HOW TO SEE AND REMEMBER 



salary amounted to only eight hundred francs (60 

 dollars), half of which I spent upon my studies; on the 

 other half I lived miserably enough to be sure. My 

 lodging, which cost eight francs a month was a wretched 

 garret without a fire, where I shivered with cold in 

 winter and was scorched with the heat in summer. My 

 breakfast consisted of rye-meal porridge and my dinner 

 never cost more than two pence. But nothing spurs one 

 on to study more than misery and the certain prospect 

 of being able to release oneself from it by unremitting 

 work. 



"I applied myself with extraordinary diligence to 

 the study of English. Necessity taught me a method 

 which greatly facilitates the study of a language. This 

 method consists in reading a great deal aloud, without 

 making a translation, taking a lesson every day, con- 

 stantly writing essays upon subjects of interest, cor- 

 recting these under the supervision of a teacher, learn- 

 ing them by heart, and repeating in the next lesson 

 what was corrected on the previous day. My memory 

 was bad, since from my childhood it had not been ex- 

 ercised upon any object; but I made use of every mo- 

 ment, and even stole time for study. In order to acquire 

 a good pronunciation quickly, I went twice every Sun- 

 day to the English church, and repeated to myself in a 

 low voice every word of the clergyman's sermon. I 

 never went on my errands, even in the rain, without 

 having my book in my hand and learning something 

 by heart; and I never waited at the post-office without 

 reading. 



"By such methods I gradually strengthened my 



[95] 



