The record-union., 1895-04-18

Magl1abecci had a memory SO extraor-
ulhary that IL seemed to dwarf all his
oVner mental faculties. He read all an
olent and modern languages that had a
literature, and was familiar with the title
and contents of every known book. lie
once said that he could repeat the titles oil
over half million books, written in
many languages, on diversity of su b.
]ects. His whole life was given to study.
lie commonly remained at work all
night, and when nature could endure no
more, he lay down wherever he chanced
to be, and with the floor for a couch, a
book for pillow and covered with an
OLD tattereu cloak, he would sleep for a
lew hours, then rise and go to work
again. lie literally Iknew everything
that was worth knowing in his time, but
produced nothing of his own.
Jededlah Buxton, the English peasant,
hau miraculous memory for figures and
arlLhmetical calculations. he made mem
TAI calculations Involving the use of
thirty pieces OF figures without pen, PEN
Gil or paper, which, indeed, he could not
nave used, Tor he could neither read nor
write. To The end Of his lie he remained
day Iaborer, and apparently contented
with his lot. His mind constantly occu-
pied itself with calculations. When at
cnurch he would count the words uttered
by the preacher, aud once, on his only
Visit to London, whittier he was taken to
be introduced to the Royal Society, q
friend insisted that he should go to Drury
Lane. he went, and when afterwards
asked about the play, it was discovered
he knew nothing of il, his mind having
been occupied with al attempt to count
the words spoken by the actors. He did
not like tile orchestra. He said the sounds
were TO numerous for him to count.
Napoleon had wonderful memory.
When Emperor he once surprised his
council with his Intimate knowledge of
Roman law, and was asked how he had
obtained it. He stated that when q
Lieutenant he had once been placed un-
DER arrest and was In prison for two
weeks. During that time the only book
at his command was treatise on Roman
law. He sat down and in two weeks
mastered the volume SO completely that
twenty years later he could repeat long
passages from It's pages. Henever forgot
lace, or name, and would often greet
private soldiers by their names, some
times alluding to the march or the battle
where he had seen them before. He kept
in his head all the details of his military
movements, and it is said of him that
during the march to Italy and Marengo
he knew where every pound of the sup
plies for the use of the army was located
1t is said that he remembered the name
OF every officer TO whom he ever issued q
commission.
Cardinal Mezzofanti had a memory
little short OF miraculous. DR.. Russell,
his bIoGrapher, says that the Cardinal
spoke with the greatest ease thirty lam
guages; that he spoke fairly we'll Line:
that he used occasionally, but not with
any fuency, eleven more; that be spoke
lmpertectly eight, and that he could read
eleven more. Taking, In addition, the
number OF dialects he used, some SO di-
verse from the mother tongue as to con-
stltute different language. DIR. Russell
says that the Cardinal was master of no
less than III different languages and
dialects. His German was so excellent
that he was taken for native of Ger
many, while his French and English
were equally pure. DR.. Tholuck heard
hlin converse in German, Arabic, Span
lsh, Flemish, English, Latin, Swedish,
Greek and Portuguese at one of the
Pope's receptions, and afteward Mezzo-
fantl gave him an original poem in Per-
sian, and left him to take a lesson in
Cornish. He knew several OF the Amer
lcan Indian languages, and nearly all the
dialects OF India. In spite OF all these
attalnments, however, he was a very dull
man, and himself said he had twenty
words for one idea. lie was remarkable
only for the number OF languages he
knew, but was not distinguished as
grammarian, "a photographer, a phiIos-
opher, a pnrenOloGist or ethnologigt, and
added nothing TO any department OF the
study of language.-St. Louis Globe
Democrat