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which he ever knew. Cyrus knew the name of every soldier in an army of many thousands, and Themistocles, a distinguished Athenian, had the same knowledge of the twenty thousand citizens of Athens. These are instances of persons in health who possessed extraordinary mnemonic powers, and enjoyed them during a large portion of their lives." Several instances have occurred, in which things long forgotten have been revived, by certain forms of disease, to an extent which is in the highest degree surprising. This is frequently the case in diseases attended with considerable cerebral excitement. Persons in this condition not only remember things which they had long forgotten, and been perfectly unable to recall, but remember them with a circumstantial particularity, and have a vividness and completeness of conception in regard to them, which is scarcely inferior to original perception.

§ 173. The relation of Memory to the future state has often been a subject of speculation. The perpetuity of consciousness seems to imply that of knowledge, and the perpetuity of knowledge implies that of memory. That we shall survive the dissolution of our bodies, as the subjects of consciousness, of thought, reason, memory, and the affections and will, is placed beyond all doubt by the Scriptures.

But how far we shall carry into our state of immortality the ideas and affections of this life, we are not informed. The doctrine of future retribution, however, and of future rewards and punishments, extending to every action of the present life, not excepting the most idle words, favor the assumption that our recollections will be perfectly distinct and complete. It is hardly supposable that we should enjoy forever the rewards of virtuous actions, and lose the knowledge of those actions; or that we should suffer forever the punishments of sinful actions without being forever reminded of the causes of our sufferings.

§ 174. The extensive voluntary exercise of memory is involved in the acquisition of every branch of learning Learning is familiarizing ourselves with ideas to a sufficient extent to be able to remember them. Children learn their letters, then learn to read, and after that learn geography and other branches of knowledge, by committing the principal facts and elements of these sciences to memory.

The cultivation of memory and judgment ought to be prosecuted contemporaneously and incessantly. It is an injury to both, to crowd the mind with ideas. The mind cannot dispose of a great many ideas at once, or of an indefinite number of ideas in a limited time. To overload the mind by reading or thinking too rapidly, is as injurious to it as it is to the body, to overload the stomach with food and drink. It is a disadvantage to students to take too long lessons, and it is a disadvantage to any person to read books very rapidly, and to read a great many books in limited periods of time. The mind is not enriched at all by having ideas pass through it; but by having them intercepted in their passage, and retained as a part of its permanent stores. One able work, one master production of genius, thoroughly and patiently considered till its views become familiar, is of more use in the improvement, both of the reason and memory, and of the entire character, than the cursory reading of a thousand

works.

Memory is developed early in life, in connection with reason. The development of memory does not precede that of reason; but is accomplished simultaneously with it; and may continue to be advanced till the bodily health and vigor begin to decline with age.

§ 175. During every stage of life memory and judgment sympathize with the health. Whatever tends to prostrate the energy of the nervous system, impairs the memory and judgment. This effect is more easily observed in respect to memory than in respect to judgment, and is more readily perceived, both by the subject and by others. But memory seldom fails alone, and the moment it begins to decline, the entire faculty of ideas declines with it. Intemperance, irregularity, and excess of every kind, impair both reason and memory. This effect may easily be observed by reflecting persons, after occasional indulgences in those vices. But when they become habitual, the wreck of the mind becomes total and complete. Lewdness universally impairs both reason and memory, just in proportion as it is indulged, and in every mode of its indulgence.

It is important to preserve the mental faculties from decline on account of age, as long as possible. This is to be done by avoiding all debilitating excesses, by cultivating habitual cheerfulness and good humor, and avoiding, as far as possible, depressing passions; and by continuing the

habitual and vigorous exercise of all the mental powers. Persons who early retire from business generally suffer an early decline of their mental faculties. The reason, is, that on retiring from business they lose their customary incentives to mental effort; and a remission of effort leads to a decline of the powers of exertion.

A long disuse of powers at any period of life tends to impair them, and this tendency increases with increasing years.

§ 176. The relation of the intellectual powers of Reason, Imagination, and Memory, to the condition of the body is a subject of great interest. Some states of the body are favorable to the development of these powers, and some are unfavorable to them. Every student is aware of this from experience. Some days students make little progress in their studies, other days they advance rapidly and with increased facility and pleasure, chiefly on account of diversities in their physical conditions. A good condition of the body is favorable to the development of the intellectual powers; and a bad condition of the body is unfavorable to it. A proper care of the health is dictated by a regard to the most perfect development of the intellectual powers, in addition to all the other considerations of comfort and advantage, which demand the same thing. A regard to health and the adoption of effectual measures for its preservation are particularly important in that critical period of life, which is usually devoted to study. To sacrifice health to study, or to any species of transient gratifications, is to place the highest degrees of intellectual vigor and skill, and the highest degrees of earthly enjoyment forever beyond our reach. By trying to reach an end too soon, or by improper means, we disqualify ourselves ever to reach it.

CHAPTER XIII.

RATIONAL MNEMONICS.

§ 177. Mnemonics is the art of remembering things; and like other arts involving the exercise of the mental faculties, is founded in the general principles and laws of the human mind. Rational mnemonics is distinguished from those systems of memory which are founded in arbitrary principles, and which are on the whole either impracticable, or on other accounts inexpedient and undesirable. The natural tendency of the human mind is always towards a rational system of mnemonics; and practical recollection is an art founded on established and uniform principles, and prosecuted in regular modes of attention and consideration. The exercise of this art, like that of most others, is capable of being prosecuted with different degrees of success proportionable to the skill and application of the artist.

The faculty of memory, like other mental faculties, has its laws of development and operation which it must obey, and which it cannot transcend. Some remember more, and others less; some possess this power in higher degrees of perfection, and some more imperfectly; but the laws of memory are substantially the same for all.

§ 178. Some of our remembrances occur spontaneously, unsought, undesired, and not unfrequently unwelcome. They crowd themselves upon us, and in some cases cannot easily be avoided. But a large class of our most important recollections are the objects of voluntary pursuit, and are obtained in pursuance of voluntary exertions directed to their attainment. The dependence of memory on the will is similar to that of other departments of the faculty of ideas. We cannot create recollections by volitions, but we can direct our attention to objects adapted to produce them; and thus, in many cases, obtain them when they would not otherwise occur. Voluntary recollection is exercised by pursuing trains of thought adapted to suggest the desired ideas. We wish to recollect a text, and direct our attention to the discourse and other related objects, with a view to obtain from them ideas of the text; so we commence

recollecting a sermon by thinking first of the text and then of the different parts in the order of their announcement and delivery.

In like manner we prevent the recurrence of disagreeable ideas, by exclusive attention to objects not adapted to suggest them.

§ 179. Committing to memory is a process designed to secure the suggestion of particular trains of thought on future occasions. The acquisition of knowledge in all its departments, involves this to a considerable extent, and in some of them to a very great extent. The studies of geography and history are principally exercises of memory. The process of committing to memory, consists in forming ideas of particular objects in particular orders of succession, and retaining them in exercise, and repeating them, till on commencing the series, and forming the first ideas of these series, the next will be suggested by the first, and those which follow, by them; and so on; till the whole series has been passed through. In this way, we commit to memory hymns, songs, treatises on the arts and sciences, and all kinds of discourses.

§ 180. The identity of ideas of memory, with those of perception and judgment on which they depend, is to be admitted with considerable limitations. The ideas agree in relating to the same objects, and in relating to them as the same; but the ideas themselves are not the same; nor can perfect identity be predicated of successive judgments formed from the same premises. When any idea ceases, it ceases forever, and can never resume its existence, though it may be followed by others in all respects like it.

The nature of ideas as transient states or actions of the mind, is incompatible with any theory of the renewal of former ideas in a strictly literal sense; and what is generally described as the revival or renewal of former ideas, is the formation of new ones like them.

The idea that I now have that two and two are equal to four, is not identical with similar ideas deduced from the same premises five minutes ago, or at any previous period. It is a mental exercise which never existed before, and will never exist again. Similar ideas have occurred before, and will continue to occur for ever; and they may be called the same in a general sense, considered as relating to the same

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