The world was made so various that the mind of desultory man, studious vf change and pleased with novelty, might be indu1ged.--Co'TPErj
Vol1..
RALEIGH, N. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 4833.
No. 31.
' PUBLISHED, WEEKLY,
13y Master LEON1DAS B. LfiMAY,
at $i 50 per annum. -Advertisements
inserted at the usual rates.
roi the Micaocositf.
LETTERS ON EDUCATION!'
No. 7.
Mr. Editor, - ' ' ' ' "
Nunc tid thesaurum invirttorurnt at
que omnium pai-tium rhelorica& dustodem",
moriam" Rhet.dd Her en. III. .;.
'The tnemory is the store-house of
of the mind," and education must furnish it
with goods: for 'no man out of an evil trea
sury .bringeth forthgood things. Thisia
cplty is next to reason in importance; its cul
tivation generally occupies the largest share
of our schooldays; we practise it every mo
ment of life and draw from it the materials of
till our actions:! ought it not then to be well
understood,afrCCtlya.trained and carefully
-furnished; -;
'iW-powers of pemory appear to be al
most inerediblei, it is nevertheless true that
it jtan. be "exercised to.' a prodgiqus" extent.
Aigo'iemeiiTed.Jls-inMfFlIIyses after
aj'absence, of -Iwentx'-yearsl'; liven -in. the
ifrute creation examples of reaTOemory oc-Ltr?he-sam4atuTal5treh.
of recogni
' Ion is foundhmong ;thV Indiaji tribes. I n
tievapnals .fef. isr);-Ther'i3toclesf and
, 'dhenf101' gvfl9Ias:arc ?d is$&e$eBcca
beredjlbe rmmesVKivfe.ssollj.tiie soldiers
who served under their XJosaman'd. -v Students
kWvnfohaver memorised extensive
ere
works4! many have been able to repeat the
whole oftbe Bible , and: New Testament.
Short hand writers and reporters, usually ac
auire .almost unlimited facility to recollect
the substance and expressions of the variorfs
speeches to which they attend in the course
of a day. I have known "a child memorise
four buiidred lines of Phoedrus in two hours;
Persons in busiliess afe frequently met with
who never forget the features they have once
seen. ' - ..,'-'.'- ' . ' )
The committing to memory of words, facts,
dates 2ihust
habit
not be confounded with the
cf retaining them, l am inclined to
think that the former ban be improved by ex
ercise, of the latter I am doubtful. One mer
chant may have larger store room than an
other, butiie can place in it no more goods
loan it 'will eorltait' .
The various -phenomena tf memory'rnay
all be resolved into the association offideas.
Malebranche, l belie ve 'first; observed it,
Locke, Hume, & Stewart have written large
ly on the connection of ideas', but have nol
demonstrated how they are linked together.
Some ideas are connected naturally as round
ness and hardness with a marble ball, or the
roots, branches and leaves with the trunk of
a tieet. others are arbitrarily united as good
ness and learning vith a" particular friend;
to blend the idea of justice with that of the'
trunk of a tree would be still more arbitrary
as mpr remote from mature. Necessary con
nectionsexist between ideas, when the one
includes or implies, the 'existence of the oth-"
. ers; thus the idea cu a steei Knue necessari-i-
ly connects the associated ideas of steel,
knife, handle, blade. &c. '
as one idea composed of parts, or as' objects
constituting one idea; its unity arisingJrora
the act of perception, (for the mind cannot
form two acts at once) and its division aris
ing from the analysis'of the attention which
separates the unity into fractions.- A group
.of figures in a picture would easily illustrate
my opinion: the group is unity, the figures
;"ar$ the fractions, and when the mind recalls
the idea, it cannot recall one fraction (or fig
ure) without conceiving , the whole unity; or
group; Thus the Geometrician cannot con
ceive the idea of angle or side in a triangle
L without having the idea of a whole triangle.
and the simplicity and unity ot every iaea or
act of the mind, (taken simpliciter in actu
quantum sit actus) is admitted by all philos
ophers, as the simple modification of an un-
compourided energy. I therefore consider the
association of ideas to be the effect of per
ception aided by attention. And if we ad
mit this theory to be true, there will be no
difficulty injdemonstrating all the phenomena
of memory, or shewing why one idea sug
gests a thousand others.
Getting by heart, as it is sometimes called,
(perhaps to signify the heart-felt attention
necessary to the performance) is nothing
more than connecting ideas by. place, order
or time. The more vigorous the perception
and more vivid the attention, the stronger
; will be the associatian "and the more durable
1 the im0tesibr4To?em6ise written or
prfRte&IagB ideas i of
vvoras- in successive oruer a uu piace:
eachsepariiwoHpth it
precedes iri!;3ojQH succs
sion.jHerejtfieieJi the
best memDrisers:djwhatis heard is better
.retained than aU&fredj because a larger
portion is comprehended into a single idea,
and the attention is better confined to that
exclusive act; because the voice of author
ity com mands more respect than the silfent
letters of a book. I
What Locke has observed i on memory
eem8 to confirm my opinion, for to fellow
his directions apupil must exercise his per
ceptive and attentive faculties with conside
rable energy. . He says "What ,the mind is
intent upon, and for fear of letting it slip of
ten imprintsafreshjpn itself by frequent reflec
tion, -that, it 'is pt to retain: but still, accniB
ing to its own natural strength of retention,
1 fear this facility of theHSin&is not capable
of much help and amendment in general, by
1 anSer at least
not by that used upon this pretence in gram-
-:inarschpc4s-Strength is ow
1 aai induced lr thiuk that all rdea,irhen
associated, are joined by the simple actof at
'teutive perception, the inind conceiYingthetn
... v ; roa the microcosx. ; ,;
y'i Master LEomDAS-fLate last"night I call--ed
t4 see.friend L but not finding aim ,
and seeing the following letter on the. tables,
I commenced copying, and as he did- not ai "
rive till 1 had' finished, I bandit you or pub
lication: ! -' ' .
i ( Raleigh, Dec. 23,1838, .
My dear Susan: -;; .. j -J
I The day , after to-morrqwv yrH '. -
be Christmas. This is the "time forjtrierry
making and keep-sake gifts. I send this
representative of myself to be merry with
you. -'- It is to remind; you cf a brother!. It is
to- recall to your mind gay scenes and jolly
moments now quietly slumbering bn the'
mighty surface of the past. I send it not as
; a keep-sake, but to supply its place. A
! keep'-sako is something sensible, tangible,
costly sometmng -supstanuaif possessing'
form land size, and is usually a neat 4 Annu
a," bound in morocco, garnished with gold,
embossed and embellished with thdnest .,
specimens of the pencil of art, embalming
beautiful delineationif the age and j geniun.
of romance, and suilSed over with the honi
ed inspiration jof.pby and passionj Such.,
a present is a fit, tplteh to commemorate ,not W
only j the kindKerifeelings of the donor,Tut vV
.i . J.i ! u: u .
me soiemniy Bfi owasiuu -vviiiuii cuusi;
crates theiviiyT' . .. . -
. At! Mr4tSghes?i Book Store may be found ; '
the gt?at6st(variety of these beautifui annual V.
proctiS'-of. sentiment, feelings jgenius,
and witaad it is a glorious' occasion : ibr
such tokens. Christmas, in truth, copies but
once a year; and for this reason should be es
teemed the more sacred. But, as I lam net
with
sure
5,
you, I am compelled to forego the plea-
it would afford me to endorse these as
surances of brotherly attachment with suita- ; .
ble and appropriate j presents. & I , rest 'corW .
the belief that you do "
appropriate
tented, however, on
vi rsf toaia. constitution, and not to eny
:habitual improvement got ny exercise." tie
here blames the injudicious practice of . Bu-
" rorean schools requiring youth tp commit! ft
memory lonsr and difficult gr?jnfflajs written
in the Latin language; which it was; usaal to 1
" exact "with thesstrictest ; rigor eyeafrpni the J
youngest students who were about
themselves to the learned languages
6d more likely ; to exhaust thari to rftr
thefacnlty
ha requires
tention-as me oesi uitiius ui mvusM .vr"r
firmest associations for connocfiftr iccrs
not naturall v united are probally thoaa
nlaceand ordehby which weaiily CIS
iects which we have -laid asldev and revive
iuea3 long aoseui uum utc usvw
not doubt my anxiety to do so. I know, too
that professions are but wordsbt jl pray
you to remember that words areihgrcpre-
sentati ve. of things; aud sin -e I can but give
you words, 1 do hope! they wilf pass tor mcnT .
than mere empty professions.- ' They are ic"
tended as keepsakes, which, though not pos
sessing form and devoid of all those dxternal
embcliishments of gold and glitter which u.
sually adorn Christmas gifts yet are inxious
to-pledge to you the rich gift of a brother's
heart; not the idle ceremony of professional . t
sttaebment, 'repeated to continue ouf inter- ,
cGurSe and coniiection a3 brother and sister
of the same family; jjul to exhibit the posi- v
tion of4rny f?elin in'the great chain ot sym
pathy which binds man to his fellow man' in
one universal philanthropy, and ppints out
how near an rcktivoly dear they are to-yott
arid yours. They aro intended to represent
toyou the fact ths iime and distance; docs "
not ca'nROt separate those near and 4ear by
.kindred tiesj'rospcted and .remembered by
to apply i viriuyu ir.-iu uu tuwcuicu uiuutai.'oy1;';(.
, a metLp '! !trriri ll..your Chrisjlraas pastime nnjd hllaN" '
Xove ' ity , l'eS la uc eoasiojBrea as one orypur par-
Irftquent, percopUod. cl'c at- j f-cnisi- happiest and,, lightarted.
r r. . tv PTr su hearts are nanDV- ana itonr
? i i i . o;
n ...Ptltllii.iraKff in every sport. singixur;,apoa-
0?$fcf5 tbrpsrsoaating every feeling andsympg 7
v TuiiiiK. - j 7 -; I-" ..-.-!,
abodepf ;mjr beloved; sisters. lJfecx.fcif l
wera; now- pfeseot, enioyin? ! thaffreatfisfc i-T
t. AJf OLD FIELD TEACIIER.
best boon to, man, sweet and afTecti3U2to CQa