Now let him realise how he did this. It was because he made use of the cementing Laws of the Memory. He sought out and found the relations between the words. By thinking of those relations, he exercised his intellect on those words in a double way—the meaning and the sound of the words were considered and then the similarities of meaning and of sound were noticed. A vivid First Impression was thus received from the words themselves and from the relations between them and an easy and certain recall thereby assured.
Now recall the series in an inverse order, beginning with “Fieldhand,” and going back to “Building.” You do it easily, because each word was cemented to its predecessor and its successor, and hence it makes no difference whether you go forward or backward. When, however, you learn by rote you know the task as you learned it, and not in the reverse way. Before proceeding, repeat the ten words from memory, from “Building” to “Fieldhand,” and the reverse way, at least five times; each time, if possible, more rapidly than before. These repetitions are not to learn the series; for this has been done already, but it is to consolidate the effect of learning it in the right way.
SECOND LAW OF MEMORY.
Fieldhand. Millionnaire. } Ex.
A fieldhand is a labourer who lives by the sweat of his brow, and eats not what he does not earn. A Millionnaire is at the opposite pole, and can have a superabundance of all things. It is a case of opposition. Where two ideas pertain to one and the same idea, but occupy opposite relations in regard to it, it is a case of Exclusion. The means of subsistence is the common idea and Fieldhand and Millionnaire occupy opposite positions in respect to that idea. Other examples: “Upper, Under;” “Above, Beneath;” “Before, After;” “Entrance, Exit;” “Appear, Vanish;” “Cheap, Dear;” “Empty, Full;” “Col. Ingersoll, Talmage;” “Washington, Arnold;” “Minnehaha, Minneboohoo.”
Millionnaire. Pauper. } Ex.
Here is opposition between millionnaire and pauper. It is a case of Ex. Other examples: “Superfluity, Scarcity;” “Fertile, Barren;” “Sorrow, Happiness;” “Straight, Crooked;” “Irregular, Circle;” “Prompt, Tardy;” “Liberal, Stingy;” “Wide, Narrow;” “Open, Shut;” “Inclusion, Exclusion;” “Beginning, End;” “Industry, Idleness;” “Addition, Subtraction;” “Infernal, Celestial;” “Cellar, Garret;” “Miser, Spend-thrift;” “Assimilation, Learning by rote,” &c.
Pauper. Wealth. } Ex.
Here is the extreme of opposition. The state or condition of destitution of the pauper is contrasted with the state or condition of being over supplied. Other examples: “Insufficient, Enough;” “Work, Play;” “Crying, Laughing;” “Awkward, Graceful;” “In, Out;” “East, West;” “North, South;” “Saint, Sinner;” “Fast, Slow,” &c.
WEALTH. CommonWEALTH. } In. by S. & s.