For the past ten years I have printed in my large prospectus a general
view of my meaning. I will reproduce most of those views here, premising
that I have never suggested that books are to be _learned by heart_, but
only the _important_, _useful_ portions of them--such as are new to the
reader and which he may desire to retain.
I do not mean such books as Bradshaw's Guide, the London Post-Office
Directory, or any other mere collection of names, addresses, statistics,
&c., which one may have occasion to _consult_, but which it would be the
mere bravado of Memory to learn by heart--though even this is possible
enough to the master of my System. What is one's object in reading a
book? Simply to retain the IDEAS in it that are NEW and USEFUL to him,
as well as the NEW USES that are therein set forth of _old_ and
_familiar_ ideas. If the reader is already partly acquainted with a
book, there will be fewer new ideas in it than in one with which he is
unacquainted. Now, what do I mean by Learning either of these books in
one reading? I mean exactly what I say. All that you desire to remember
shall be retained--all the leading or subordinate ideas, propositions,
illustrations, facts, &c., &c.
There are only two ways of learning a book in this thorough manner:
(1) _The first_ is the traditional method of learning by _rote_ or
endless repetition. A celebrated Coach in Anatomy says that no one can
learn Anatomy until he has learned and _forgotten_ it from three to
seven times! In learning any book in this way, each sentence would be
repeated over and over again, and then reviewed and _re_learnt and
forgotten and learned again! And then at last the Pupil if he possesses
a first-rate _cramming_ memory might answer questions on it. In learning
a book by _rote_, the number of times that each sentence and section is
repeated, if actually written out and printed, would doubtless cover
5,000 to 50,000 or more pages!--and even then the Pupil passes his
examination, if he really does "pass," partly by luck and partly by
merit; all his life he is constantly referring to it, and repeating it,
and studying it, over and over again--showing really that he possesses
little more than a Reference Memory in regard to it! But let us be
candid and confess the truth; tens of thousands every year and during
successive years try the various professions--law, medicine, divinity,
or sciences, history, &c., &c., and utterly fail to "pass," even
respectably, because they lack the extraordinary sensuous MEMORY
necessary to acquire knowledge by _rote_.
It is only the exceptionally powerful natural memories that win at
exacting examinations by _rote_--even then their learning is soon
forgotten, unless it is _perpetually renewed_.
(2) The other mode of learning any book in the thorough manner I have
indicated, whether it be a book in which the reader finds but _few_
novel ideas or where they are _all new_, as in a scientific or technical
work, is by my Method. In fact, I believe no one can learn any book so
thoroughly by _rote_, even if he possesses a marvellous Natural Memory
and if he peruse it ever so many times, as my Pupils can by my method in
a single perusal. Let the reader note that my System has two important
aspects--(1) It is a Device or Method of memorising or learning any
facts whatever--prose, poetry, dates, data, formulae and facts and
principles of the sciences, &c., &c., &c., or anything whatsoever to be
remembered. (2) There is another equally, if not _more_ important aspect
of it, namely, as a _Trainer or Strengthener of the Natural Memory_ to
any extent the pupil wishes to carry it. And the Natural Memory is so
strengthened by the use of the System, that as a Device, the System is
no longer required. You then remember from your new Memory-power without
taking any pains to remember, and I am happy to add that the diligent
student can derive the full benefit of the System as a Memory Trainer by
learning the lessons in the way I point out.
Now, those who have thus derived the _full benefit_ of the System, both
as a Device for memorising and also as a Memory Trainer, _are the
persons who can learn a book in one reading_. "Reading" is used by
Coaches in a technical sense; that is, synonymous with "thorough study."
By a "single" or "one reading," I mean a single careful perusal _in
conformity to the requirements of my System_. I do not mean that they
can do this and doze during the process.
I now reproduce most of the plan always adopted in dealing with books
whose contents, or the unfamiliar portions of them are to be mastered.
(1) You will not read the book with the _rapidity_ with which some young
ladies are said to devour the latest novel. They are often suspected of
skipping pages at a time in order to discover the different stages of a
plot, until a thoroughly aroused curiosity compels them to hasten at
once to the last chapter to fall upon the denouement. This is not the
style of perusal I contemplate.
(2) Nor is it to be supposed because you understand the method that it
will therefore work itself. It has to be _applied_ carefully and
methodically _at least once_. This necessarily demands _time_,
especially at first. Those who possess good health and good continuity,
and a mastery of the System, accomplish the retention of a work in
vastly less time than would be possible for them without the System, and
the study is a pleasure instead of a task. On the other hand, those who
are in the possession of poor health or of weak concentration, or who
are overburdened with business anxieties, domestic cares or competitive
worries, would very seldom, if ever, master any book in the ordinary way
by _mere repetition_. These persons are extremely unfavourably situated
to do justice to the System, and it costs them more time and trouble to
master a book than the former class. A student admitted that he had
carefully read a manual of English History completely through _sixteen_
times, and then failed in the examination. To have obtained a lasting
knowledge of this History by my method would probably have occupied him
as long as he was formerly engaged in _two or three_ of the sixteen
fruitless perusals of it. There is, however, only one difference between
this unfortunate student and the great majority of those who succeed in
the examinations through _cramming_. He forgot all his historical
knowledge _before_ the examination--they usually forget theirs shortly
_after_. In fact, a student or a man in advanced years who has really
mastered any book so that he never has to refer to it again is a wonder.
Take the memories of members of the learned professions--they are
usually only REFERENCE memories. They know where to _find_ the coveted
knowledge, but they do not _possess_ it or _retain_ it in their minds.
On the other hand, the student who masters a book by my method _really
knows_ the contents of it, and he is thus enabled to devote to other
purposes _an enormous amount of time in the future_ that other people
have to spend in _perpetually refreshing_ their superficial
acquirements. Moreover, the average student who has carried out _all_ my
instructions can even _now_ learn as much by my Method in any stated
time as he could learn without my Method, and _with equal thoroughness_
in many, many times as long a period! And if any one who has been
pressed for time, or who has been in a panic about an impending
examination, or who has been too much troubled with Discontinuity, too
ill in general health, or too idle, to do more than superficially glance
at my lessons--if any such person doubts his competency to accomplish as
much as the diligent student of average ability has done, then let him
turn back and really and truly MASTER my System [for he does not even
KNOW what my System is until he has faithfully carried out to the very
letter all my instructions, unless he has been a pupil of my oral
lectures], and then and not before he will probably find that the
achievements of the average diligent student of my System are quite
within the easy range and scope of his own powers.
(3) In regard to the _subject matter_ of the book, you do not care to
occupy yourself with what you are _already familiar_ with, and in most
books there are a great many things that you already know. In many
works, too, there is a great deal of padding-matter inserted to increase
the bulk of the book, and possessing no permanent interest. The
expositions and explanations which enable you to _understand_ the new
matter usually take up a large part of the book, and sometimes much the
largest part of it, and are not to be memorised, but only understood
with a sole view to appreciate the valuable and important parts of the
book--these expositions can be learned if desired--but they usually
serve only a preliminary purpose. There is also very much
_repetition_--the same matter in new dress, is reintroduced for sake of
additional comments or applications. You do not trouble yourself with
these iterations. The contents of a book which demand your attention are
the IDEAS which are NEW to you, or the NEW USES made of familiar ideas.
Students who have not learned to exercise any independent thought often
confess that in reading any book they are always in a maze. One thing
seems just as important as another. To them the wheat looks exactly like
the chaff. As an illustration that the power of Analysis is entirely
wanting in many cases, I may mention that I once received a letter in
which the writer had literally copied one of my column advertisements,
and then added, "Please send me what relates to the above!" A modicum of
mental training would have led him to say, "Kindly send me your
Prospectus."