34 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



aspirant for historic knowledge cultivate Rawlinson for a sketch: 

 of ancient history ; then seek the companionship of Gibbon for 

 the centuries which span the fall of the Roman Empire and 

 the capture of Constantinople ; study Hallam for the middle 

 ages, and let Fisher or Ridpath crown the whole. Ploetz's 

 Epitome of Universal History is a marvel of condensation, and 

 Blair's Chronology is worth more than its weight in gold for 

 the framework it affords of ancient and modern history. By 

 this time the field is open for the histories of nations and epochs. 



As to the use of mnemonic methods, judgments differ. If 

 one must undergo great labor in mastering the complicated 

 machinery w^hich these systems often involve, why not expend 

 that force directly upon the task. Wide-awake, persistent effort 

 will accomplish great things, while reliance upon artificial sug- 

 gestions only serves to impose fresh burdens upon the memory. 

 "In what year was the battle of Waterloo fought?" asked a 

 highly accomplished pedagogue. " I don't know," was the 

 intelligent response. To which the rejoinder : " It's simple 

 enough if you only \vould learn how to cultivate artificial mem- 

 ory. Remember the twelve apostles. Add half that number 

 to them. That's eighteen. Multiply that by one hundred. 

 That's eighteen hundred. Take the twelve apostles again. 

 Add a quarter of their number to them. That's fifteen. Add 

 to -what you've got. That's 1S15. That's the date. Quite 

 simple, }■ ou see, to remember dates if you will adopt my system !" 



And yet the memory does find assistance in little tricks of 

 association, one of the most natural being the simple grouping 

 of events. It is not very nice to connect the first great Ameri- 

 can financial panic, and the Canadian Rebellion with the accession 

 of Her Gracious Majesty to the throne, but most perversely the 

 the year 1837 calls up those three events. It is natural to 

 associate the discovery of America, the conquest of Granada 

 and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, with 1492. There 

 is not much in the opening of the Greek war for independence 

 to suggest the death of Napoleon, but they both mark the year 

 1S21. The English Wellington and the American Webster 

 died in 1S52. The American Irving and the English Macaulay 



