Foreword - c

"All we have willed or hoped or dreamed of good, shall exist, Not its semblance, but itself." --Browning.

"The thing that which hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done.: --Ecclesiastes 1:9.

The sages of the centuries, each one tincturing his thought with his own soul essence, have united in telling us that, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." It has been established by the experience of the ages that always the law is the same. But HOW shall one thing in his heart, so that only goodness may blossom and ripen into rich deed and rare result? What is the apparently mysterious secret by which life's dull metal is transmuted into precious mintage?

It is my purpose to tell you in this little book. I desire to crystallize the heart-coinings of my revered master, Judge Thomas T. Troward, as reflected through the mirror of my mind and soul. I have adopted as my means of expression, the dialogue style, familiar to all students of that greatest of all speculative philosophers, Plato. I am convinced, through years of study of this almost superhuman mind, that this literary form is the one most nearly calculated to convey the most subtle shades of meaning, the richest depth of soul-sounding. I know that my readers will agree with me that if they will put themselves in my place, as students, and let me answer them as my master answered me, it will clarify their interest and intensify their joy in these lessons.