CELEBRATED CASES OF MEMORY.
In order that the student may appreciate the marvelous extent of
development possible to the memory, we have thought it advisable to
mention a number of celebrated cases, past and present. In so doing we
have no desire to hold up these cases as worthy of imitation, for they
are exceptional and not necessary in every-day life. We mention them
merely to show to what wonderful extent development along these lines is
possible.
In India, in the past, the sacred books were committed to memory, and
handed down from teacher to student, for ages. And even to-day it is no
uncommon thing for the student to be able to repeat, word for word, some
voluminous religious work equal in extent to the New Testament. Max
Muller states that the entire text and glossary of Panini's Sanscrit
grammar, equal in extent to the entire Bible, were handed down orally
for several centuries before being committed to writing. There are
Brahmins to-day who have committed to memory, and who can repeat at
will, the entire collection of religious poems known as the
_Mahabarata_, consisting of over 300,000 _slokas_ or verses. Leland
states that, "the Slavonian minstrels of the present day have by heart
with remarkable accuracy immensely long epic poems. I have found the
same among Algonquin Indians whose sagas or mythic legends are
interminable, and yet are committed word by word accurately. I have
heard in England of a lady ninety years of age whose memory was
miraculous, and of which extraordinary instances are narrated by her
friends. She attributed it to the fact that when young she had been made
to learn a verse from the Bible every day, and then constantly review
it. As her memory improved, she learned more, the result being that in
the end she could repeat from memory any verse or chapter called for in
the whole Scripture."
It is related that Mithridates, the ancient warrior-king, knew the name
of every soldier in his great army, and conversed fluently in
twenty-two dialects. Pliny relates that Charmides could repeat the
contents of every book in his large library. Hortensius, the Roman
orator, had a remarkable memory which enabled him to retain and
recollect the exact words of his opponent's argument, without making a
single notation. On a wager, he attended a great auction sale which
lasted over an entire day, and then called off in their proper order
every object sold, the name of its purchaser, and the price thereof.
Seneca is said to have acquired the ability to memorize several thousand
proper names, and to repeat them in the order in which they had been
given him, and also to reverse the order and call off the list backward.
He also accomplished the feat of listening to several hundred persons,
each of whom gave him a verse; memorizing the same as they proceeded;
and then repeating them word for word in the exact order of their
delivery--and then reversing the process, with complete success.
Eusebius stated that only the memory of Esdras saved the Hebrew
Scriptures to the world, for when the Chaldeans destroyed the
manuscripts Esdras was able to repeat them, word by word to the
scribes, who then reproduced them. The Mohammedan scholars are able to
repeat the entire text of the Koran, letter perfect. Scaliger committed
the entire text of the Iliad and the Odyssey, in three weeks. Ben Jonson
is said to have been able to repeat all of his own works from memory,
with the greatest ease.
Bulwer could repeat the Odes of Horace from memory. Pascal could repeat
the entire Bible, from beginning to end, as well as being able to recall
any given paragraph, verse, line, or chapter. Landor is said to have
read a book but once, when he would dispose of it, having impressed it
upon his memory, to be recalled years after, if necessary. Byron could
recite all of his own poems. Buffon could repeat his works from
beginning to end. Bryant possessed the same ability to repeat his own
works. Bishop Saunderson could repeat the greater part of Juvenal and
Perseus, all of Tully, and all of Horace. Fedosova, a Russian peasant,
could repeat over 25,000 poems, folk-songs, legends, fairy-tales, war
stories, etc., when she was over seventy years of age. The celebrated
"Blind Alick," an aged Scottish beggar, could repeat any verse in the
Bible called for, as well as the entire text of all the chapters and
books. The newspapers, a few years ago, contained the accounts of a man
named Clark who lived in New York City. He is said to have been able to
give the exact presidential vote in each State of the Union since the
first election. He could give the population in every town of any size
in the world either present or in the past providing there was a record
of the same. He could quote from Shakespeare for hours at a time
beginning at any given point in any play. He could recite the entire
text of the Iliad in the original Greek.
The historical case of the unnamed Dutchman is known to all students of
memory. This man is said to have been able to take up a fresh newspaper;
to read it all through, including the advertisements; and then to repeat
its contents, word for word, from beginning to end. On one occasion he
is said to have heaped wonder upon wonder, by repeating the contents of
the paper backward, beginning with the last word and ending with the
first. Lyon, the English actor, is said to have duplicated this feat,
using a large London paper and including the market quotations, reports
of the debates in Parliament, the railroad time-tables and the
advertisements. A London waiter is said to have performed a similar
feat, on a wager, he memorizing and correctly repeating the contents of
an eight-page paper. One of the most remarkable instances of
extraordinary memory known to history is that of the child Christian
Meinecken. When less than four years of age he could repeat the entire
Bible; two hundred hymns; five thousand Latin words; and much
ecclesiastical history, theory, dogmas, arguments; and an encyclopædic
quantity of theological literature. He is said to have practically
retained every word that was read to him. His case was abnormal, and he
died at an early age.
John Stuart Mill is said to have acquired a fair knowledge of Greek, at
the age of three years, and to have memorized Hume, Gibbon, and other
historians, at the age of eight. Shortly after he mastered and
memorized Herodotus, Xenophon, some of Socrates, and six of Plato's
"Dialogues." Richard Porson is said to have memorized the entire text of
Homer, Horace, Cicero, Virgil, Livy, Shakespeare, Milton, and Gibbon. He
is said to have been able to memorize any ordinary novel at one careful
reading; and to have several times performed the feat of memorizing the
entire contents of some English monthly review. De Rossi was able to
perform the feat of repeating a hundred lines from any of the four great
Italian poets, provided he was given a line at random from their
works--his hundred lines following immediately after the given line. Of
course this feat required the memorizing of the entire works of those
poets, and the ability to take up the repetition from any given point,
the latter feature being as remarkable as the former. There have been
cases of printers being able to repeat, word for word, books of which
they had set the type. Professor Lawson was able to teach his classes on
the Scriptures without referring to the book. He claimed that if the
entire stock of Bibles were to be destroyed, he could restore the book
entire, from his memory.
Rev. Thomas Fuller is said to have been able to walk down a long London
street, reading the names of the signs on both sides; then recalling
them in the order in which they had been seen, and then by reversing the
order. There are many cases on record of persons who memorized the words
of every known tongue of civilization, as well as a great number of
dialects, languages, and tongues of savage races. Bossuet had memorized
the entire Bible, and Homer, Horace and Virgil beside. Niebuhr, the
historian, was once employed in a government office, the records of
which were destroyed. He, thereupon, restored the entire contents of the
book of records which he had written--all from his memory. Asa Gray knew
the names of ten thousand plants. Milton had a vocabulary of twenty
thousand words, and Shakespeare one of twenty-five thousand. Cuvier and
Agassiz are said to have memorized lists of several thousand species and
varieties of animals. Magliabechi, the librarian of Florence, is said
to have known the location of every volume in the large library of which
he was in charge; and the complete list of works along certain lines in
all the other great libraries. He once claimed that he was able to
repeat titles of over a half-million of books in many languages, and
upon many subjects.
In nearly every walk of life are to be found persons with memories
wonderfully developed along the lines of their particular occupation.
Librarians possess this faculty to an unusual degree. Skilled workers in
the finer lines of manufacture also manifest a wonderful memory for the
tiny parts of the manufactured article, etc. Bank officers have a
wonderful memory for names and faces. Some lawyers are able to recall
cases quoted in the authorities, years after they have read them.
Perhaps the most common, and yet the most remarkable, instances of
memorizing in one's daily work is to be found in the cases of the
theatrical profession. In some cases members of stock companies must not
only be able to repeat the lines of the play they are engaged in acting
at the time, but also the one that they are rehearsing for the following
week, and possibly the one for the second week. And in repertoire
companies the actors are required to be "letter-perfect" in a dozen or
more plays--surely a wonderful feat, and yet one so common that no
notice is given to it.
In some of the celebrated cases, the degree of recollection manifested
is undoubtedly abnormal, but in the majority of the cases it may be seen
that the result has been obtained only by the use of natural methods and
persistent exercise. That wonderful memories may be acquired by anyone
who will devote to the task patience, time and work, is a fact generally
acknowledged by all students of the subject. It is not a _gift_, but
something to be won by effort and work along scientific lines.