The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-08-02
NUMBER AZ.
''For You can never fortsee the sxact
spot where your ten minutes will make
the difference. "-Pdasg.
Cultivating the Memory.

There is no occupation that / would
more strongly advise my young readers
TO pursue than that of learning by heart,
and dcposting upon 1.-THE silent shore of
memory images and precious thoughts
that shall not die, and can not DO de-
stroycd.N
1t is said that In our schools this excr-
else is not as regularly kept up as it
used to be, and, when we consider the
deterioration of memory in the present
day, it is much to be feared that this is
the case
We read of men thirty years ago who
found no difficulty IN learning books Of
paradise Lost and of Dante's "Infer-
no. by heart, and we go to recitations
now of only couple of hours duration.
and hear the audience coming away, ex-
claiming: "What prodigious memory
that man has''
Yet that prodigious memory is. be-
lieve, within reach of every child who
reads these pages, II they will but take
the trouble to acquire 1t, and n little
thought on the subject will show them
that learning by heart is one OF the most
eleyating and useful studies they can
pursue, besides being one of the most
easily cultivated.
II docs not require any special taste
for its pursuit, like most other studies,
for the faculty is born in each one of
us. All knowledge is either lea0ed or
discovered, and it is principally ac-
quired in the former way. We can
trace it in every stage OF life, from tho
baby child, learning to lisp the words
papa and "mamma, to the student,
in the prime Of life and intellect, eager
ly stretching his brains to grasp knowl-
edge, 1.-THE appetite for which grows by
what 1t feeds on" and then on to the
wrinkled old man, failing slightly in in
tellect, but still porting over his daily
paper, from which he learns tho history
and politics of the day.
And what Is IL that during those years
makes mans mind capable Of holding
glorious knowledge and truthp Simply
learning by heart, and exercising the
memory with the understanding.
But although this faculty is born in
all Of us, our respective special tastes
may be brought into use in exercising
it, by choosing those works to commit
to memory which we like best, and
which. in consequences. can be learned
with least effort and most profit; and
surely among all the great works that
have been written there must be authors
capable of awakening In each Of us tho
electric chord OF sympathy.
Again, 1t is study adapted to spare
moments, as it does not require any
preparation, and the tools for working
at it are always within our reach (I do
not contemplate the possibility of my
readers living In an atmosphere OF such
mental barrenness as not TO have stand
ard authors perpctualiy about them.
and having learned even line or two
by heart Is sure test that those pre-
9 Gus spare moments, snatched as they
are unexpectedly from the duties and
hustle of the day, have not been wasted.
We have something to show for Them
We have made successful mental ex-
ertion.
Then, again, If we wish to make 9TH
crs feel and admire passages from au-
thors that we feel and admire ourselves,
how much more impresslvely we can
quote or recite them than we can read
them In reading them there must be
a certain amount OF mechanical work
with the eyes. In repeating them by
heart we can throw the whole mind
and soul into them; we can pour them
forth as II they were our own words,
and for the time being we have made
them our own words. They come from
the depths of our own hearts, and to
quote contemporary author; what
comes from the heart goes to the heart,
II there be a heart present for it to go
to. - Golden D0us