The Portland daily press., 1896-11-21
REMARKABLE MEMORIES.
S ONE Astonishing Feats Performed by the
Human Mind.
(From the Philadelphia Times. j

(From the Philadelphia Times.j
"A fine memory IL certainly one of the
greatest gifts Of the human mind. 1t
has been highly esteemed from the days
of the Greeks to the present time. Pliny
mentions strength of memory frequent
ly as one of the brightest quail Hoauions
of his most learned friends. In fact,
the perfection to which this power was
possessed by some of the ancients Is al.
most Incredible. A Greek philosopher
of whom mention 10 made in very old
letter was known to deliver long har-
angue sxtempore and to repeat IL with
out forgetting single word. Seneca, in
his young days, could repeat 2, 900 names
n the same order in which they were
read. Very frequently persons in his au-
dience, in order to test his power OF re-
tentlon, would each give him verse, all
OF which he could repeat without h eai-
sntion. IT was all the more remark Bile
as he could begin at the last worse and
go back to the first. Seneca tells a
pleasant story in one Of Ia works.
which Ia generally considered his own
experience. A poet one time recited ore
OF his poems in public from manuscript.
A person who was among the audienc
stood up and claimed the poem was his
own, and In proof of his assertion he re-
peated the poem word for word, which
the real author could nou do. This
Same trick was played upon Voltaire
by the King of Prussia. The latter had
an Englishman in his court who had q
most retentive memory. When the poet
came before his majesty to recite q new
poem OF considerable length the Englis b.
man remained concealed behind q screen,
and as Voltaire concluded his verses he
slipped from his hiding place and re-
peRted them word for word. "Do you
claim that as your poem?" asked the
king. Voltaire was SO amazed that he
could mako no explanation, and for
moment seemed to doubt the originality
of hts own composition. The king en-
joyed the joke heartily, and, much to the
tewilderment of the poet, he wonld not
explnfn his stratagem for some time at.
terward.
TheInistocles, tbs great Athenian
sta tesman. became master Of the Persian
language In years time. Mithraditss
understood as many tongues as he COM
manded NJ tions, which was twenty-one.
Cyrus the Great had such power of m en-
soldier in his army. II was equaled,
proba ably. by that of Aristidss, who
could name every citizen in Athsas.
while fully says of Caesar, in his ora
tion of Ligarius, "thst he never forgot
anything but an injury"
But quite a nnmb Der of modern writer's
have distinguished themselves by their
wonderful power of memory. Maalin-
veochi, the founder of the great library
at Florence, had so remarkable memo
ry that Gibbon styled him "memory per
sopified" Gassendi, French philoso.
pher, who was appointed professor of
rhetoric at DigDe at the age Of 16 had
no doubt the most retentive mind of
modern times. He could recite 6,o0O
Latin verses from memory, and in order
to exercise the latter he reoited every
dav 600 verses from different languages.
Saunderson, an English mathematician.
had acquired by heart all Horace's odes
and r great part Of other Latin authors.
despite the fact that he was blind from
infancy. John Lyden had wonderful
faculty for remembering thinas nv rote
He could repeat correctly long, tedious
document such as an act of Parliament
or discussion in Congress after havins
heard it but once. Bnt, strange to saw.
If he wished to rernem Der any particular
paragraph lie would be Obliged 10 recite
from the beginning of the dOcument and
continue on until he reached the portion
he desired. 1t is safd that a French
novelist, who had been printer by
trade, had such prodigioua memory
type with his own hands. If this RALLY
be true the volume in question I. thu
only one known to have been written
without being first copied in manuscrint
william Warburton, noted bishon of
Gloucester. England, had wondsrful
power for memorizing. MANY Of hie
works. especially his "Divine Iepstion -
would lead one to suppose that he
made constant use Of a diary. But such
was not the case, as his most Intimate
friends tell US that he never used note
book of any kind. Sootioer re,namhara5
the contents Of one Latin volnms so nsy.
feotly that he offered to repeat anv nor
ton of it with dagger at his heart.
which he would allow to be thrust into
him In case his memory failed him