Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1904-06-01
MARVELS OF MEMORY
SOME REMARKABLE INSTANCES OF
THE POWER OF RECOLLECTION.
An EngiishmRL whose Wonderful
GIFT OF Retention brought Dismsy
TO Noitaire-A Reporter Who Did
Not Have 10 Take No.S-


rctentive memory is considered TO be
more or less gifted
Some good instances OF remarkable
memories are TO be gathered from the
records OF Greece and Rome. Themis-
tocles, famous Greek general. is said
to have known every citizen in Athens.
No doubt Ohio. the Roman emperor,
owed much OF his success TO a remark
able memory. He learned the napc OF
every soldier and officer in his army.
and this, among other things. rendered
him so popular that he was at length
acclaimed emperor.
HOrtenSius, the Roman orator. is said
TO have been able. after sitting whole
day at a public sale. 20 give an &C
count from memory OF all things sold,
with the prices and names of the pur-
chasers.
Coming TO later times. the following
anecdOte affords an instance OF won
derful powers OF memory: An Eng
lishman went TO Frcdcricls the Great
OF Prussia FOR the express purpose Of
giving him an exhibition OF his powers
Of recollection, Frederick sent for Vol.
taire. who was then residing ut the
Noltaire read long poem which he
had just composed. The Englishman
was present ana was in such position
that he could hear every word Of the
poem. though he was concealed from
Noltairc's notice. After the reading OF
the poem Frederick observed 10 the au-
thor that the production could not be
an original one. rs there was foreign
gentleman present who could rccite
every word OF it. Noltaire listened in
amazement TO the stranger a. he re
peatcd, word for word. the poem which
he had been at SO much pains i'm COM
posing. and, giving way 20 mOmen-
tary outbreak Of passion, he tore the
manuscript in pieces. lie was then in
formed how the Englishman had be-
come acquainted with his poem. and
his anger being appeased he was will
ing 10 DO penance by copying down the
work from the second repetition OF the
stranger. who was able to 20 through
IL as before
There lived in the sixteenth century
at Padua q law student who had train
ed his memory To such high degree
OF perfection that he could recitc &C.
GOO words after once hearing them
read.
Jedediah Buxton. an initerate per-
son OF the eighteenth century. used TO
put his memory 10 curious use. on
one occasion he mentioned the quaint
~ Of ale ne had drunk free Of cost
since he was twelve years old and the
names OF the gentlemen who had given
it 10 him The whole amounted to
BIG pints.
As again showing THAT rcteutivc gifts
were not found I'm tho educated alone.
there is notable Instance OF Blind
Jamie" who lived some years ago I'm
Stirling. lie was poor. uncducatcd
man and totally blind. yet he could
actually repeat after Il few minutes
consideration any verse required from
any part of the Bible even the obscur-
est and least important
IN instance OF wager being won
10y a feat OF memory was that OF n
person who repeated an entire newspa-
per. advertisements as we'll after a
single reading.
The power Of retaining events has
sometimes been manifest in marked
degree. y laboring man named Nc
Cartney, at fifty-four years of age,
claimed that he could rccollect the
events Of every day for forty years.
y test was made by well known
public man who had kept n written
record for forty-hve years. The mans
statement was fully cOrTOborated-in-
deed, so accurate was his recollection
that he could recall without apparent
effort the state Of the weather on any
given day during those forty years.
Another instance OF a wager being
won by a feat Of recollection was that
Of Mr.. Futtcr, who several years ago
was Il well known 1.-THE collector in
Norfolk. lie wagered that he could
recollect every word OF sermon that
was 10 be preached and afterward
write il out verbatim. He was not seen
10 take notes and at the close OF the
sermon retired to n room and wrote out
the sermon. On comparison with the
manuscript which the preacher lad
been asked TO bring for the purpose, il
was found 10 vary IN one instance
only, where n synonym had been used,
but in that Mr.. Futter was proved to
be correct, for the clergyman had
distinct recollection of substituting one
word for the other in his delivery.
When reporting was forbidden in the
houses Of parliament and any one seen
10 make notes was Immediately eject
cd the speeches, nevertheless. were
published in the public press. 1t was
discovered that one Woodfall used to
be present in the gallery during the
speeches and, sitting with his head be-
tween his hands, actually committed
the speeches to memory. They were
afterward published.
Lord Macaulay had marvellous IA
cility for remembering what he read.
he once declared that if by accident all
the copies of Millions Paradise Lost"
were destroyed he would be able TO
write out the whole OF this long poem
without a single error In fact he
once performed the marvellous feat Of
repeating the whole poem. making only
one omission.
Charles Dickens, after once walking
down street, could remember the
names Of all the shopkeepers and their
businesses. Spare Moments
TaIaorro 81, ,,oet- 49,. =. ill.,. -