No. I.
(Concluded from page 214.)
He that would rise superior to the common level of mankind, exalted in
knowledge, useful to himself and to mankind, must keep attention ever on
the watch to seize some subject worthy of reflection with a spirit of
investigation, which no difficulties can damp; he must suffer no
proposition, however obscure and intricate, to escape the grasp of his
mind till perseverance hath effected its solution: If any thing more
than another occasions man to differ more from man than man from beast,
it is this; and I have been often led to doubt, whether it will not
alone account for all that difference in mind which is commonly ascribed
to superiority in capacity. True indeed it is, that this improvement is
not always accompanied with delight. “Those reflections (says Burke) are
melancholy enough which carry us beyond the mere surface of things.” The
world exhibits too much evil to the mind to permit its reflections to be
uniformly pleasant. But as the same author again observes, the same
philosophy which causes the grief, will administer the comfort; and
would not he or any other, who possesses this most valuable attainment,
prefer it, with all its sorrows, to a state of thoughtless inattention?
Of all the complaints of studious men, want of memory is the greatest
and the most frequent. So universal indeed is the expression of sorrow
for deficiency in retentive capacity, that this faculty would seem a
gift most sparingly bestowed: the distinguishing characteristic of a
few, the happy favorites of nature. But without favour and without
respect, nature holds the balance of being with impartial hand, and with
very few exceptions, every member of humanity is equal in the scale.
Man was endowed with the seeds of his faculties to be matured by his
cultivation and memory; not the least of those faculties is in the least
subject to his power. That men, when placed in similar circumstances,
will receive through the senses similar impressions, I trust will be
universally admitted. It appears to me no less evident, that such
impressions may be in all equally lasting. It is not then the want of
capacity in any to retain, but the want of exertion in most to imprint,
that occasions the former; and Man, not Nature, is deficient in duty.
Yet, this charge is not universally incurred; many there are who employ
much of their time in endeavouring to improve the faculty of
recollection, but in spite of their efforts, they still find ample cause
for complaint. If men (generally speaking) are equally fitted both to
receive and to retain, the charge must still revert upon themselves,
with the aggravation of time mispent in injudicious exertions. The
method generally pursued among young men to assist the memory, is to
enter into a common place book the most material observations and events
in the course of their reading; this, though stamped with the
approbation and deriving credit from the recommendation of the
philosophic Locke, is not without its imperfections. The practice
betrays the student into a prejudicial confidence, trusting to his
notes, he neglects to make the first impressions firm and lasting; and
in his recurrences to his book he distracts his attention with a vast
collection of heterogeneous matter; the different parts of which hold a
place in his recollection no longer than he reads them, each being
driven out by that which succeeds. “What is twice read (says the
judicious author of the Idler,) is commonly better remembered than what
is described:” and no little credit is due to this opinion, when
delivered by a man, the value and extent of whose literary acquisitions
deservedly gained him the appellation of the walking library. As the
impression made by one body on another is stronger or weaker in
proportion to the time of pressure, so the firmness with which an idea
is fixed in the memory, is in proportion to the weight applied by the
continuance of thought. Let the reader, before he changes his subjects,
revolve with patient attention in his mind the sentiments he would
imbibe, or the events he would remember, until he has thoroughly stamped
them with all the principles and consequences of the former, and the
causes, connections and effects of the latter. Let him in the solitary
hour when books are not near, and company do not interrupt by continued
reflection, firmly imprint spontaneous associations, and by studious
recollection renew and confirm the past. The knowledge so gained will be
far more solid and lasting than that for which we depend upon a few
uncorrected transcriptions. Conversation has with justice been called
the soul of society. Man must, in intercourse with his fellow creatures,
exercise and refine those passions and affections with which he is
endowed, and of which they are the subjects: and in the worlds of
business and of pleasure, the convenience and happiness of each state,
depends upon the united endeavours of the whole; so in the world of
literature, a mutual communication of ideas increases the stock of
individual knowledge. While the student disdains not to converse with
men in every rank, let him choose for his intimates the ingenious and
the learned. One great impediment in the way of mental improvement, is
the neglect of opportunities for study. Carpe diem, is an advice as
generally unattended to as its goodness is admitted. The state of the
mind is no more than that of the body is uniform and regular. Various as
the atmospheric changes, it is now dull, inapprehensive and listless;
now flighty and impatient, again in happier hour, fitted to imbibe with
avidity, comprehend with clearness, and retain with exactness. How often
in this vigorous and active state are its impulses neglected. How often
when disgust succeeds enjoyment, when satiated with pleasure, and
fatigued with the tumults of society, the mind is disengaged and vacant;
with an appetite whetted for the variety of solid entertainment, do we
instead of gratifying its propensity, seat ourselves down to indulge
idle regret, or to form still more idle schemes of future dissipation.
To seize such, and every opportune moment, we should be ever on the
watch, they will frequently occur, and if improved will always produce
present delight and permanent advantage. To complain of nature when
ourselves are in the fault, and to ascribe to deficiency of capacity,
what is the result of want of industry, is the common practice of
idleness in every condition of life. But in spite of the clamours of
men, it will ever remain an axiom in morals, that want of judgment in
acting, is the cause of embarrassment and confusion; and cessation from
labour, the death of body and mind.
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