# The New Art of Memory/Introduction

THE NEW
Art of Memory.
Introduction.
Memory, in the sense in which it is to be understood in the present work, (for it is not employed always in the same precise sense) cannot, perhaps, be better defined than in the words of Mr. Dugald Stewart, "It is that faculty which enables us to treasure up, and preserve for future use, the knowledge we acquire; a faculty (he adds) which is obviously the great foundation of all intellectual improvement, and without which, no advantage could be derived from the most enlarged experience."
With the various metaphysical theories concerning Memory which have been advanced by different philosophers, we shall not pretend to meddle; as such an investigation would not much assist our present purposes. Whatever may be the relation in which Memory stands to the other principles of our constitution, it is ​beyond all controversy, a most necessary and excellent faculty: so much so, that, as Dr. Watts observes, "all other abilities of the mind borrow from hence their beauty and perfection; for other capacities of the soul are almost useless without this. To what purpose (as the same eminent author inquires) are all our labours in knowledge and wisdom, if we want Memory to preserve and use what we have acquired? What signify all other intellectual or spiritual improvements, if they are lost as soon as they are obtained? It is Memory alone that enriches the mind, by preserving what our labour and industry daily collect. In a word, there can be neither knowledge, nor arts, nor sciences, without memory; nor can there be any improvement of mankind in virtue or morals, or the practice of religion, without the assistance and influence of this power. Without memory, the soul of man would be but a poor, destitute, naked being, with an everlasting blank spread over it, except the fleeting ideas of the present moment."
This faculty exists, however, in very different degrees, in different men. Some persons possess astonishing vigour of memory, while others are ​deplorably deficient in this faculty; or, as Mr. Locke has beautifully expressed the same idea, "in some persons, the mind retains the characters drawn on it like marble, in others like freestone, and in others, little better than sand." Themistocles, the Athenian, indeed, is said to have been oppressed by the strength and tenacity of his memory, and to have wished for the possession of the faculty of oblivion, rather than an increase of the powers of remembrance; but it is ​more than probable that, in this respect, if the anecdote be true, he stands an exception from all the rest of mankind. Plenui rimarum sum, may be truly, and without reproach, said by almost every man, with regard to his memory: and that not only concerning matters difficult to be retained, but even concerning the most ordinary occurrences of life.
To remedy this inconvenience, and provide as effectually as possible against the mischiefs of forgetfulness, various artifices have, at different times, been resorted to. Of these, the topical memory of the ancients stands first, both in point of date and of celebrity; and as its principles are very analogous to those of the present system, we shall give some account of the origin and general plan of that invention. And, as Professor Barron, has already trodden this path, no apology will be offered to the reader for presenting to him, that author's very excellent account of the subject, prefaced by some of the ingenious remarks with which he has introduced it.
"The recollection which ordinary memories possess, appears to be resolvable into two principal sources, the vivacity of the impression and association.*****
​"But the principal expedient for assisting the memory is derived from association. For instance, when I see a house, I naturally recollect the inhabitants, their manner of life, and the intercourse I have had with them. The sight of a book prompts the memory of its contents, and the pleasure, or profit, I have received from the perusal of it. A view of the sea may suggest the idea of a storm, and the painful recollection of the loss of property, or of the life of a friend, by shipwreck. The act, then, of aiding recollection by association, is to connect thoughts remote, or abstract, with others more obvious and familiar, that the recurrence of the latter may bring along with it the memory of the former. Thus the sight of my ring, which I cannot miss to observe, reminds me of the action, to suggest the remembrance of which I moved it from one finger to another. The ringing of the bell, or the sounding of the clock, prompts the recollection of the business I had resolved to perform at these times. A glimpse at the first words of a paragraph, or a page, introduces the recollection of the whole. In a word, we must connect the things we wish to remember with the immediate objects of our senses, that offer themselves daily to our attention, but particularly with the objects of our sight, the most vigorous and lively of all our senses, and of which the objects are, ​perhaps, more numerous than those of all our other senses put together.
"This theory is the foundation of all contrivances which have been, or, perhaps, can be, employed to help recollection. It is the groundwork of the famous artificial memory of Simonides, a lyric poet, of the island of Ceos, one of the Cyclades, who flourished in the sixty-first olympiad, about five hundred and thirty-five years before the birth of Christ, and [who] is celebrated by Cicero and Quinctilian. Both these authors relate the following mythological incident, on the occasion which suggested the invention. Simonides was employed by Scopas, a rich Thessalian, to compose a panegyric on him for a certain sum of money; was invited to a festival given by Scopas to his friends, in order to rehearse it, but was sordidly refused more than half the stipulated compensation,—because puzzled, perhaps, with the sterility of the principal subject, he had introduced a long episode, amounting to half the poem, in praise of Castor and Pollux. Simonides soon found an avenger of the insult. He was immediately summoned from the company by two young men on horseback, supposed to be Castor and Pollux in disguise, who appeared to protect their favourite poet; and who, as soon as they had saved Simonides, made the roof fall on Scopas and his ​company, bruising them so to death that not a lineament of them could beknown. Simonides, by recollecting the manner in which they sat at table, was enabled to distinguish them, and to deliver them to their friends for burial. The aid which the recollection of the poet received, on this occasion, is said to have suggested the idea of an artificial memory.
"The principle of the scheme of Simonides, is to transfer a train of ideas, the archetypes of which are not the objects of sense, and are, therefore of difficult recollection, to another train which we cannot miss to recollect, because the archetypes are not only objects of sense, but objects of sight, with which archetypes we are perfectly familiar; or which may be placed actually before our eyes. Suppose then Simonides were to commit to memory a discourse, consisting of speculations concerning government, finances, naval affairs, or wisdom, none of the archetypes of which could be made objects of sense, at least, at the time of delivery; and to assist his recollection, he were to connect the series of ideas in that discourse, with a series of objects, which he could either place in sight, or with which he was so familiar, that he could not fail to recollect them; he would proceed in the following manner. He would take a house, for instance, either the one in which he might deliver the discourse, or another; with every part of ​which he was perfectly acquainted. He would begin at some fixed point of that house, suppose the right side of the door, and he would proceed round it in a circular line, till he arrived at the point from which he set out. He would divide the circumference of the house into as many parts as there were different topics, or paragraphs, in the discourse. He would distinguish each paragraph by some symbol of the subject it contained; that on government, by the symbol of the crown, or a sceptre; that on finances, by the symbol of some current coin; that on naval affairs, by the figure of a ship; that on wisdom, by the figure of the goddess who presided over it. He would either actually transfer, or suppose transferred, these symbols to the different compartments of the house, and then all he had todo, in order to recollect the subject of any paragraph, was, either to cast his eye on the symbol during delivery, or to remember upon what division the symbol was placed. The memory, by this contrivance, easily recalled the discourse. The orator either saw, or could not fail to remember the compartments, because he was perfectly familiar with them. Neither could he forget the symbols of each paragraph, because they were no more than hieroglyphical paintings of the sense.
"In the place of a house, we may assume, according to Quinctilian, a public building, the ​walls of a city, a well known road, or a picture, to divisions of which we may refer our symbols. Metrodorus assumed the circle of the zodiac, which he divided into 360 compartments, equal to the number of degrees of which it consists, making a compartment of each degree.
"Some people carried this art so far as to comprehend the words of a discourse, by constructing symbols for each of them, and referring in like manner, these symbols to compartments. This seems to have constituted nearly what we call short-hand writing, except that our short-hand writers oblige themselves to commit to memory the meaning of their symbols, and pretend not to refer these to any more familiar objects. Quinctilian accordingly observes, that this pretended improvement terminated in confusion, and embarrassed, much more than it assisted recollection. However much, therefore, he might prize the scheme of Simonides, he rejected this supplement as nugatory, or detrimental."
This system of Mnemonics was a favourite pursuit with the Greeks;—and was cultivated with success by the Romans, among whom Crassus, Julius Cæsar, and Seneca, are said to have particularly excelled in this art.
Such were the origin and principles of the celebrated topical memory of the ancients: from which source are derived all the various modern systems of local and symbolical memory, that ​have been promulgated from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. We shall here briefly recapitulate the names of the principal writers on the subject, referring our readers to another part of this volume for an account of the different systems.
That luminary of science, Raymond Lully, born in 1236, seems to have been the first modern who brought the art of memory into notice, after it had lain dormant for so many ages. This art was termed transcendental, and distinguished by his name.
In the fifteenth century mnemonics seem to have occupied the attention of Publicius, Priis, Peter of Cologne, and Peter of Ravenna, who successively published systems of local and symbolical memory.
In the year 1533, Romberch published his Congestorium Artificiosa Memoria, which contains a very complete view of his predecessors' labours, with many important additions. Grataroli, an Italian physician, was the next writer on this subject, who in 1555, put forth a treatise, 'de memoria reparanda, etc.' This was translated into English by William Fulwod, under the title of the Castel of Memorie;' and afterwards rendered into French by Stephen Cope. The treatise of Grataroli contains much curious matter.
The works of Spangenberg, Rosselius, Bruno, ​Albert, Porta, Marafioti, and others, appeared about the close of the sixteenth century, but they contained nothing very materially new on the mnemonic art.
The seventeenth century was remarkable for the number and variety of mnemonistic works which issued from the presses of the continent. England also had her share in this honour, and produced one or two books worthy of examination. The system of Schenckel occupied the greatest share of attention in France and Germany. Schenckel was followed by Alsted, Brux, Ravellin, and Naulius. Brux also wrote an essay upon the 'art of forgetfulness', and gave numerous rules for acquiring perfection in this useful science.
The principal work published in England, on the subject of the local memory, appeared in 1618, under the title of Mnemonica; sive ars Reminiscendi, etc. by John Willis; and was translated in 1661, by one Sowersby, a bookseller. This curious and rare volume is replete with information respecting mnemonics, and discourses at large concerning every particular which requires the attention of the student.
In the year 1651, Henry Herdson, who styles himself a Professor by Public Authority in the University of Cambridge, published his Ars Mnemonica, sive Herdsonus Bruxiatus, etc. in ​Latin and English. It is merely a republication of part of Brux's Simonides Redivivus.
The mnemonical essays published on the continent from 1620 to 1702, were principally by Azevedo, Carbonel, Cuirot, Dannhawer, Belot, and Brancaccio:—several anonymous systems were put forth also during this period. Erhardt's Ars Memoriæ appeared in 1715, and Morhof and Father Feyjoo, have, both, dissertations expressly upon the subject; the one in his Polyhistor, and the other in his Cartas Eruditas y Curiosas.
From the time of Feyjoo (1781) to 1806, (if we except a German translation of Schenckel by Klüber) the local and symbolical memory seems to have lain completely dormant. In the Philosophical Magazine for December, 1806, there is the following notice:—
"A new branch of science is begun to be studied in Germany. It is the science called by the antients mnemonica, or the art of memory. We find in Herodotus, that it was carefully taught and practised in Egypt, whence it was transplanted into Greece. This historian attributes the invention of it to Simonides; but this opinion is refuted in a dissertation published by M. Mongenstern, of Dorpat, upon mnemonica. He there asserts, that this science is more intimately connected with the Egyptian hieroglyphics than ​is generally thought, and that this connection may help to explain them. However the case may be, this singular art, so long neglected, has reappeared in Germany with some eclat. M. Aretin, who may be accounted the restorer of it, has recently had M. Kæstner, a clergyman, as his pupil, whom he has permitted to teach his new doctrine at Leipzic; at the same time exacting a promise from him not to suffer his pupils to write own his lectures. M. Kæstner travels about like Dr. Gall.
"According to a book written, it is said, by a child of twelve years of age, and mentioned in the Leipzic catalogue for the last September fair, mnemonica is a true science, and may be taught by means of seventeen different rules, and which will give a memory to individuals of every age."
In March 1807, M. Gregor Von Feinaigle, a native of Baden, visited Paris, and delivered Lectures on his 'New System of Mnemonics and Methodics.' In the Philosophical Magazine for June, 1807, there is the following extract from a letter written by M. Fichtel, at Paris, to a friend in London, giving some account of M. Gregor Von Feinaigle's exhibitions there.
"Paris, 2d March, 1807.
"During my residence in this metropolis, I heard a great deal of a new method of mnemonique, or of a method to assist and fix our memory, invented by Gregor de Feinaigle. Notwithstanding the simplicity with which he announced his lectures in the papers, I could not determine myself to become a pupil of his, as I thought to find a quack or mountebank, and to be laughed at by my friends for having thrown away my cash in such a foolish manner. Perhaps I should hesitate to this moment about the utility of this new invented method to assist our natural memory, had I not had the pleasure of dining at his excellency's the Count of Metternich, the Austrian ambassador, who followed, with all his secretaries, the whole course of lectures: they all spoke very advantageously of it, likewise several other persons of the first rank I met there: in consequence of this I was inserted into the list of pupils, and I follow, at this moment, the lectures. All I can tell you about this method is: it is a very simple one, and easy to be learned, adapted to all ages and sexes: all difficulties in such sciences as require an extraordinary good memory, for instance, the names and epochs in history are at once overcome and obviated. There is not one branch of science to which this method cannot be applied. It is easy ​to be perceived that such an invention cannot pass without some critique, and even sarcasms, in the public prints: some of them were very injurious, and plausible enough to mislead the public, who, knowing nothing of the method, are always more ready to condemn than to assist. Mr. Feinaigle, to answer all these critics at once, adopted a method not less public for Paris than the public papers, but less public for the rest of Europe: he gave, the 22d of last month, a public exhibition to about 2000 spectators, in which he did not appear at all, only about 12 or 15 of his pupils: each of them made such an application of the method as his situation in life required. The principal parts were the following: history about names and years; geography, with respect to longitude, latitude, number of inhabitants, square miles, &c. &c.; grammar in various languages, about different editions of the same work; pandects, their division, and title of each book, title, &c.; different systems of botany, poetry, arithmetic, &c. &c. At last one desired the company to give him one thousand words, without any connection whatsoever, and without numeric order; for instance, the word astronomer, for No. 62; wood, for No. 188; lovely, for No. 370; dynasty, for No. 23; David, for No. 90, &c. &c. till all the ​numbers were filled; and he repeated the whole (notwithstanding he heard these words, without order, and but once,) in the numerical order; or he told you what word was given against any one number, or what number any one word bore. It is still more striking, but certainly, likewise, more difficult, to retain as many numbers however great they may be. For words and numbers I could venture myself, with the greatest safety, as far as one hundred of each; and I am sure, after having fixed them once, which is done in less than ten minutes, I could repeat them to you at any period, without ever thinking any more of them.
"M. Feinaigle is about to visit England."
To the testimony of M. Fichtel may be added that of the celebrated French astronomer, M. Lalande, who says, "I have witnessed the extraordinary effects produced on the memory, by the method of M. de Feinaigle: one of his pupils is able to repeat, in any order, without the least mistake, a table of fifty cities in all parts of the world, with the degrees of longitude and latitude in which they are situated; the same is the case with chronology: in the Annuaire, I have inserted 240 dates from antient and modern history, and M. de Feinaigle's Scholars repeat ​them all—an astonishing aid in the study of geography and history!"
In the Monthly Magazine for September, 1807, there is a letter under the signature of Common Sense, which, though somewhat illiberal in its remarks, displays considerable knowledge of the principles of the 'local and symbolical Memory.'
"Any person (says this writer) who wishes to try an experiment on the power of association, need only make use of the succession of rooms, closets, stair-cases, landing-places, and other remarkable spots or divisions, of his own house, with all the parts of which he may be supposed to be very familiar. Let him apply any word or any idea to the several parts of the house, in any determined order of their succession, and he will find it almost impossible, in recalling the same order of the parts of the house, not to associate the idea or word which he had previously annexed to each part. Thus, for example, a person may learn the succession of the Kings of England in ten minutes, by annexing the names of each succeeding monarch to the successive rooms, closets, and principal parts of his own house, beginning at the upper story, and regularly de​scending; or, at the lower story, and regularly ascending.
"Any other permanent and familiar class of objects will, in general, answer the purpose better than the rooms of a house. I was myself educated in the vicinity of Oxford-street, and the streets running out of that street south and north (beginning at Charles-street, Soho-square, and so on to Park-lane, and down on the other side to Rathbone-place and Hanway-yard) are the permanent and familiar set of objects, which I make use of for my own purpose of successive association. The counties in England, the kingdoms and the countries throughout the world, the villages, and other objects on a great road, or the streets of a city, are all well suited to this business of association; and either of them may be taken indifferently by various persons, according to their acquaintance with them. The greater the variety of ideas connected with this set of objects, which may be called the associating key, the more easy, and the more certain is the power of recollection.
"If I do not hazard a charge of egotism; I shall mention, as illustrative facts, that by this new art I once committed to memory, in a single morning, the whole of the propositions contained in the three first books of Euclid, and ​with such perfection, that I could for years afterwards specify the number of the book on hearing the proposition named, and could recite the proposition on hearing the number and the book; and I have frequently, in mixed companies, repeated backwards and forwards from fifty to an hundred unconnected words, which have been but once called over to me. I may also add, to prove the simplicity of the plan, that I taught two of my own children to repeat fifty unconnected words in a first lesson, of not more than half an hour's continuance."
M. Von Feinaigle visited England sometime in the early part of 1811. In order to exhibit a detail of his progresses in this country, we have made some extracts from the Periodical Works and Public Papers which gave an account of his various experiments.
"On the 22d of June, 1811 , M. Von Feinaigle gave at the Royal Institution, a public experiment of the efficacy of his Method of facilitating and assisting Memory. The Managers of the Institution, in consequence of the application of the Committee of Literature and Science, granted permission for this public display of the art, without, however, making themselves in any way responsible as to its character. The ​exhibition took place before an assembly of several hundred Ladies and Gentlemen, who were astonished and delighted with the result of the experiment. Four children, two boys and two girls, all under 14 years of age, had been put under Mr. Feinaigle's care but two, or three days before: he had one of the girls but an hour and a half; and the longest tuition that any of them had received was but four hours and a half.—One of them repeated Goldsmith's Hermit backward and forward, and stated the stanza, the line, and the order of any remarkable word required of him.—One little girl answered to questions in the chronology of the Roman Emperors; and another multiplied, without slate or paper, two sums of eight figures by eight, and declared that she had not previously been taught arithmetic.—A boy determined the geographical situation by degrees and minutes, of 50 different cities; and on a planisphere chalked out on a board, marked down the true situation of places named to him.—Mr. Fincher, of the Institution, also recited the Mineralogical Tables of Hauy, the second part of which he had taught himself on Mr. Feinaigle's system, together with the first part of Brisson's Ornithologic System; and he declared, from his own experience, that the principles of Mr. Feinaigle's art were equally calculated to give facility in the acquisition, and ​certainty in the retention, of the tables of any other science—a fact which was confirmed by several Gentlemen present, who have attended the private courses of the Professor.—The examinations were carried on by Mr. Disney, Chairman of the Literary and Scientific Committee; and for a great part of the time, Mr. Feinaigle retired from the Lecture-room. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the result of the experiments; and the company returned Mr. Feinaigle their thanks.—The Professor, Aug. 26, repeated the experiment at Liverpool, where the Rev. Jonathan Brookes, at the request of the Mayor, selected from the different charity schools of the town, children upon whom the experiment might be made. The exhibition took place before a very numerous assembly. Four children had been put under Mr. Feinaigle's tuition but three days before, two boys and two girls, and none of them had received more than two hours' instruction; neither of the girls could make or read a figure when first presented to him. The examinations (which were carried on by the Rev. Jonathan Brookes) were precisely of the same nature as those at the Royal Institution; and the results were equally satisfactory."
"On the 6th of April, 1812, the effects of M. Von Feinaigle's system were exemplified a ​the Surry Institution, before a numerous assembly of Proprietors and Subscribers, by the examination of five young persons, who had previously been committed to the care of M. Von Feinaigle.
"1. Master H. S. (13 years of age) determined the geographical situation of fifty principal towns in different parts of the globe, assigning to each its longitude and latitude in degrees and minutes, and named the country in which it is found. He also marked on a blank planisphere the true situation of the towns named to him.
"2. Miss P. K. (11 years of age) repeated fifty stanzas of four lines each, from the second part of Mrs. More's 'Sir Eldred of the Bower.' These she repeated consecutively, and in any order desired. On any remarkable word being mentioned, she determined the stanza, the line, and the place of the line, in which it was to be found; and also how many times the same word occurred in the Poem.
"3. Miss M. A. K (15 years of age) answered to all the declensions, as well of substantives as of adjectives, of the Latin language; and gave a full account of all the conjugations, ​both active and passive, without any previous knowledge of that language.
"4. Miss S. S. (of the same age with the preceding pupil) answered to the declensions and conjugations of the Greek Language, and declined and conjugated several regular nouns and verbs proposed to her. This pupil had never seen a Greek character till put under the care of the Professor.
"The whole instruction received by the above pupils consisted of five lessons only, of one hour each."
"Master S. H. explained the physical, mathematical, and chemical characters of minerals, after Hauy's system, assigning the systematical order of any character whatever proposed to him, and showing in what manner any mineral ought to be examined and tried, to ascertain its nature. This pupil received only two hours' instruction from M. Feinaigle.
"Master S. H. afterwards requested the audience to give twenty words, or names, without any order or connection whatever. These words were written on a board, and numbered from one to twenty as follows:—
"After inspecting the number and words for a space of time, not exceeding three minutes, the pupil named every word in the series, both forward and backwards: to any number that was proposed to him, he assigned the proper word, and vice versa.
"A series of twenty-eight figures, named promiscuously by the audience, was then written down, as, 8. 5. 1. 0. 5. 0. 2. 9. 6. &c. &c. &c. These the pupil surveyed attentively, for about five minutes, and then repeated them forwards and backwards. He afterwards declared how many 8's. 2's. 9's. &c. occurred in the series, and the relative situation of each figure.
"In consequence of the disappointment of many of the Proprietors and Subscribers, who could not obtain admittance into the Lecture Room on the 6th instant, the above experiments were repeated on Wednesday evening last to a crowded auditory. On this evening the following additional evidences of the utility and universality of M. Feinaigle's System were adduced.
​"1. Master J. C. answered to two sums in multiplication of 8 numbers, by 8 numbers each. Each sum containing 8 separate products, besides the total product; he repeated any product required of him. The separate operations being represented on a board, by cyphers—on any one cypher, or line of cyphers, on either sum being effaced, he replaced them by the appropriate figures. This pupil was employed for ten minutes only, in committing the figures to memory.
"2. Miss S. T. answered to the Chronology of the Kings of England, from William the Conqueror, down to his present Majesty, in any order that was desired. She also named the predecessor and successor of any King pointed out to her. This pupil received four lessons of one hour each.
"Master S. H. after one hour's application, repeated a Greek word from Aristophanes, consisting of seventy-six syllables and 165 letters, both forwards and backwards; he also named any syllable in any order desired, determining its numerical situation."
At these public experiments, M. Von Feinaigle​ distributed a syllabus, in which the nature of the pupil's examination was stated; and the six following notes, or explanations, of the objects of his 'New System of Mnemonics and Methodics,' were subjoined.
"1 Systematic Tables. A method that is at once speedy and effectual for acquiring the perfect knowledge of systematical tables, is an object of higher value and greater importance than at first it might appear. How often are we attending courses of lectures upon particular sciences, without being able to form a clear idea of the whole, or to give ourselves an account of what we are learning! When, by the means here recommended, we are enabled to know previously the great divisions and subdivisions of a system, it is not difficult to refer to those fixed points all our ideas, and at once to secure our knowledge already attained, and to accelerate our progress in the science. A system acquired by this method is not a dry and sterile series of words; it is a well-arranged classification of real knowledge. We learn in like manner all the systems of any science, whatever; however complicated they may appear.
"2. Languages. The learning and teaching of languages are not only facilitated by the system of Mnemonics, but acquire more light and more solidity than ever they were thought sus​ceptible of. It is a fact well known to all my pupils, that, almost in any language whatever, the declensions may be learnt in a single hour, and all the conjugations in another. It can easily be conceived, that all the rest maybe acquired with the same facility: but this is not all the advantage of my system: anomalies, irregularities of verbs, and similar difficulties which have been hitherto the torment of the scholars, become, by this system, the most pleasing and most instructive part of the language. My pupils are convinced, by the most satisfactory experience, that grammar is to be learned in the language, not the language in the grammar; and when the true way is once known, it becomes delightful to them to go on with ease and promptitude, by themselves, from one language to another.
"3. Prose and Poetry. When we know pieces of prose or of poetry in such perfection that we are able to answer at pleasure to any single word, it is not to be imagined that in learning them we have to fix one word after another; but whatever we commit to our memory is there in such an order that we are sure to find it again whenever we may wish for it. The matter and the diction are necessarily distinguished, and every thing treated after its own nature, and we are therefore sure neither to omit any thing that is ​to be said, nor any word by which it is to be expressed. Persons who could never before get by heart either prose or poetry, have, by a short practice of this method, acquired the greatest readiness and facility.
"4. Geography. This part of geography has only been learned by my common manner of fixing in the memory proper names in general, and that of noting the arithmetical figures wherever we meet them. The true system of geography is the object of more than one of my lectures; and by this new system, the study acquires a degree of facility, and the science itself a degree of perfection, of which it was never thought susceptible, and yet without which it can never be essentially what it ought to be. Those who would think it needless, or of no use, to know the situation of every remarkable point of the globe by degrees of longitude and latitude, have to consider, if without these degrees, geography itself, or any geographical chart, could ever exist; and, if not, they surely cannot maintain that what is essential to geography itself may be neglected in the study of geography. This perfection is not only given to the science by my system, but is also attained with greater facility ​and certainty than even the former imperfect knowledge could be acquired by any other method whatever. The same principles are applicable with equal efficacy to all the subsidiary parts of a perfect geographical knowledge, and it is shown how to fix in the memory, for instance, the government, the extent, the population, and the military power, the products, the commerce, the manufactures, the arts and sciences, &c. of every state. Those who are acquainted with the principles of the present arrangement, cannot but feel how much easier it must be to compare, according to this plan, one kingdom with another by simple memory, than after any other plan, with all the assistance of books and systematic tables.
"5. Chronology. What is done with regard to the kings of England may be done with any chronological series of sovereigns; and though such a series presented nothing more than what may be considered as great epochs of history, even of those the present system offers a greater number than any other system of chronology, and fixes them more easily than it has ever been possible to do by all those ingenious historical tables which have been invented to assist the memory in this interesting study. But the highest perfection of historical knowledge is certainly to know the whole history, not only by great ​epochs, but year by year, and fact by fact; and this perfection no other system has ever been able to afford.
"6. Multiplication. To make a multiplication, consisting of a greater number of figures in the multiplier as well as in the multiplicand, only by memory, without writing any thing, may certainly in many cases be desirable, or of great utility, and is at least a certain proof that the principles of the present method reach every where, and that to its means nothing is too difficult or too complicated. It is undoubtedly of the highest importance to be able to fix in our minds the numbers in general. Statistic geography, history, mathematics, in short, almost every science is full of numerical figures. Multiplication tables, square and cube numbers, logarithms, algebraic formulæ, and all the mathematics can be submitted to those rules."
Since the period of M. Von Feinaigle's arrival in this country, he has been delivering a variety of courses of fifteen or sixteen lectures each, for which the charge of five guineas has been made; but the pupil is at liberty to attend any particular lecture, a second time, should he not sufficiently comprehend it at the first hearing. M. Von Feinaigle has not confined his visits to the metropolis: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, etc. etc. have, in the summer season, been, successively, the theatre of his exertions.
* ↑ For many remarkable instances of the extraordinary powers of natural memory, the reader is referred to the conclusion of this volume.
* ↑ Mr. Locke, speaking of the continual decay of our ideas, says, "The ideas, as well as children, of our youth, often die before us: and our minds represent those tombs, to which we are approaching; where though the brass and marble remain, yet the inscriptions are effaced by time, and the imagery moulders away. The pictures drawn in our minds are laid in fading colours, and if not sometimes refreshed, vanish and disappear. How much the constitution of our bodies, and the make of our animal spirits are concerned in this, and whether the temper of the brain makes this difference, that in some it retains the characters drawn on it like marble, in others like freestone, and in others, little better than sand; I shall not here inquire: though it may seem probable, that the constitution of the body does sometimes influence the memory; since we oftentimes find a disease quite strip the mind of all its ideas, and the flames of a fever in a few days calcine all those images to dust and confusion, which seemed to be as lasting as if graved in marble." Works, vol. i. p. 76. ed. 4to. 1777.
* ↑ Plutarch Apophth.
* ↑ Barron's Lect. on Belles Lettres and Logic, v. 1. p. 609.
* ↑ Vol. xxviii. p. 92.
* ↑ Vol. xxiv. p. 105.
* ↑ Gent. Mag. vol. lxxxi. part 1. p. 281.
* ↑ The whole of this report is taken from the Morning Post of April 18th, 1812.
* ↑ Similar experiments have been given at the Russell Institution, Freemasons' Hall, the London Tavern, etc. etc. etc.
* ↑ This refers to the longitude and latitude of the fifty cities repeated by the pupil.