Part 20

“You are making good money in the machine shop are you not?”

“Yes.”

“What do you do with your money?”

“Well, I have to pay my board, and after I do that and pay the saloon keeper, I ain’t got anything left.”

“So that is the reason that keeps you from attending the party?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you get paid next Saturday night, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“If you had a new suit you would go?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you go and get a suit?”

“Why, I haven’t money enough.”

“Won’t the merchant trust you?”

“No; the only man that trusts me is the saloon man, and he won’t trust me for much.”

“Now, Bill,” the minister said, “if you would like to go, I will fix it so that you can get a suit.”

“How?”

“If you will promise me you will pay so much every week until the suit is paid for, I will go on your bond down here at the clothing store.”

“Will you?” says Bill.

“Yes,” replied the preacher.

And the preacher took him over to a member of his congregation who owned a clothing store, and said to the merchant, “I will go good for a suit for Bill.” Bill went home to supper, forgetting to take a drink, and was pleased to think he was going to Miss Smith’s party.

On Saturday night, Bill, with his week’s wages in his pocket, from force of habit, started for the saloon, but on the way there, for some reason or other, met the minister, who said, “How do you do, Bill?” and Bill said, “How do you do?” The minister went right on, not asking Bill if he was going to pay for the suit, or anything else. He went around the corner and watched Bill go directly into the clothing store and make a payment on his account.

My friend, the bishop, did this with some fifteen or eighteen young men whom he had picked out; he attended the party, which was very successful, standing around to see that the young ladies entertained their guests properly; and behold, on the next Sunday all of these young men were at church, and the preacher still refrained from telling them of hell-fire, but preached a common-sense sermon that was comprehensive to them, of how man could progress through the world.

The saloon men began to object, the money that they were in the habit of getting was now being given to the merchants, and the more they objected—as a negative is always an affirmation against—it caused the young men to “think.”

As they had no place to congregate other than the street corners or the saloon, the minister went to the members of his congregation, whose trade had now picked up through the divergence of the weekly salaries that had been going to the saloon-keeper, and demanded of them that they pay the rental of a little house which was then empty; that they pay for the subscription to a certain number of magazines. The minister and some of the members of his congregation fitted up a set of club rooms in this house and invited the young men there, but the boys were a little loath at first to attend, expecting to hear nothing but preaching. Instead of that, they met a jolly good fellow in the minister, and the evenings were spent their way, with the exception of swearing and gambling, the young men learning after a few weeks that it was possible to have a minister around and still have a good time.

As winter progressed, a club was formed, the dues made very light, the money being handled by the minister, and the club in a short time became self-supporting.

As the minister’s congregation grew larger, the merchants profited, the young men began to appreciate that they profited, and through practical suggestion, he had succeeded in building up a congregation out of material which a majority of our ministers would have considered hopeless. He did not tell them what to do, but surrounded them with an environment which forced them to do what he knew such environment would.

A lady in New York City, after taking a lesson from me, said, “Now, I have learned the mechanical part of this art, can I hypnotize and cure my brother who has ‘gone to the dogs’ through liquor?”

“No. What must be done? First, in the ‘normal’ state, you must associate in his mind through the proper senses the desire to be cured; then, if you will re-establish his physical condition, you can assist in his cure; but all ideas must be associated—that is, registered—while the patient is in his ‘normal’ condition.”