Aids to Memory/Section IX

Mnemosyne, as recorded in the Greek mythology, was the Goddess of Memory, and the Daughter of Heaven and Earth. Mnemoneuo is the Greek verb which means to remember; and the term Mnemonics, the Science of Memory, is derived from it. The idea of Memory ​being "the Daughter of Heaven and Earth," is a beautiful one in its allegorical sense; for the faculty of memory not only exists in both worlds, but contributes to the attainment of one or other of the final states to which we are hastening. Compare 1 Cor. xv. 1, 2, with Ps. ix. 17. The legend may also be regarded in another light, for the art of memory is the united production of God and man, and has a Divine as well as a human origin. The Decalogue itself contains an absolute command to remember; and in order that man should be better able to obey it, the first glimpses of scientific memory were given him him by his Creator. Let us refer very briefly to the utterances of Revelation on this subject.

The very first chapter of Genesis contains the institution of the Sabbath. This was partly mnemonical in its character, for it served to remind the Jews of their religious privileges and obligations. Read Ex. xx. 8—11, and xxxi., 12, 13. The Christian festival answers the same purpose with us, and also recalls to our minds the Lord's triumphant resurrection.

Next we have the remarkable covenant with Noah. As God could not actually require to rest, but rested as an example to those who did require it, so He surely could have remembered without using a mnemonic contrivance. Yet He knew that His people needed it, and therefore He says, "The bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth." Read the whole account, Gen. ix. 8—17.

The stars shining in the heavens were reminders to Abraham of the promise made to him (Gen. xv. 5). ​The institution of the Passover, in Exodus xii., was also mnemonical; and in the following chapter, verses 8—16, mention is made of something not specially described, but which probably refers to the use of "phylacteries," or pieces of parchment containing records of the law. These are still worn by the Jews on the upper parts of the body, and on the arms, wrists, and hands. They are again referred to in Deut. xi. 18-21, and by Solomon, in Prov. iii. 1—4. The Pharisees were in the habit of making an ostentatious display of these reminders, instead of using them as appointed; hence Christ reproves them: "All their works they do to be seen of men; they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments" (Matt. xxiii. 5). The enlarging of "the borders of their garments" may be understood by referring to Numb. xv. 37—39, where the Lord orders a fringe to be used on the borders of their garments, that they "may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them."

Moses was commanded to make "holy garments" for Aaron. One of those was an ephod, on the shoulders of which two onyx-stones were to be placed. These stones were to contain the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, six on each, arranged according to their seniority. Aaron was then to "bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial." See Ex. xxviii. 2—12.

When the children of Israel had passed over Jordan, some very interesting mnemonic observances were commanded. The account is contained in the fourth chapter of Joshua.

One example of object memory from the New Testament has been given—that of St. Peter and the fig-tree. The same apostle's experiences include another striking instance. Jesus had said to him, "I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me." This ​is forgotten in his anxiety to secure his own safety; and after he had just supported a falsehood with oaths, he distinctly hears the crowing of a cock. Then, it is said, "the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly." (Luke xxii. 61, 62.)

Our Saviour could not have devised anything more likely to recall His words at the right time. There is a simplicity, as well as force, about the mnemonic agency employed, which appeals to our innate love of the beautiful.

The parables and general teaching of Christ sufficiently recognise His use of the known as a stepping-stone to the unknown. But His crowning mnemonic act was the institution of the Holy Communion, perpetuated by the command, "This do in remembrance of Me." The address with which the Anglican Church prepares communicants for the celebration and reception of the Holy Sacrament clearly recognises its mnemonic value. "To the end that we should alway remember the exceeding great love of our Master, and only Saviour, Jesus Christ, thus dying for us, and the innumerable benefits which by His precious blood-shedding. He hath obtained for us, He hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries, as pledges of His love, and for a continual remembrance of His death, to our great and endless comfort."

The parable of the "talents" teaches us to use our faculties, and not to hide them in the earth. And if the bright candle of memory is put "under a bushel," instead of being elevated to give general light, the Divine teaching is virtually disobeyed. "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James iv. 17.) The Scriptures are full of warnings against forgetfulness in spiritual things, such as that given to the Israelites, "Beware lest thou ​forget the Lord, who brought thee thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." (Deut. vi. 12.) The consequences of their forgetfulness are vividly portrayed in Psalm cvi. 7—43. The results of a bad memory in secular things are hardly less bitter. Many a youth's prospects in life are irretrievably crushed by his failures to remember acquired knowledge. Among the many lessons of his school life, one has been omitted which would have included all the others. He has not been taught how to remember.

The great law of mental association has been proved to be of Divine origin, and a feeble attempt made to adapt it to the intellectual wants of the age. It is only in the earnest and persevering use of Mnemonics that its full value can be realised. If the wise man be worth listening to when he says, "Get wisdom, get understanding, and forget it not; take fast hold of instruction, let her not go; keep her, for she is thy life," surely Mnemonics will not plead for disciples in vain.

It should ever be borne in mind that, although Memory and Perception are distinct general faculties, neither of them should be substituted for the other. The fact that we may know a thing, and yet not remember it, has been already proved. It requires no demonstration to understand that we cannot remember anything unless we know it, and it has made a distinct impression on the mind. Hence let us remember that the science of memory is by no means "a substitute for thought and application." As thought is quicker than speech, so the understanding is more powerful than the memory, and absorbs ideas faster than the mind can analyse, methodise, and retain them. The student has then a double task—to understand and to remember. By the help of Mnemonics, memory keeps pace with perception, and both work harmoniously. When the common writing was found inadequate for recording thought as fast as it was expressed, shorthand was invented; and when ordinary ​memory fails to register ideas as fast as they are perceived, it is quite as logical to use Mnemonics. "No scholar has," indeed, "ever been made or ever will be," without the same "thought and application" to study as heretofore; but we hope it is now evident that Mnemonics can "relieve the mind from that exhaustion which attends the incessant repetition of ideas, and thus enable its energies to be concentrated on purely intellectual acquirements."

The mechanical repetition of words in order to fix them on the memory has nothing "intellectual" in it. In fact, some people condemn learning by heart altogether, because the parrot-like recitations of many children evidence the association of sound without sense. Yet to ignore the value of verbatim memory is most absurd. Some persons can only rest in extremes. They will cram the minds of children with words without seeking to impress the meaning, and when this has failed as an educational scheme, they must needs reverse the entire process, and strive to impart the meaning without words, forgetting that the reflective powers can only be exercised on those things which are retained in the memory. "Wise men," says Solomon, "lay up knowledge," and are therefore not content with reasoning upon abstract conceptions. As knowledge can only be laid up in the memory, it becomes a duty so to arrange it that it may be easily reproduced. Mnemonics is the only true reconciler of the differences between memory and understanding. It stimulates imagination, attention, perception, and judgment, strengthens all the powers of the brain, and exerts a salutary influence over the feelings and affections of the individual.

"And what shall we more say?" The subject is an inexhaustible one, but the prescribed limits of our little book "would fail us to tell" of the further history, triumphs, advantages, and practicability of the Science of Memory. However gratifying it has been to ​the writer to express his sentiments on the twin subjects of memory and education, that gratification, like all other human pleasures, must have a limit. He cannot, however, drop his pen without enlisting the services of his readers in the defence, as well as in the practice, of Mnemonics. And this he will attempt to do in the conversational rather than the didactic form, furnishing effective arguments and illustrations in reply to anti-mnemonic objectors.