. 

59. Thoroughness. 

60. Inspire Nobility in Children. 

61. Excitement. 

62. Charity. 

63. /tttfife. 

64. Choice Companions. 



75. Threatening. 

76. Obstinacy. 

77. Profanity. 

78. Slang. 

79. Flattery. 

80. Self Harm. 

81. Gambling. 

82. Suspicion. 

83. Flirting. 

84. Insinuation. 



65. Revenge. 

66. Stratagem. 

67. Fads. 

68. Envy. 

69. Low Humor. 

70. Practical Joking. 

71. Flippancy. 

72. Sulkiness. 

73. Excesses. 

74. Sarcasm. 

85. TEMPTATION. 

86. REFINEMENT. 

87. INDEPENDENCE. 

88. LOVE. 

89. WILL POWER. 

90. DIGNITY. 

91. DISCONTINUE SOME 

VICE. 



92. ELEVATED TASTE. 

93. HASTE NOT, REST 

NOT. 

94. POLITENESS. 

95. PROGRESS. 

96. CHAIN OF INFLUENC1 



97. SELF-CONTROL. 

98. KINDNESS. 



99. EARNESTNESS. 

100. OPTIMiSM. 



232 TEE NEW EDUCATION 

EXAMINATIONS. 



While waiting to enter the Citadel. 

If yon have followed the stages faithfully the examinations- 
will be much easier than you imagine. 

Percentages of Graduation. 

Seventy-five per cent, admits you to the Waiting-room of the- 
Citadel; and you are regarded as a graduate. You also have per- 
mission to review the course in the hope of reaching 100 per cent. 

Ninety per cent, admits you to full possession of the Citadel,, 
excepting the "Throne Room." You are also entitled to a "Cer- 
tificate of Rank." This will be issued by your Ally. 

Ninety-five per cent, admits you to the "Throne Room/* 
You are also entitled to a written Diploma from your Ally. 

One hundred per cent, places you upon the Throne; and your 
Diploma contains the degree of the "Rank of Perfection" beauti- 
fully engrossed thereon; being the highest honor attainable. 

Upon making your final reckoning you will proceed to esti- 
mate your percentage. Each Point of Character represents one 
per cent, if you are perfect in it. 

One per cent, is equal to 100 marks. 

One hundred per cent, would represent 10,000 marks. 

At the end of each of the 100 Lessons will be found Require- 
ments, Losses, Standing, Slips, or some directions in place thereof. 

Before proceeding to the Table of Percentages it is well to- 
understand the general demand of each Point of Character. 

Those marked thus * must be observed for 200 days, of which 
100 must be consecutive and a daily record kept. 

Those printed in Italics are to be reckoned upon an estimate- 
formed by the good judgment of yourself and Ally. 

A Daily Account is necessary for those from 65 to 84. 

Those having no mark do not require a daily record, except 
in case of loss, when a loss of the number of marks indicated in 
the following tables must be recorded: 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 233 

The figures in the table of Losses indicate the record to be made 
for each failure. Thus: 1 means a loss of 1 mark. 







Cost of 
Losses. 


Percent- 






Cost op 
Losses 


I. 


Self-Effort* 


I 


age. 


26. 


Biography . 


o 


2. 


Absorption * 


I 




27. 


Execution. 


I 


3- 


Seriousness. 


I 




28. 


Respect. 


o 


4- 


Ambition. 


O 




29. 


Cleanliness . 


o 


5« 


Right Rising * 


I 




3°- 


Nobility. 


o 


6. 


Nature. 


O 




3i- 


Completion. 


5 


7- 


Decision. 


I 




32. 


Sabbath. 


2 


8. 


Conn 11 pt"T< a 1 In re 


T 
1 




65- 


1>± C //£(// } . 


Q 


9- 


±1 1 1 id unity . 


I 






V^UIloClCllCc . 


I 


i n 

1 w . 


f\T)7n l/ni/~P 
l'/LU> V V LLC . 







35- 


Pride 


t no 


1 1 . 


Retirement ^ 


J 






TsTew^na ner^ 

-1. 1 \ V w_7 VJ CX U^.1 J . 


I 


1 2 . 


T^xamine l~)i«;- ) 






in 


A ffen tinn 


o 




couragement. J 


5 




oQ 

o°- 


Ease ' . 


o 


13- 
14. 

15. 


Health of Body. 
Flowers & Music. 
Sympathy. 


1 






39- 
40. 


Ally. 

1. Ullllllg V^UIl- 1 

versation. ) 


I O COO 

2 


16. 


Tact. 







41. 


Influence. 


I 


17. 


Nerve Health. 







42. 


Sociability. 


o 


18. 


Home. 


5 




43- 


Sincerity. 


I 


19. 


Honesty. 


1 




44. 


Gossip * 


3 


20. 


Superstition. 


1 




45- 


Secretiveness . 


o 


21. 


Exercise. 


1 




46. 


Comparison . 


o 


22. 


Literature. 







47- 


Details. 


o 


23. 


Simplicity. 







48. 


Criticism . 


o 


24. Thought-Control 


1 




49. 


Hasty Promises 


I 


25- 


Auto??iatics. 







50. 


Anonymous ) 
Attacks. \ 


IOO 



234 



THE NEW EDUCATION 



The figures in the table of Losses indicate the record to be made 
for each failure. Thus: 1 means a loss of 1 mark. 





Losses. 








Losses. 


Percent 

AGS. 


51. Promptness. 


2 


AGE. 


76. Obstinacy, A St. 






52. Credulity. 


O 




77- 


Profanity, " 






53. Directness. 


2 




78. 


Slang, 






54. Generosity . 


O 




79- 


Flattery, 






55. Moments. 


O 




80. 


Self- Harm, " 






56. Inspire Ambition. 


O 




81. 


Gambling, ' ' 






57. Adaptation. 


O 




82. 


Suspicion, 11 






58. Etiquette. 


I 




83. Flirting, " 






59. Thoroughness. 


O 




84. 


Insinuation," 






60. Inspire Nobility. 


O 




85. Temptation. 


I 




61. Excitement. 


O 




86. 


Refinement. 


I 




62. Charity. 


O 




87. 


Independence. 


I 




63. Justice. 


O 




88. 


Love. 


O 




64. Choice Company. 


O 




89. 


Will Power. 


O 




65. Revenge, A £2; t . 

66. Stratagem, " 






90. 
9i. 


Dignity. 

Discontinue ) 
Some Vice, j 


O 
I 




67. Fads, 






92. 


Elevated Taste. 


O 




68. Envy, 






93- 


Haste not, ) 
Rest not. 1 


I 




69. IyOw Humor," 






94. 


Politeness. 


I 




70. Prac. Joking " 






95- 


Progress. 


I 




71. Flippancy, " 

72. Sulkiness, " 

73. Excesses, " 






96. 

97- 
98. 


Chain of ) 
Influence, j 

Self Control. 

Kindness. 


IOO 

O 
O 




74. Sarcasm, 






99. 


Earnestness . 


O 




75. Threatening," 






100. Optimism. 


O 





Total, 



ONE HUNDRED POINTS OF CHARACTER 



235 



At the final reckoning put your percentage in the right-hand 
column. 

Read the Requirements and Losses at the end of each lesson; 
also the Triumphs. When the final reckoning is made, deduct the 
total losses in each Point of Character from 100 per cent,, and 
write down the remainder in the right-hand column. Add these 
all together at the end, divide by 100, and you will know your exact 
percentage. 

Your Ally will be of great help to you at the time of making 
the final reckoning. 

The marks attained in the Triumphs should be added to your 
percentage. 

Closing Remarks. 

This course of training, if properly managed, need not take 
any of y6ur time. The day is like a barrel full of apples; after 
the large ones are in there is plenty of room in the spaces between 
them for other things of lesser size. All persons have odd minutes 
in every day. Some do not know it. 

Many a student of these lessons has written of the delights ex- 
perienced in their unfolding and developing processes. Many a 
one has expressed regrets at having to close the book after the last 
percentage has been estimated. As Charles Dickens was "home- 
sick and lonely for his characters" when the novel was done, so the 
student of any system of training that he has learned to love will 
find an aching void in saying good-bye to the hallowed associations. 

Diploma. 

Your Ally should grant you a Certificate of Graduation pre- 
pared and signed by him. The size, design and wording may be 
left to your judgment and his; but we would suggest a beautiful 
pen drawing which can be made by any skilled penman of your 
community at very trifling expense. This can be framed and 
hung in your room, or else may be attached to this volume. 

A genuine Diploma, of the most costly steel engraving, is 
issued by Ralston University of Washington, D. C, to graduates of 
the Ralston Natural College, which is a home course of training, 
comprising the best things for every man and woman and ever}' 
young man and young woman. We believe Ralston Natural Col- 



236 



TEE NEW EDUCATION 



lege to- be better than any other course of education, training, 
learning or means of developing the whole man and the whole 
woman for the battle of life. It is unparalleled in its effectiveness, 
thoroughness and rapidity of progress. 

The entire School of Character, broad and great as is its scope, 
is but a very small part of Ralston Natural College. 



SCHOOL OP CHARACTER. 





^55^ END ( ^^ = % 



or 




THE LAW OP LEADERSHIP. 



That peculiar force in the personality of an individual which 
commands the immediate respect of others is an indefinable term. 
It is useless to call it character and there let the matter drop. 
Here is an example, and we use it because it is divested of all 
counter-influences. A man wishing to build up an estate in a lo- 
cality where every person was a stranger to him advertised for 
twenty laborers. It was his intention to appoint one as overseer 
to look after improvements. Nearly two hundred applicants ap- 
peared. He selected those who were to his mind a combination of 
the best intelligence and strength. He put forty to work for a 
few days, at the end of which time he eliminated twenty. 

Having done this he sought one to act as overseer, but re- 
solved to choose the man who would be most likely to suit him 
and thus avoid unnecessary changing. From an unsuspected 
point of observation he watched the men a half hour daily. There 
were three who did more work than the others, and they were 
valuable; but it was brute force moving automatically. Others 
may have been more honest but were slower and less valuable, 
although equal to the average. There were five who possessed a 
higher order of intelligence than the others. From these he se- 
lected the man who held the respect of the other four, and made 
him his overseer. Then he asked himself, why this one man was 
his choice. It was not because of freedom from faults, for he was 
not much the superior of an .ordinary laborer; he was the best 
leader of the group, and that was all. It was necessary to select 
one who possessed some leading qualities, or else the others would 
never have been controlled. Every group of individuals working 
together must have a leader or their labor will be much in vain. 
A leader is one who naturally commands a following. To select 
one without such quality would mean failure, as when a man 
placed his nephew in charge of a number of men who did not re- 
spect him. 

The same principle is seen in settlements, parties, associa- 
tions, or other groups of individuals. One person comes to the 

237 



238 



THE NE W ED UCA Tl ON 



front. Two or more may be qualified, in which case a conflict of 
leaders will ensue. Ability alone is not sufficient. Character 
causes its subject to acquire greater ability. The latter quality 
may be accompanied by good or bad features, by arrogance, selfish- 
ness, dishonesty or disagreeable methods, so that the able man re- 
pels; and this is too often true. He lacks very many of the ele- 
ments of character, and therefore cannot become a leader except 
by sheer force. But if he possesses ability and cultivates char- 
acter, he will become a natural leader; or if he lacks ability and 
cultivates character he will soon possess the former and become a 
leader. In other words, character imparts personal power, or it 
would not be character. 

But then comes the fact that personal power does not ensure 
leadership of itself, unless it is accompanied by character. Thus 
we see that one of the results of character may exist indepen- 
dently of its parent; a seeming contradiction that is explained 
when we say that ability or personal power is brought into exist- 
ence by the vitality of character, although it more often appears 
as the result of other agencies. There is such a thing as ability 
without character, but there is no such thing as character without 
ability. The latter has so many stamps, so many varieties, that 
the question may be asked, what is real ability? 

So much information has been obtained by years of observa- 
tion that we present the well-known results of this study in a few 
plain statements. We draw instances almost at random, for there 
are numberless accounts that prove the same principle. The re- 
ports here embodied are from young men and men of matured 
years. Ladies have been successful in obtaining leadership, but 
their opportunities have been much more limited than those of 
the other sex. 

A man, who styled himself as mean and disliked, ascertained 
the opinions in which he was held by others, and they were dis- 
creditable, although he was getting along well with his own affairs. 
He cast about for some course of study, and tried the first things 
that occurred to him. All at once he realized that he possessed 
some ability and no character strength. He wrote to us for ad- 
vice, took up this study, developed what he most needed, and was 
able to win the richest measure of respect from the very public 
that had pessimized him. This was a triumph. He asked the 
question whether the man "who had been without honor in his 



THE LAW OF LEADERSHIP 



239 



own country" could more easily win leadership elsewhere; but he 
rapidly secured the prize, and replied to his own inquiry by say- 
ing, "I could not have progressed more rapidly with strangers, 
and I have the satisfaction of conquering those who disregarded 
me." He had forced a repeal of the old adage. 

A young man wished to be president of a very influential liter- 
ary society, of which he had been a member for several years. He 
qualified himself, but he lacked the courage to ask votes. "I will 
never do that," he wrote us, in making application for this course 
of lessons on character; "I wish to acquire qualities that will at- 
tract attention." Two years later he wrote, "I am now president 
of the society, and I never asked for a vote. I know certainly and 
surely that the study of character did this for me. I have no 
doubt of it." 

A young man, whose case is similar to that of thousands who 
have been h'elped by this training, wrote that he wished to be- 
come a political leader. He asked for the two works on magnet- 
ism, what are now the books known as the "Cultivation of Per- 
sonal Magnetism," and "Universal Magnetism." In response to 
his earnest letters and statement that he would gladly pay hun- 
dreds, if not thousands of dollars, for the results if they could be 
attained, we assured him that the two courses of training in 
magnetism and that of character would give him everything he 
wished, and this we then guaranteed, as we do now. He accepted 
our advice. Thousands have done the same. Not one case of 
failure has occurred. 



THE NEXT STEP 

(N THE MAKING OF A GREAT PERSONALITY IS 



RALSTON ETIQUETTE 

AND THE 



EINSL STEP IS 



YOUR TEMPERAMENT 

BEHIND 

CLOSED DOORS 



7 <3> 





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