Part 5

Newton went out of his library on one occasion, leaving his pet dog "Diamond" in the room. The dog jumped up on to the table, overturned the light, which set fire to most valuable manuscripts. They burned up. When Newton returned and discovered what his pet had done, he exclaimed, "O! Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest what thou hast done." The name Diamond becomes thus vividly associated in our minds with the forbearance of the great Newton. We cannot forget it. We hold them together hereafter by Con.

=Diamond.= } In. by s. =Dying.= }

A plain case of Inclusion by sound.

=Dying.= } Con. =Cholera.= }

We know that cholera causes numerous deaths; that people die in great numbers wherever it prevails.

=Cholera.= } Con. =Terror.= }

Concurrence includes all cases of Cause and Effect, Instrument or Means to End, Person by whom or Thing by which, &c. Cholera causes terror. Terror is the effect of the existence of the cholera. Now carefully read over the eleven words just considered, and think out the relations between them.

Good Princess. Pocahontas. Capt. John Smith. Anvil. Heavy. Gravitation. Sir Isaac Newton. "Diamond." Dying. Cholera. Terror.

Now recite them from memory at least five times forward and backward, and then recite the entire thirty words from Building to Terror, and from Terror to Building, the same number of times.

For further training, let each pupil recite the foregoing series of thirty words forward and backward two or three times per day for an entire month. He need not stop further study, but whatever else he learns let him at least practise this daily recital for one month.

REMARKS ON THE THREE LAWS.

1. Since words have different meanings, we may sometimes find that a pair of words exemplify all three Laws, as plough and sword. The relation between them may be In., since both of them are cutting instruments; one cuts and hacks human beings and the other cuts and turns over the soil. It may be Ex., in a metaphorical sense, as one is the emblem of peace and the other of war, and it may be Con., as we have often thought of them together as we read in the Bible of beating swords into ploughshares.

2. Learning a series of words by heart by thinking of the Relations between them is wholly unlike learning it by rote. In the latter case, three or five words at a time or all ten words are read over from 10 to 20 times. This reading secures scarcely anything more than a succession of sights to the eye or sounds to the ear. No study of the words is required. The action of the intellect is not invoked. It is the mere sensuous impression of Eye or Ear or both together that holds the words together, and thus many or endless repetitions are required to memorise a series which a conscious thoughtful use of those Laws enables us to learn by one painstaking perusal.

Another way of learning such a series by rote, is to limit the extent of the repetitions. Instead of reading over the entire series or a large part of it many times, the series is slowly read over once or several times by pairs, only two words at a time, but the method of acquirement is precisely the same as in the former rote process. Let us look at this last proceeding in detail. (1) It is usually applied only where there is a natural suggestiveness between each pair of words. (2) But no previous study is prescribed in regard to what constitutes this suggestiveness, nor are the varieties of it set forth and required to be mastered. (3) But above all, no study of the pairs of words themselves is insisted upon. On the contrary, all such study is emphatically deprecated. The mind is not allowed to be directed to anything in particular in reading over the pairs. It must be left without a rudder or guide to float wherever it listeth. It is not to be "interfered with" by our will. What is this but intellectual dawdling? A method of Vacuity pure and simple--the exact opposite of Mental Assimilation. (4) If in reading over many times an entire series, only the ear and eye are mainly affected and the intellect is left to wander, much more must it wander here. In running over many words, the intellect might be arrested by chance. But here the series consisting of two words only and all attempt to occupy or engage the intellect being purposely avoided, and nothing being done to enchain the attention to the consideration of the meaning or sounds of the two words, or the relation between them, the intellect wanders away from want of occupation. If when we wish to retain in our memories a paragraph of fine sentiment or lucid reasoning, we find our attention wanders, so it must wander here where only a pair of words is before it, and we are not only not furnished with any tests or guides or stimulus or motive for examining the words or for finding the relation between them, but on the contrary we are forbidden to interfere with the spontaneous action of the mind. The intellect might be abolished so far as its participation in such an operation is concerned. What is absorbed in such a case is absorbed intuitively and blindly. Hence we see that what is accomplished by these two processes of rote learning is weak impressions upon the memory and a distinct cultivation of mind wandering.

This method of rote learning by pairs was invented and first taught by Thomas Hallworth in New York in 1822. His method was adopted without acknowledgment by Carl Otto in Germany and Austria, and his followers in England and America.

These followers make a great boast of learning a series of suggestive words in pairs and without interfering with the mind's action in doing so, when they are clearly indebted to Thomas Hallworth for this inadequate method, yet they never have the grace to acknowledge their indebtedness.

3. The opposite of these two methods of rote learning is my method, which injects an active process between each pair of words. Each pair of words is appraised and dovetailed by the Laws of Memory. And hence the reader can notice the fundamental difference between all other methods and mine. My method is to keep the mind in an assimilating, absorbing condition when trying to learn by making the Intellect stay with the Senses. In the process of endless repetition or learning by rote as evinced in the two methods above given, the mind is in a passive state. But when learning the above series by my method, it was kept in an active state. The intellect was directed by the will into certain channels and kept there. It was searching for what was in common or different between the pairs of words. It was noting points of likeness and classifying them. This is thinking. And the most vivid First Impressions always result from the action of the intellect upon the sensuous stimuli from ear and eye. Intellectual Assimilation is a proper name for my methods.

4. The Three Laws are Forms or Modes of Mental Assimilation. But when used consciously for any length of time, they operate much more efficaciously than formerly--and they greatly increase the Impressionability and Revivability--as any student can affirm who faithfully carries out my instructions, and then his General Memory becomes largely improved without a conscious use of my method.

A TRAINING EXERCISE IN ATTENTION.

Whoever wishes to increase his permanent Memory power and his power of Attention must not omit to learn and practise the following exercise precisely as I prescribe. He will experience great satisfaction in carrying out my directions to the letter, because his conformity in this and in other respects will bring the reward of a NEW MEMORY power almost immediately. And if he were to disregard my directions, he will have no one to blame but himself.

He must write down the first two words, "Ice" and "Slippery," the latter word under the former. Let him ascertain the exact relation between these words. He will find that "Ice" is a concrete word, and "Slippery" indicates a quality of "Ice" and of other things. He places opposite the abbreviation In., by A. and C. In a similar way he proceeds to write down one word at a time, and at once ascertaining its relation to the previous word, and indicating that relation by the appropriate abbreviation. When he has analysed ten words in this painstaking manner he must recall them backward and forward from memory at least five times, and each time faster than the other.

Let him deal with the next ten in a similar manner in all respects, and then let him repeat the twenty words both ways at least five times, and so on till he has analysed, learned and recited the entire one hundred words; and, finally, let him recite the one hundred words both ways at least once a day for thirty days, in connection with the Building Series and the Presidential Series and Series of English Sovereigns hereafter given.

As the result of this Analysis and recitals, the pupil will make these Laws of In., Ex., and Con. operate hereafter in an unconscious manner, with a power a hundred-fold greater than before practising this method.

Ice. Hounds. Hose. Chicken. Slippery. Bark. Rose. Feathers. Smooth. Tree. Bush. Down. Rough. Woods. Guerilla. Up. Ruffian. Prairie. Rill. Upstart. Prison. Air. Water-power. Begin. Crime. Wind. Manufacture. Bee. Crimea. Hurricane. Man. Honey. War. Reign. Manager. Hives. Army. Governor. Conductor. Wives. Navy. Steam-engine. Cars. Mormon. Ship. Newspaper. Track. Brigham Young. Sail. Ream. Trotting. Old. Auction. Quire. Fair. Cold. Bid. Inquire. Foul. Winter. Competition. Inquest. Chanticleer. Summer. Petition. Jury. Chandelier. Ft. Sumter. Signatures. Decide. Gas. Stone. Cygnet. Cider. Coal. Mason. Net. Apple. Mine. Maize. Ensnare. Orchard. Shaft. Fodder. Capture. Charred. Arrow. Cattle. Cap. Burned. Quiver. Catalogue. Gun. Stove. Indian. Log. Hunter. Fire. Black-Hawk. Saw-mill.

I occasionally find that a bright, highly-gifted person makes a poor learner of my system, because he acts on hasty inferences of his own instead of attending to my long-tried and never-failing methods. To illustrate: Instead of analysing the above series in pairs, and discovering and noting the relation between each pair as I require, he reads over the entire series. His previous study of the Memory Laws has, however, so impressed his mind with their influence that he is able to retain this series after only two or three perusals. Or, instead of reading over the entire series, he may even slowly read the series in pairs, but without analysis, without trying to ascertain and realise the exact relation between the words. This is the method of Vacuity or Dawdling formerly mentioned. But his study of the three Laws in learning the Building Series has so sharpened and quickened his appreciation of In., Ex., and Con., that he learned the one hundred words in this wrong way very readily.

But why should he not follow my directions? Why not pursue my plan and thereby acquire the full power of my system instead of the small portion of that power gained by disregarding my direction? On the other hand, pupils of only average natural ability are very apt to follow my directions to the letter and thereby acquire an amount of Memory Improvement which the above gifted, but non-complying pupil, seems unable to understand.

If a person is afflicted with a very bad memory in any or all respects, and particularly if this memory weakness is traceable to mind-wandering, or if it co-exist with the latter infirmity, such a person may find it best to make a series of from one hundred to five hundred words on the model of the foregoing series, and learn the same and recite it daily both ways for a month or more in addition to the prescribed exercises, and if any trace of mind-wandering remain after that, let him make and memorise another series of the same extent and practise it for the same period. The worst cases of mind-wandering and of weak memories always yield to this training treatment.

In like manner, but in much inferior degree, the recital of what has just been heard, such as anecdotes, narratives, contents of plays, lectures, &c., not only tends to fix the recited matter in the memory, but also to strengthen the memory generally, provided the recital takes place shortly after the listening, as that is like a continuation of the original experience.