term what is beautiful in nature, and what is important in the duties and callings of life,) has at last ceased to excite the emotions, which it formerly awakened. The aged are like the prisoner, released in the period of the French revolution, from the Bastile; they find themselves, as it were, in a new creation, which passes before them with great indistinctness, and with which they feel but little sympathy. As their organs of external perception have failed them, and as there has also been a defect of attention, the memory, as a natural consequence, has become broken and powerless.

It should, however, be remarked here, that, notwithstanding what has been said, aged people often recall, with great readiness and precision, the feelings and the incidents of their youth. The explanation of this striking trait in the memory of the aged, which we have already had occasion to notice in one of the chapters on Association seems to be this.As a general statement, our early feelings and associations are the strongest. That they should be so is not strange, since we have then entered on a state of things, which, in its essential features, is new, and which, in all its diversities of duty, and pleasure and danger, attracts, and excites us by continual novelty. Who can forget the plains where he wandered in early life? Who can erase from his recollection the associates of those days of wonder, activity, and hope? Who can obliterate from his heart his youthful toils, his sufferings, and his joys?These things remain, while others vanish. Such feelings, so deeply fixed in the mind, and bound together and made permanent by the strength of a mutual association, are frequently recalled; they recur to the soul in the activity and bustle of life, and in those more favored moments, when it is given up to silent and solemn meditations. The effect of this frequent recurrence can easily be imagined. The early impressions, which are the subjects of such recurrence, become in time, if one may be allowed the expression, a part of the mind itself; they seem to be woven into its existence. Hence old men, who have no eye and no hearing for the events that are passing around them, repeat, with the greatest animation, the stories of scenes, and actions, and friendships of fifty years ago.

§. 253. On the compatibility of strong memory and good judgment. It has sometimes been a question of considerable interest, whether the possession of a remarkably strong memory is not inconsistent with entire soundness of judgment. This question has perhaps been suggested by the fact, that in some instances idiots and other persons not much above the condition of idiocy have been remarkable for memory."I knew a fool, (says a recent writer,) who was placed under the charge of a clegyman in the country, as being utterly incapable of conducting himself in ordinary matters, (he was a young man of fortune, and did not need to work, except for his amusement,) and yet he could repeat every word of the clergyman's sermon, tell how many people were in the church, how any one that sat in a pew named to him was dressed, or who did or did not contribute to the poor. He could do that for any Sunday, if you gave him any hint of it; last week, or last year, was all the same to him. His memory was, in short, as perfect as memory could be; but then he had no judgment in the using of it; and so, when in company, it often made him seem, and not unfrequently made other people feel, very ridiculous." *

Throwing out of the question cases of original malformation, such as idiocies, which properly have no place in it, it may be said without any hesitation that the connection between a strong memory and a weak judgment, is not necessary, but merely accidental; that is, is not the constitution of nature, but in general the result of circumstances. As it is an accidental state of things, and not any thing essential and permanent in our mental structure, we must look for its appropriate cause in erroneous mental discipline.—It may well be supposed, that those, who possess strong memories, are not insensible of their superiority in this respect; and the approbation, which they have received in consequence of it, encourages them to treasure up a dry collection of all facts, which will, in any way, bear repetition. Dates, names, genealogies, places, local incidents, traditional anecdotes, are all seized and retained with peculiar avidity. But too much intent upon outward incidents, the mere dates, names, and forms of things, such persons fail to inquire into * Mudie's Popular Guide, Sect. I.

their true nature; they neglect other and more important forms of mental discipline; and thus justly sustain the reputation of possessing a showy, rather than discriminating and sound knowledge. In instances of this description, the relations, by which the suggested trains of thought are associated, are the more slight and obvious ones, such as of time and place. But there are some exceptions to this unwise course; individuals may be found, who, with an astonishing ability to recall the most unimportant incidents of daily occurrence, as well as the dry details of historical facts, combine the far more enviable ability of discriminating the true differences of things, of combining means for the attainment of ends, and of rightly estimating evidence in its various applications; traits of mind, which are certainly to be included among the characteristics of sound judgment.

§. 254. Marks of a good memory.

The great purpose, to which the faculty of memory is subservient, is, to enable us to retain the knowledge, which we have from our experiences, for future use. The prominent marks of a good memory, therefore, are these two, viz, tenacity in retaining ideas, and readiness in bringing them forward on necessary occasions.

FIRST; of tenacity or power of retaining ideas.-The impressions, which are made on some minds, are durable. They are like channels worn away in stone, and names engraven in monumental marble, which defy the operation of the ordinary causes of decay, and withstand even the defacing touch of time. But other memories, which at first seemed to grasp as much, are destitute of this power of retention. The inscriptions, made upon them, are like characters written on the sand, which the first breath of wind covers over, or like figures on a bank of snow, which the sun shines upon, and melts. The inferiority of the latter description of memory to the former must be obvious; so much so as to require no comment. A memory, whose power of retaining is greatly diminished, of course loses a great part of its value.

SECOND; of readiness or facility in bringing forward what is remembered. Some persons, who cannot be supposed to be deficient in tenacity of remembrance, appear to fail, in

a confident and prompt command of what they remember. Some mistake has been committed in the arrangement of their knowledge; there has been some defect in the mental discipline; or for some other cause, whatever it may be, they often discover perplexity, and remember slowly and indistinctly. This is a great practical evil, which not only ought to be, but which can, in a great degree, be guarded against.

It is true, that so great readiness of memory cannot rationally be expected in men of philosophic minds as others; for the reason that they pay but little or no attention to particular facts, except for the purpose of deducing from them general principles. But it is no less true, that, when this want of readiness is such as to cause a considerable degree of perplexity, it must be regarded a great mental defect. And for the same reason a prompt command of knowledge is to be regarded a mental excellence.

§. 255. Directions or rules for the improvement of the memory.

In whatever point of view the memory may be contemplated, it must be admitted, that it is a faculty always securing to us inestimable benefits. For the purpose of securing the most efficient action of this valuable faculty, and particularly that tenacity and readiness, which have been spoken of, the following directions may be found worthy of attention. (I.)—Never be satisfied with a partial or half acquaintance with things. -There is no less a tendency to intellectual, than to bodily inactivity; students, in order to avoid intellectual toil, are too much inclined to pass on in a hurried and careless manner. This is injurious to the memory. "Nothing, (says Dugald Stewart,) has such a tendency to weaken, not only the powers of invention, but the intellectual powers in general, as a habit of extensive and various reading without reflection." Always make it a rule fully to understand what is gone over. Those, who are determined to grapple with the subject in hand, whatever may be its nature, and to become master of it, soon feel a great interest; truths, which were at first obscure, become clear and familiar. The consequence of this increased clearness and interest is an increase of attention; and the natural result of this is, that the truths are very strongly fixed in the memory.

(II,)— We are to refer our knowledge, as much as possible, to general principles.To refer our knowledge to general principles is to classify it; and this is perhaps the best mode of classification. If a lawyer or merchant were to throw all their papers together promiscuously, they could not calculate on much readiness in finding what they might at any time want. If a man of letters were to record in a common-place book all the ideas and facts which occurred to him, without any method, he would experience the greatest difficulty in applying them to use. It is the same with a memory, where there is no classification. Whoever fixes upon some general principle, whether political, literary, or philosophical, and collects facts in illustration of it, will find no difficulty in remembering them, however numerous; when without such general principles the recollection of them would have been extremely burdensome.

(III,)—Consider the nature of the study, and make use of those helps, which are thus afforded-This rule may be illustrated by the mention of some departments of science. Thus, in acquiring a knowledge of geography, the study is to be pursued, as much as possible, with the aid of good globes, charts, and maps. It requires a great effort of memory, and generally an unsuccessful one, to recollect the relative extent and situation of places, the numerous physical and political divisions of the earth from the book. The advantages of studying geography with maps, globes, &c. are two. (1)—The form, relative situation, and extent of countries become, in this case, ideas, or rather conceptions of sight; such conceptions, (§. 114,) are very vivid, and are more easily recalled to remembrance than others.

(2) Our remembrances are assisted by the law of contiguity in place, (§. 222,) which is known to be one of the most efficient aids. When we have once, from having a map or globe before us, formed an acquaintance with the general visible appearance of an island, a gulf, an ocean, or a continent, nothing is more easy than to remember the subordinate divisions or parts. Whenever we have examined, and fixed in our minds the general appearance or outlines of a particular country, we do not easily forget the situation of those countries, which are contiguous.