Memory is the cord binding all the natural gifts and excellences
together, and though it is not wisdom in itself, still it is the
primary fundamental power without which there could be no other
intellectual operations. The memory of good actions is the starlight
of the soul. Yes, it tempers prosperity by recalling past distress, by
bringing up the thoughts of past joys. It controls youth and delights
old age. Without memory life would be a blank. The mind must be made
to think as to remember and to remember principles and outlines. We
think of faces, and they return to us as plainly as when their
presence gladdened our eyes. When sorrow and trial, care and
temptation surrounded us how often do we gain courage and renewed
strength by thinking of the past. The course of none has been along so
beaten a road that they remember not fondly some resting places in
their journey—some turns in their path in which lovely prospects
broke in upon them. How much is spoken which deserves no remembrance,
and which does not serve as a simple link in one’s existence not
calling forth one result for others’ need or thrilling one chord with
nobler impulses. The gift of memory is diversified to different
people, some having a taste of history, some for literature and others
delight in politics, and so on through all the different phases of
existence. Memory has been compared to a storehouse. How much
important then that we renew the mind to healthful actions instead of
feeding it on poisons until it will produce nothing but poisonous
thoughts.