An Improved System of Mnemonics/Preface
PREFACE.
IN introducing this system to the Public, the Author feels the necessity of stating the motives that chiefly influenced him, in presuming to appear before so high a tribunal.
Having delivered Lectures upon Mnemonics, in most of the principal towns in the kingdom; whercin he unfolded their general principles, and particular arrangements, with instructions how to adapt them to many of the leading branches of literature; he had the pleasure of observing the gratification, which the knowledge of the art gave to the greater part of those that attended him, who were generally anxious in their enquiries, whether he meant to publish the system, which they conceived would be useful as a book of reference, either to direct their own operations, or instruct their families; not a work merely to explain the theory, but in it also to furnish associations for several subjects, that are frequently studied, and by many deemed essential to a good education.
To render it useful, this latter part was considered indispensable; for although the ingenuity, and utility of Mnemonics were generally admitted, yet objections were often started to them, by stating the difficulty, or apparent difficulty, of making proper or suitable combinations, which the art required.
These objections were urged, particularly by those persons, that were either engaged in business, or other pursuits, who were desirous of commiting the assimilations to memory, but were not inclined to take the trouble of making them.
Although the Author conceives himself to be unequal to an attempt of this kind, either to gain reputation for himself, or to illustrate the advantages of the system; yet, thus solicited on one side—and strongly convinced himself on the other, that his arrangements may be found useful; he ventures to offer them to the world, with all those hopes and fears, which generally assail a writer, that feels an honest anxiety to gain public support.
As the culprit who pleads his own cause, if he knows any thing of human nature, is desirous of ingratiating himself with his judges; so, many Authors actuated by similar motives; anxious to mitigate the severity of criticism, endeavour to effect their purpose by well told tales of pressing occupations,—urgent invitations to publish, &c. &c. occasioning the premature birth of their embryo muse,---exposing it to the inclemencies of the Northern blast, ere they had cloathed the first rude essay of their minds!—Thus rendering it difficult to discriminate between those, who are really so situated, and those who are only poetically so.
The writer of these pages knows, that if he attempted to divert the Critic's censure, by similar declarations, that (generally considered) he has no means of securing himself from the usual charge of cautious fiction; but his friends—his acquaintance, will, he feels confident, recognize the veracity of his assertions; when he states, that situated as he has been for some time; residing in a town scarcely more than a fortnight at one period—a considerable portion of his time engaged in passing from place to place, often at great distances—Lecturing—preparing for Lecturing, &c. &c.---that his writing must be so frequently interrupted, as materially to derange that continuous chain of thought, which is necessary to be preserved, in giving effect to the most simple operations of the mind. Such has been his case throughout this little work, which he hopes will plead in his favour for the imperfections that may be found in it.
Although a considerable part of this System is the result of the Author's own efforts: he has neither the folly, nor the vanity, to lay claim to originality for the outlines of it.---The leading principles, are the same as those practised by the Greeks and Romans; that were applied by no less a personage than the accomplished Cicero, who did not consider it to be unworthy of the dignity of his mind, to call in the assistance of art, to aid the eminent powers he possessed from Nature.
Various ingenious treatises on Mnemonies have been published within the last three hundred years, in France, Germany, Rome, Venice, Franckfort, and England; but the general cultivation of the art, appears to have been suspended for some time, until its recent revival in Germany; an account of which may be seen in the Philosophical Magazine of December 1806---It states that the science of Mnemonics was then taught with great eclat in Germany, by M. Aretin, who may be accounted the restorer of it: that he had permitted a pupil of his, M. Kæstner, a Clergyman, to teach it at Leipsic; but exacting a promise from him, not to suffer his pupils to write down his Lectures.
In the year 1807, Mr. Feinaigle, a native of Germany, publicly taught the system at Paris; since which period he visited England, and has met that encouragement which ingenuity and talent generally receives in this country. To that ingenious foreigner we are indebted for the revival here, of a useful branch of knowledge; or rather a useful system, to enable us to acquire knowledge with greater facility; and although we may not be disposed to admit its importance, to the extent he announces; it must be allowed by all who have studied and applied it, to be materially useful in many subjects.
To Mr. Feinnigle's Basis of the Mnemonic art, the writer of these pages owes a considerable portion of his.---The foundation he gratefully acknowledges he derived from him, by attending a course of his Lectures; the superstructure has been raised by himself. He found that Gentleman's plan truly ingenious in many parts; although he cannot avoid observing, that it had (not merely to himself but to many others) a most formidable and unwieldy aspect at first view. As nothing human is perfect, and as plans and systems devised by the greatest geniuses, have often received helps from very moderate talent; the writer had the boldness to attempt improvements; whether he has succeeded or not, the Public, or that part of it which is acquainted with Mr. Feinaigle's method, and his, must decide.
To shew that real improvement, and not change, was his object; he has adopted those parts of Mr. F.'s system, which he conceived desirable; although it would be easy, so to new mould the whole design, as to make it have very little appearance of the plan taught by him. But as the writer knew, that a portion of the intellectual part of the community had attended Mr. Feinaigle's Lectures, he sought to make such changes as would be efficient, and at the same time render it tolerably easy for those persons, to adopt the present arrangement (if they felt its importance) without much difficulty.
He has therefore retained several of the consonants used by Mr. F. to represent figures; as he found that they would answer the intended purposes, as well as any others he could select; but to give an equality of strength to that part of the system, he was necessitated to make some changes, which renders their powers more equable.---He found that by his arrangement, some figures were capable of being expressed by twenty or thirty times the number of words, that could be found for others; this has been remedied in a great degree by the present alteration. He has also given characters for millions, thousands, and fractions; not done by Mr. F.
The symbols he has entirely changed for others that he has found to be superior; the advantages resulting from this change cannot be duly appreciated by any, but those who have become tolerably familiar with the system. The Mnemonic student will feel the force of his remarks when he observes, that symbols are devised to be the repositories of our thoughts, to aid our recollection, by referring to them as the media of reminiscence; two principal things are therefore necessary to be attended to in their choice.
1st. That they should be of that nature, which may enable the person who applies them, to commit them quickly to memory; and also to recal them in any order that may be required, with as little mental exertion as possible.
2dly. That they should possess the qualities, of being readily made subservient to our various purposes, in all the combinations to which they may be applied.
To effect the first object, Mr. Feiuaigle formed his symbols in the same manner as Joannes Romberch's, published at Venice in 1562--intending them to represent in form, the arithmetical figures in the order of their notation; in this he has succeeded only to a certain extent; the first eleven, and a few others, are tolerably well managed, but in the greater part the student derives but little help from that source. Indeed, to succeed in a very indifferent degree in delineating them, it is evident that they must be very much distorted, and it is necessary to have recourse to confused and heterogeneous assemblages, to be able to produce any thing like resemblance.
In this point, the symbols used in the following work will be found (the writer flatters himself) decidedly superior; as the attentive perusal of his third chapter he thinks will prove.
In the second object, which is of greater importance than the former, he thinks himself still more successful; for nearly the whole of his symbols are the portraits of human beings, intended for Mnemonic reanimation; or Gods and Goddesses, that can readily he made either mortal or immortal, as we may require; whereas Mr. F. has thirty-one, that are inanimate; such as finger posts, mausoleums, or fire engines; and eleven, that are quadrupeds, &c.; in all, forty-two out of one hundred.
As it is desirable, that these symbols should be as potent as possible, they will be found useful, in proportion to their approximation to our own characters and feelings, real or assumed. To be the depositories of our thoughts, they should be able to think, they should have the powers of locomotion and action. Thus Gods, Goddesses, and human beings, are superior to sensitive or irrational animals: those are again superior to inanimate substances. Human beings can be made to express every thing that we wish to impose upon senseless objects; whilst the latter cannot, with even Æsopian powers, be made succedaneums for the former. We frequently require our symbols to reason, to talk, run, sing, dance, leap, &c.
&c, which cannot be very conveniently done by a "looking-glass" or a "pillar."
In this view of them, the author disapproves of the few of his own, that are of a similar description: to make use of his seventh symbol, the Oak, he is very frequently obliged to suppose a boy or a man in it; which being out of the natural order, may be forgotten; as not being a permanent object---Mount Ida answers his purpose, by selecting Paris or Venus occasionally; as the ship Argo is found tolerably efficient, by employing Jason.---Those are the whole of his inanimate symbols. He has also only five of inferior animals, that are upon a par with any of a similar class in Mr. Feinaigle's.
In Geography, Mr. F. independent of his Mnemonic aids, wishes to appear as a reformer of the "unscientific method" of having East and West longitudes instead of being all East.---To have also a certain general meridian; disapproving of the practice of modern nations in selecting their own capitals, &c. as the points from which they make their calculations.
This is only reviving the old method, practised when geography was imperfectly known, before the discovery of the Western hemisphere, when a certain line, supposed to be the extreme of the earth on that side, was assumed as its boundary; when all to the right or East of it, was then the most easy way of calculating distances. But the discoveries of Columbus, and the demonstration of the spherical form of the earth, have rendered the terms East and West purely relative. But even admitting the neatness, or partial superiority of that mode, it is objectionable in this country, or any other, where long established custom has stamped the seal of authority upon a different plan. To commit to memory the longitudes of places from Ferro, would subject the student (if he wished to be understood by others) to the unpleasant task of always adding or subtracting the difference of 18 degrees. Thus a place, which he says is 37 degrees East longitude from Ferro; to reduce it to the English meridian, he is forced to deduct 18 degrees from it, leaving 19 degrees; as a place 45 degrees east from London, to recognize its position, he is obliged to add 18 degrees to it, to know that it is 63 degrees from Ferro. The adherence to the scheme of all East longitude is still more complicated. The mode of proceeding is thus described by a person who professes to give the substance of Mr. F's, lectures.
"If (by our common method) a place be described in longitude 121 degrees west of London, to reduce it to the meridian from Ferro, 121 degrees must be subtracted from 180 degrees (the whole number of degrees West) the remainder is 59, which, added to 180 degrees, and the 18 degrees difference between the calculation from London and Ferro will give the product 257 degrees---a place then which is 121 degrees West of London may be said to be 257 degrees East of Ferro, this process is at once simple and correct!"
After this quotation, it will be unnecessary to advance a single sentence about its simplicity!---A child practising according to this plan, would be very expert in describing the distances of places, to another, not in the secret.
In the Geographical part of this work, a different plan will be pursued; the meridian of London adopted, with East and West longitudes, the exact distances of the principal parts of the world associated; which were not in any one instance done by Mr. F.; who merely exhibited a few desultory assimilations, by which plan the student could tell only the distance of a place, within 10 degrees of longitude or latitude, or at best could only guess at its situation in a square of 10 degrees.
Mr. Feinaigle's historical arrangement is also objected to; as being too diffuse, requiring a greater number of apartments than any individual can command. His directions to imagine other rooms, will be found (if practicable) very inferior, to having the repesitories of our thoughts actually before us when we employ them. Many other parts of the system have undergone similar changes, which the Author hopes will be found improvements.
On every subject connected with Education, there will be a considerable diversity of opinions amongst men of enlightened minds and liberal characters; therefore a general approval of this work is not anticipated by the writer.---Some will always disapprove, that they may shew their superiority, or display their critical powers; others again, he has known, who in one sweeping attack, would not allow a single portion of Mnemonics to be useful; who, when interrogated to point out the defects, shewed that they were completely ignorant of the whole system. Such, or similar characters, are happily described by Dr. Johnson:---"There are some men (says the Doctor) of narrow views and grovelling conceptions; who, without the instigation of personal malice, treat every new attempt as wild and chimerical; and look upon every endeavour to depart from the beaten track as the rash effort of a warm imagination, or the glittering speculation of an exalted mind, that may please and dazzle for a time, but can produce no real or lasting advantages. These men value themselves upon a perpetual scepticism, upon believing nothing but their own senses, upon calling for demonstration where it cannot possibly be obtained; and sometimes upon holding out against it, when it it is laid before them. Upon inventing arguments against the success of any new undertaking, and when arguments cannot be found, treating it with contempt and ridicule. Such have been the most formidable opposers of the diffusion of knowledge, for their notions and discourses are so agreeable to the lazy, the envious, or the timorous, that they seldom fail of becoming popular, and directing the opinions of mankind."