The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1877-04-25
cUL1 IRE or THE MEMORY


/ er himself fortunate, while he who has drawn
a blank in the lottery must resign himself to
/ the misfortune Thus we hear many persons
lamentinga poor memory, and even claiming
4 sympathy on account Of II, utterly unconsci-
4 BUS that they have any power or responsible
/ ity 10 the matter.
4 Now, the truth is, that the memory is fac
ulty which, as much as any other, needs d.
! gelopmenf Its capacity Is doubtless greater
in some than in others by natural endowment
! but this difference is less important than that
which is caused by education or neglect. =
Whether for the purpose of facilitating ment-
al processes, or Of promoting practical efic-
iency in life's pursuits, cultigoted memory
is much more valuable than naturally strong
one. We may be capable of amassing within
our minds vast amount of facts, or rules, or
knowledge of any kind thrown together at
random without reaping any benefit, either in
mental power or the conduct of affairs-but
when the memory has been SO trained as to
retain what is confided to it in classified order
need, its value cannot be over-estimated.
Like all our other powers. the momory is
strengthened and developed by exercise, and
weakened by disease. In whatever direction
we make constant demands upon 1t, it re-
spends obediently. The merchant finds no
difficulty in remembering the prices and quail
tiles of goods in his own line ; the physician
easily recalls the daily symptoms of his pa
tient the mechanic does not forget the fuhe-
tons of his various tools The same condi-
tions, daily repeated will almost invariably
bring up corresponding ideas. and in our reg
ular employments we seldom have occasion to
complain of a poor memory. This may afford
clue to the cultivation of this faculty in di-
rections where it is now defective. If we
would have it faithfully serve us, we must
keep it in constant use. The same attention
which We bestow on our daily business, and
which enables us to recall its details with so
much ease, will be equally effective if exercis-
ed in other matters. TO strengthen the men,
DRY on any given point, the first requisite is
to bring all our mental energy to bear upon
it. We are charged with some message or
commission, perhaps, which we promise, in
all good faith, to convey or to execute, but
not being in the line of our thoughts, it pass
es out of our mind and is unfulhlled We
commonly excuse ourselves for such derelic-
ton, on the ground that we are unable, by
any effort of the win, to command the power
of memory. Yet had VIC, by stroug self
control fixed our attention wholly upon the
matter when presented to us, had we dismiss
ed all wandering thoughts and concentrated
our mental energies for the time upon that
one thing, the impression would have been so
strong that, in all probability it would have
been remembered and accomplished This
mental concentration is the first and most i'm
portant means Of improving the memory. 1t
is largely within our own powers of will to
enforce this and he who is conscious of neg
leet in this respect cannot claim to be excused
for forgetfulness
Another valuable method Of training the
memory, is through the laws Of association.
Our knowledge must be arranged and classi-
fed if we would recall it with faculty. We
must base rules upon principles, and effects
upon causes, if we would imprint them firm
ly on our minds. That this is not done with
sufficient thorongbness is the chief cause why
SO much of the knowledge we acquire passes
from us. 1t comes to us in vague, desultory
way, instead of as the various links forming
an entire chain. If, however, we accustom
ourseles to search for the reasons Of phenom-
ena, the laws which underlie the facts Of life,
the relations which events bear to each other,
the sources from which they have sprung,
and the results to which they lead, we shall
find rapid increase In the facilities with
which we can call them to mind. The EN-
peror Napoleon, who was one Of the most
marked instances Of retentive mind, used to
say Of himself that his knowledge was all laid
away in drawers, and that he had only to OPP
en- the proper drawer and all that he had ac-
quired ON that subject was at once presented
before him.
This is, as we have before limited, one great
need of our present systems of education.--
To take up single study leisurely, present.
ing it to the student in all its relations, and
leading him to trace it's principles from their
foundations up to their highest known results
is of far more real value, both as mental dis
cipline, and as a permanent acquisition, of
knowledge, than to skim over the surface of
twenty branches, overlooking the mind with
isolated facts or rules, bearing no apparent
connection with each other, and thus fixing
no tenacious grasp upon the memory.
There is one great encouragement TO the
cultivation Of the memory, in the fact that
the work will grow easier with every effort
If we patiently and steadily fix our attention
on every subject we wish to recall tho power
of concentration will become habitual If we
constantly arrange and classify our knowledge
it will grow more and more available. IL we
aecustom ourselves to seek out causes, and to
refer isolated facts to general principles, in
stead Of being oyef-burdened with a disorder
ly mass of disconnected knowledge, which is
futile to try to remember, the well.ordered
store-house of the brain will meet all the de-
mands made upon it with ease and readiness
Although at first such efforts may seem ac-
tually to retard the acquisition Of knowledge,
and make all progress slow and difficult, and
power Of vigorous thought thus gained, and
! the ever increasing faculty with which the