buy," "Ask the man who owns one," "Has the strength of Gibraltar," are publicity

slogans so full of confidence that they give birth to confidence in the mind of

the reader.

 

It should--but may not!--go without saying that confidence must have a solid

ground of merit or there will be a ridiculous crash. It is all very well for the

"spellbinder" to claim all the precincts--the official count is just ahead. The

reaction against over-confidence and over-suggestion ought to warn those whose

chief asset is mere bluff.

 

A short time ago a speaker arose in a public-speaking club and asserted that

grass would spring from wood-ashes sprinkled over the soil, without the aid of

seed. This idea was greeted with a laugh, but the speaker was so sure of his

position that he reiterated the statement forcefully several times and cited his

own personal experience as proof. One of the most intelligent men in the

audience, who at first had derided the idea, at length came to believe in it.

When asked the reason for his sudden change of attitude, he replied: "Because

the speaker is so confident." In fact, he was so confident that it took a letter

from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to dislodge his error.

 

If by a speaker's confidence, intelligent men can be made to believe such

preposterous theories as this where will the power of self-reliance cease when

plausible propositions are under consideration, advanced with all the power of

convincing speech?