opic of influencing and improving our
mental powers by easily induced Attention, or attention guided by
simple Foresight, and pre-resolution aided by simple _auto_ or
self-suggestion. And I believe, with reason, that by these very simple
processes (which have not hitherto been tested that I am aware of by
any writer in the light in which I view them); the Will, which is the
power of all powers and the mainspring of the mind, can be by means of
persuasion increased or strengthened _ad infinitum_.

It is evident that GASSNER'S method partakes in equal proportions
of the principles of the well-known "Faith Cure," and that of the
Will, or of the passive and the active. What is wanting in it is
self-knowledge and the very easily awakened _forethought_ which, when
continued, leads to far greater and much more certain results.
Forethought costs little exertion: it is so calmly active that the
weakest minds can employ it; but wisely employed it can set tremendous
force in action.

As regards GASSNER, it is admissible that many more cures of disease
can be effected by what some vaguely call the Imagination, and others
Mental Action, than is generally supposed. Science now proves every
year, more and more, that diseases are allied, and that they can be
reached through the nervous system. In the celebrated correspondence
between KANT and HUFELAND there is almost a proof that incipient gout
can be cured by will or determination. But if a merely temporary or
partial cure can _really_ be obtained, or a cessation from suffering,
if the ill be really _curable_ at all, it is but reasonable to assume
that by continuing the remedy or system, the relief will or must
correspond to the degree of "faith" in the patient. And this would
infallibly be the case if the sufferer _had_ the will. But
unfortunately the very people who are most frequently relieved are
those of the impulsive imaginative kind, who "soon take hold and soon
let go," or who are merely attracted by a sense of wonder which soon
loses its charm, and so they react.

Therefore if we cannot only awaken the Will, but also keep it alive,
it is very possible that we may not only effect great and thorough
cures of diseases, but also induce whatever state of mind we please.
This may be effected by the action of the minds or wills of others on
our own, which influence can be gradually transferred from the
operator to the patient himself, as when in teaching a boy to swim the
master