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

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