Part 4 (1/2)
When he uses the strongest faculties of his nature the result is constant gratification. The use of weaker elements is always at the expense of extra effort and pain. The muscular woodsman enjoys the exercise of chopping, and swings his glittering axe with dexterity and pride. Put a college professor at the same task, and he would be clumsy and suffer fatigue and mortification as well, if he escaped without injury to his s.h.i.+ns. But in his school-room the professor would display dignity, enjoyment and skill in expounding some intricate problem to admiring pupils. The skillful musician becomes identified with his instrument, and thrills with the melody evoked by his own fingers. The trained accountant becomes wonderfully gifted in mathematical computation, and enjoys his work in like manner. The accountant might find the work of the musician an impossibility, and what little he did accomplish, a vexation; while the confinement of the counting-room, with its prosaic duties, would be the worst form of slavery for the musician, his work inferior, his capacity limited, his situation intolerable but for the meagre salary it might afford.
A bank president called on me with his son, requesting an examination for the latter. As he came in, I saw that he was in a bad humor. Said he, ”This boy is a fool. If you can find any talent in him you will succeed better than I have. My desire is, that he should occupy a position in my bank and ultimately become cas.h.i.+er. Our present cas.h.i.+er is a first-cla.s.s business man and can add up four columns of figures at once, and I have sent this boy to several business colleges with the request that he be taught the same accomplishment. I have spent seven hundred and fifty dollars on this boy's mathematics, and he can't add up one column of figures with any certainty of being correct. If there is any sense in him, I would like to have you find it.”
I examined the boy carefully, and I did not find an idiot. I said, ”Sir, you are doing this boy an injustice. He has but little mathematical sense, it is true, and he will never be able to add more than one column of figures with speed and correctness. Nature intended him for something different from a bank cas.h.i.+er. Give this boy a good violin, place him under competent instructors, spend seventy-five dollars on his musical education and he will display such magnificent talent that you will be willing to continue.”
The old gentleman arose in wrath, and stamped out of the room, and said he didn't want any fiddlers in his family. The next day, however, he came back and apologized. Said he, ”I suppose it is better for the boy to be a good violinist than a poor accountant; at all events, I've failed so far, and I'll try your advice to the extent of seventy-five dollars; if he displays talents as a musician, he shall have the best instruction money can obtain.”
He kept his word, and placed the boy in a musical conservatory under first-cla.s.s instructors, and before the seventy-five dollars was expended, the boy was the pride of the inst.i.tution. He led his cla.s.ses; graduated with first honors; is to-day the leader of a first-cla.s.s orchestra and a professor in a leading conservatory; commands better compensation than any accountant in the city, and has an _entree_ into the best society at all times by reason of his accomplishments. He stands to-day a king among his fellows because he is using his strongest faculties. But the best of it lies in the fact that he enjoys his profession; his position is one of dignity and pleasure. Whether he stands before audiences at the head of his orchestra, in the drawing rooms of _elite_ society, or in the solitude of his study, his brain vibrates with the harmony of his own grand usefulness.
I have a friend who holds the position of first book-keeper in a leading bank, and he is master of the situation because he is able to add four columns of figures at once with absolute accuracy. He commands a first-cla.s.s salary for first-cla.s.s work, and it is pleasurable to watch the pride, the dignity, and the evident enjoyment with which he performs the duties of his station. On one occasion I went into the bank to settle an account of long standing, and at the request of the cas.h.i.+er, my friend, the book-keeper, made out the account and added it up in his usual quick way. The cas.h.i.+er, being desirous of preventing any possible mistake, said, ”Mr. B----, will you please add that up again and see that your figures are correct.” The book-keeper was insulted. The idea that he might make a mistake was not to be tolerated. With an expression of lofty dignity that I shall never forget, he handed back the account without looking at it, saying, ”The account is correct, sir.” And as the cas.h.i.+er laboriously added it one column at a time he found that it was.
The book-keeper was master of the situation, and he was able to humiliate anybody who dared to question his work. And as I saw his satisfaction in the discomfiture of the cas.h.i.+er, I said to myself, Verily the enjoyment of a man's business is a legitimate part of the profits.
The enjoyment of my own business is a large share of the profits. I enjoy lecturing, and I enjoy examinations, because I know when I examine a head that I know more about it than the man who wears it, and that what I am about to say will do him more good than anything he ever heard in his life if he will heed it. And when some young man comes up to me in Texas, and shakes hands and thanks me for something he heard me say in a lecture in California, and another shows me his prosperity in Colorado, and draws out a chart I made for him in Missouri, telling him to enter that business, I enjoy it. And when I examine some diffident young lady and encourage her to learn accomplishments and show her the occupation she should follow, and years later I find her succeeding in all of them and developed into a grand self-sustaining woman, a mighty power for good in her neighborhood, I enjoy that. And when I give my professional sanction to the marriage of some brave young man and beautiful young woman, and later I find them surrounded by superb offspring, a good home and every indication of prosperity, and I see that the beauty of the wife has not faded, and that the husband is stronger and braver and more tender than he was, I enjoy that.
Commercial reports show that only a fraction over two per cent. of business enterprises are successful. The rest are failures because they are managed by men who do not possess the kind of sense required.
The question presents itself to every young man and woman at this moment: Will you be a success, or will you join the long, dismal procession of failures? If you really desire to succeed, you should first find out the true measure of your abilities. My delineation of your character is the surest guide, because it is the estimate placed upon your capacity, your quality, your temperament, your special development of sense, by an impartial friend, a skillful critic, guided by the light of science and a conscientious regard for your welfare.
In coming to me for examinations, come prepared to know the truth. I am not here to flatter you, nor am I here to ridicule or abuse your weaknesses. I have for many years enjoyed a magnificent practice, gained by strict candor and honesty with my patrons, who have long since learned that I spare no pains to know the facts, and knowing them I fear no consequences in relating them as they are.
I will tell you every element of your character as nature and circ.u.mstances have combined to develop them. I will not flatter you, but I promise you that I will find more good in you than you have ever found in your own organization, and I will tell you how to turn that good to the best practical account. I will describe your business qualities, and a.n.a.lyze them, showing you how to improve and correct them; and if you are in the proper business already, this knowledge will enable you to develop more perfect usefulness and strengthen your confidence for the future. If you are not in the right profession, trade or occupation, the sooner you find it the better, and make use of your opportunities. I will tell you the very best you can do, and prove it to you by reasons _seriatim_, and convince you that it will be as natural for you to succeed in that business as it is for a cork to swim, and for the same reason, because the law of nature commands that it should be so. Brain is money, character is capital, knowledge of your resources is the secret of success.
I wish to say a word to the ladies at this point. In this lecture I have used the term ”man” in its generic sense, as the old preacher did when he announced that his congregation numbered two hundred and fifty brethren, and then qualified it by remarking that the brethren ”embraced” the sisters. Phrenology discloses the fact that women have as many varieties of temperament, quality, capacity and size and special development of brain organs, as men. Every woman as well as every man is endowed with a certain line of talents, and when she enters her proper vocation she succeeds at it, no matter what it may be. Women have succeeded wherever men have, as rulers, as leaders of armies, as physicians, lawyers, in the world of commerce, in the shop, the factory, and on the farm. There is a great deal of bosh written and spoken about ”woman's sphere.” The proper sphere of every individual man or woman is in that line of work for which nature intended them, and for which they are endowed with the proper development of brain and brawn. And, ladies, when you come to me for examinations I shall be just and honest enough to tell you where you belong; and if I can find you something which will take you out of compet.i.tion with the Negroes and Chinamen I shall certainly do so.
To parents, also, I wish to say that this is the opportunity you must not neglect. You have no right to bring children into the world unless you are willing to promote their welfare and give them the best opportunities to enjoy whatever nature has endowed them with, in the nature of talent. Do not allow the trifling cost of an examination to stand in the way of obtaining this priceless knowledge, which will enable you to direct their growing minds into the channels which promise so much of usefulness, so much of health, happiness and financial prosperity.
Some parents have an idea that children are too young to be examined, and they make this excuse at every age, from one month to twenty years.
They seem to doubt our ability to impart valuable information about a child until the character is ”developed.” They lose sight of the true object of an examination, which is to determine _in what direction the child shall be developed_. The parent is often the architect of the child's fortunes, but what would we think of an architect who waited until the building was completed before he planned it? When the character is ”developed,” according to the idea of these people, the greatest advantage of an examination has been lost. We can tell the youth of twenty-one, or the business man of forty, what his talents are, and how they may best be employed, and how they may also be improved to the extent of that limited development which can be made after maturity by persistent effort; but in the case of the young and growing child the information given in time, is a thousand fold more valuable, because it is in that formative, plastic condition where it is like the clay of the potter in the hands of the skillful parent or teacher. And when parents ask me how young a child may receive the benefits of an examination, I answer as soon as you are able to bring them to me, the younger the better; and when you reflect upon the fact that more than half the children die in infancy, the value of competent phrenological advice may be appreciated. In thousands of cases I have warned parents of predispositions to disease in their little darlings, and enabled them to avoid the conditions which, in the absence of my advice, would have certainly destroyed the health and life of the little ones. Moreover, at an early age a defect may be easily overcome, which at a later period would ripen into a permanent deformity, such as defects of vision, color blindness, defects of speech, stammering, stuttering, lisping, defects of walk, and every other defect caused by a deficient development of brain organs.
To know with scientific accuracy the special talents of an individual in early youth, is to make his fortune. Without this knowledge much valuable time is lost by parent, teacher and pupil in useless experiments. With the knowledge which Phrenology imparts, intelligently acted upon, the development of a strong mind, sound body, brilliant accomplishments, splendid talents and successful business, is an a.s.sured fact, and the youth enters upon his early manhood fully equipped with everything which will enable him to accomplish a vast volume of good work, achieve financial success, and enjoy that happiness which can only come to the successful man.
Our rooms are open from 10 o'clock A. M. until 6 P. M. The reception room opens at 9, for the accommodation of those who wish to come early and be first served. Take your seat in the reception room, and I will reach you as rapidly as I can. I never hurry my work at the expense of thoroughness, and when I have a subject under my hands I tell him everything which will do him good, no matter how many others may be waiting. When it comes your turn you may expect the same courtesy. But I never waste time, and if you desire to ask any questions please have them written down, and I will answer them promptly and correctly. While you are in the reception room you will be elegantly entertained, and when I reach your case you may expect the best results which scientific knowledge, careful examination, lucid explanation, and a fraternal interest in your welfare can give.
To-morrow night I lecture on the soul-absorbing topic of Matrimony, at the conclusion of which lecture I shall examine several young ladies and select husbands for them from the audience.
Matrimony
[Ill.u.s.tration]
_LADIES AND GENTLEMEN_:--
As I stand committed, before the public, as the originator of a system of Matrimonial Selection and Creative Science, you have a right to demand of me that I shall present to you to-night a statement of something practical that will stand the test of your criticism. And I desire to say, in the outset, that in this lecture I shall endeavor to lift my subject above the plane in which it is ordinarily treated. I don't believe I ever announced a lecture on Matrimony, that I did not detect the ripple of a smile on the face of my audience, as if they regarded the whole subject as a huge practical joke, something wonderfully funny, on no account to be considered seriously.
Marriage is in fact a serious and a scientific problem, the solution of which may well engage the attention of the most profound intellects, and may well engage yours, because in its proper solution is embodied the advancement of society, the happiness of its members--nay, more, the salvation of the race itself; and yet it is, of all questions, most neglected. Young ladies and gentlemen reach maturity and marry without the first rudiments of knowledge in regard to the importance of the relation; in most cases in absolute ignorance of all the great physiological facts pertaining to conjugal selection and improvement of offspring, with little or no knowledge of the characters of either themselves or their consorts. The result is, what might be expected, a fruitful harvest of misery, crime, pauperism, disease, and death.
Occasionally circ.u.mstances produce a happy combination, and the result is a reasonably correct union in spite of ignorance; but such cases are so rare that they are like oases in the desert, and the subject of universal admiration and comment when they occur. The most casual observer notes, that unhappiness is the rule in the married state, and conjugal felicity the exception. A recent discussion of the question, ”Is Marriage a Failure?” has brought out so many exhibitions of domestic misery that society is startled into a serious consideration of the question at last.
It is my purpose to show, in this lecture, that there is a sensible solution of this great problem. That whenever we bring to bear upon this question the same amount of scientific thought and reasoning common sense, that we display in all things pertaining to financial values, the results would be fully as satisfactory. I plead for Investigation; I ask for Knowledge; I beg for Candid Thought and Scientific Experimentation.