The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1856-07-19

Quick recollections, says Coleridge. 10
often mistaken for reflection. This brief
saying has suggested to me the inquiry,
how much OF our knowledge may be con-
sidercd as Independent, Of memory. Icon
tend that,excep,ing few first principles,
such A. personal existence &c. ( which are
matters not Of inference or demonstration,
but Of intuition, )nonc Of our knowledge 10
unrelated 10 memory, and that all Of it is
ascertalned without the aid OF any such
principle Of the mind, as judgemcn, and
reflection.
Common minds seldom, almost never
reflect, they memorize. lfyou ask some if
they have a good memory, they will ans.
wer no,meaning that they have not cult.
waited memory OF words and books, the
truth is. they we're not born with love
for that particular branch Of science, but
have applied themselves to some other.
But tie mind was so constituted that, il
must be active IN something; therefore
each man has SONS one ability, acquired
by constant repetition Of t,such, for ms.
tance, as cracking jokes, violin playing,
drawing or painting. Proficiency IN these
is attained, not by reasoning, but by fre.
quently practicing till memory is perfect.
Thus all memorize; few think, few origi.
nate few are creators. Shakespeare even
was but delineator. Such truthfulness
to nature as his, was never attained by
meditating on abstract subjects in his clio
set, but by daily contact with humanity
as it really is. He painted the picture Of
hu ian life as seen, visited and experien-
ced by himself. His copies were perfect it
is true, but nature was the original which
he SO perfectly initiated from his match
less memo-y. His chief distinction was
his memory.
Bunyan, too, was an inventor If ever
there was one, related in Lls immortal a..
legory only his own experience, and as
truly depended upon memory a. his chief
resource, as he who learns the history OF
nations, and then rehearses to others
How long and vain was Ncwton's attempt
to solve the law Of gravitation among the
heavenly bodies, till he remembered the
falling appls. And after that grea. man
had solved j, another could learn OF him,
and as perfectly understand the principle
as he who himself had solved it.
A child learns the letters Of the alpha
bet by this principle, by remembering
what they are like. A, he remembers
from the quaint idea Of man spreading
his feet; o, because it looks like his hoop;
x, because it resembles a saw. horse, and
the others in some way, unknown per-
haps to US, but certainly by memory. As
he becomes more advanced, he will con.
stantly recur to things remembered. II
some new principle is presented uncon.
nected with previous knowledge there is
no, possibility that he will understand
It, till kind friend sees the difficulty,
and refers him to some previously under
stood principle, and then all is made
plain. Soon whole treatise which re-
quired months to understand, can be re-
viewed and understood in q few hours.
because memory leads him through ia
miiar path; but if he enters new field
of science, the first step, perhaps, may be
a difficulty inexplicable, till his own or
his friends memory suggests word, and
the whole prinsiple is an axiom.
How wonderful is the capacity OF
memory! Cyrus and Frederick knew
the names Of every soldier in their ar
mics. Homer could repeat the whole Of
the IIiad and the Odyssey. II is said
that il all the writings Of the five best
British poets were destroyed to morrow,
Macaulay could restore two-thirds Of
them all from memory; and such instan-
ces are not solitary, though rare.-Bos-
ton Culiiuator.