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Treating of a rational, practical, easily acquired system of Memory Culture, which in the opinion of the author of this book is the best and only practical method of developing the Memory as a whole—This is a modern presentation of the system used by the ancients, in India, Greece, Iceland, and other countries, to train the minds of students that they might acquire and store away the legends, religious books, philosophies, and laws of the races, and by means of which it was a common thing for these pupils to memorize books exceeding in size our Bible—Full instructions and directions are given for the development of the memory by this great system.

THOSE WHO have made a careful study of the subject of Memory Culture, and who have no pet hobbies to ride or fads to promote, generally agree that the method which we term “The Cumulative System” is the only natural system of developing the power of memory. It depends upon no set of tricks, catch­words, etc., but proceeds on the theory that the development of memory must be gradual, and by easy stages. It seeks to develop the memory, instead of loading it down with “methods.” Its underlying theory is the memory may be developed just as one would develop a muscle or part of the body—gradually, and by easy exercises constantly repeated. It is not a trick method of committing things to memory, but a system of developing and training the memory until it can readily recall things without the necessity of any tricks or artificial methods. It is Nature’s own way of doing things—of developing from the seed to the plant. But at the same time it affords the best possible plan of committing to memory anything of great length.

This “Cumulative System” is not a new system. It is merely the oldest system revived. It is the system used by the Orientals and other ancient people in training the mind to carry without mistake their sacred teaching and philosophies. In other parts of this work we have given numerous examples of the wonderful feats of memory performed by these peoples, and from what we have seen in a number of modern cases there seems to be no reason for thinking that these same feats may not be duplicated by the people of to­day. There is a very good reason for the apparent discontinuance of the old system. In the old days before printing was discovered, but very few people could write, and the writings themselves were apt to be mislaid, lost or destroyed, and the teachers were afraid to trust their teachings to parchment or whatever material happened to be in use. So they would train the minds of their pupils until they could commit to memory works of the same size as our Bible, or even larger. As you will see by reference to other chapters, the philosophies, religious books, and even the laws of many nations were thus transmitted and perpetuated for many centuries, without being committed to writing at all. Even in our own days, the rituals of secret societies are transmitted in this way, the rules of the orders prohibiting the writing or printing of certain parts of their ritual, or in some cases of any of it.

With the dawn of printing, when it became apparent that when thousands of copies of a book might be printed, and the chance of loss reduced, the necessity for the oral transmission of the teachings passed away, and the old art of memorizing almost entirely passed away. Men found it not worth while to memorize things which they could find in the books on their shelves. They overlooked the fact that in allowing the old system to pass out of use, they not only lost the art of memorizing matters of great length, but they also lost the art of training the memory to remember ordinary things, and the result is seen in our condition to­day, when a man of good memory is looked upon as a curiosity. Moreover, many have grown to believe that a good memory is almost an abnormal thing and that the natural condition of man is to have a poor memory. They do not realize that every man has the power to develop his memory very far beyond its present condition. Of course, some men naturally remember better than others, but the man with a poor memory may so develop it by proper training that he can remember better than can the man with a good memory without training.

The “Cumulative System” differs from other systems, inasmuch as it does not teach how to remember a thing by its association with another thing which is perhaps more easily remembered, or with some thing already fixed in the memory. Instead of this it endeavors to so develop, strengthen and train the mind that it is enabled to easily commit to memory anything which it desires, and is also able to easily recall the thing memorized, by Will.

One of the beauties of this system is that while you are practicing you are committing to memory valuable information and knowledge, and while you are committing interesting and useful things to memory, you are developing the memory itself. It must be remembered, however, by the student that the great importance of the system lies not in the mere ability to memorize long poems, speeches, etc., but in the developing and strengthening of the memory itself. And not only does it develop in one the power of storing away impressions in the mind, but also trains one in the faculty of recollection—in recalling readily that which has been memorized. The result of an earnest study and application of this system is that (1) the special thing studied will be easily memorized, long remembered and readily recalled; (2) there will be a marked and steady increase in the power of memorizing anything; and (3) a marked increase and growth of the power of recalling anything by an effort of the Will.

The “Cumulative System” is based upon the theory that the power of memorizing and recollection may be enormously increased by a system of progressive exercises and by frequent reviews.

The student should select something to commit to memory that interests him, and the subject of which is pleasant. A favorite poem, if long enough, is good. We think that Scott’s

“Lady of the Lake” is one of the best poems for this purpose, although the student may select any other if he prefers it. The Book of Proverbs, or the Psalms are also good, and some minds find it easier to memorize verses from the Bible than poetry.

Commence by committing to memory one verse from the Bible, or one verse of a poem, providing the verses of the latter contain not more than four or six lines. If longer, it will be better to divide up the verse into sections of not over the number of lines named. Learn this verse well, until you can repeat it readily, and understand it in all its parts. Learn not only its sound when read aloud, but also its looks in print; its leading words; the arrangement; its meaning. In short, learn it. This will be enough for the first day.

On the second day the verse of yesterday should be reviewed and repeated aloud. Then another verse should be learned in the same way, and then joined to the first verse and the two reviewed.

On the third day the two verses previously learned should be reviewed, and a third verse thoroughly learned, and then joined to the previous verses, and then reviewed as a whole.

Continue this exercise for a month, learning and adding one verse each day, and reviewing as a whole frequently. We cannot impress upon you too often the necessity of frequent reviewing. The gist of the whole matter is in the reviewing, so do not shirk this part of the work in the slightest. The continual addition of verses memorized tends to develop the faculty of memorizing, whereas the constant reviewing is for the purpose of developing and strengthening you in the direction of easy recollection. It is not sufficient merely to obtain good clear mental impressions, but it is of vital importance for you to be able to locate and bring out the things stored away in your mental storehouse. You not only get acquainted with the particular articles you are bringing out every day, but are also developing the “knack” of finding things in the mental storehouse, and of bringing them to view when wanted.

At the beginning you will probably find that it is often necessary to refer to the book to supply a missing word or line. Do not let this discourage you, for you will soon overcome it. And do not unduly strain the memory by a forced effort to recall the elusive word or line, but take up the book and learn that particular verse over again. If necessary refer to the book a dozen times rather than to go on omitting words or being in a state of uncertainty about their correctness. Do not go on in a slipshod manner, but insist upon exactness and absolute correctness. By insisting upon this from the start, the mind will soon take on that quality.

Do not miss a day’s exercise. You will find it far better to learn a few lines each and every day than a greater number every few days. The will and the memory are both strengthened by regular exercise and practice. The entire series of exercise will be found to strengthen and develop the will power of the student, and the strength thus gained will be found most useful in other fields of work.

At the beginning of the second month, learn two verses a day instead of one verse. Keep this up during the second month, learning two verses each day, and reviewing the verse previously memorized, both those of the first month and the verses learned after the two­verse plan has been adopted. You will find that the second month’s work is no more difficult than that of the first month. The two­verse task will be as easy as the one­verse exercise. You will find that your memory has anticipated the increase and that you can easily learn three or even four verses each day, but stick to the two verses, and do not attempt to get ahead of your lesson. The efficacy of this system lies largely in the fact that it leads the student gradually, and develops him in Nature’s own way. And, remember that in the reviewing lies the secret of increased powers of recollection.

At the beginning of the third month, commence with three verses, and proceed as before, adding each day to your store, and reviewing each day that which you have previously learned. When the fourth month comes adopt the four­verse plan, and so on. Of course there is a limit to this constant increase, of which we will speak a little later on. This limit will be found to vary with the individual, but the most backward student will be able to attain wonderful proficiency with very little effort, by following the gradual and progressive method.

If the reviewing after a few months takes up more time than you have to spare, drop the new verses and devote the entire time to reviewing. And later on if you cannot review the whole thing in the time at your disposal in one day, divide it in two, and review the first half to­day and the rest to­morrow.

If, after a time, the task of committing additional verses to memory, seems tiresome, it will be as well to discontinue this part of the work for a short time, but keep up the reviewing, devoting all the time usually devoted to the exercise to the review work alone. Sometimes that part of the mind which attends to the work of receiving impressions will rebel at its daily task, but the other part of the mind which we use to recall things already impressed there will prove to be bright and perfectly willing to work.

The student will find that certain ways of doing this work best suited to his particular temperament, etc., will suggest themselves to him. He may vary and improve on the plan we have given here, providing always that he does not slight the review work, which must not be omitted or cut down. Cut down the memorizing if you must, but hold fast to the review work. The increased strength of the memory lies in the work of frequent reviews. This review work, although somewhat tedious at first, will soon grow to be a pleasant occupation, and then the pleasure of the conscious increase in mental power will render the task most interesting.

If you have not the time to devote to the full carrying out of this system, as herein laid down, you may vary it by learning short poems by this method, and after thoroughly mastering one, so that it may easily be reviewed at any time, pass on to another, devoting all your time and attention to the new one when learned. But when the second one is learned, go back to the first one and review it. Continue reviewing the ones you have learned, at odd times, or occasionally, and devote your daily review work to the one on hand until it too is thoroughly learned. Exercise the faculty of recollection by frequently recalling things which you have learned in the past, as each time you give yourself this exercise you strengthen the faculty.

If you lose interest in the particular thing you are memorizing, lay it aside for a while, and take something of a different character by way of a change, not forgetting to occasionally review the one laid aside.

You will probably find that some verses of a poem are more easily remembered than others. But do not slight the difficult ones, in fact you should bestow upon them more time and attention than upon the favorite ones. There is some reason for the trouble with the difficult verses, and by keeping at the work until you conquer, you will be strengthening some weak spot in the faculty of memorizing or recollection, and will be gaining additional will­power besides.

After you have been practicing this system for a number of months, you will find that you will be able to retain any particular thing in your memory with less frequent reviews, and you may vary your plan to accommodate yourself to your increased powers, and review well learned subjects only once in a while. But it is well to review a little of something every day in order to give the faculty something upon which to work.

You will also come to a point, sometime, where you will realize that you have reached your limit in the matter of the number of lines or verses to be memorized at any one time. You cannot go on forever increasing your limit at the rate of one additional daily verse each month. When this time is reached, stop the monthly increase, and rest on your oars so far as the increase of the daily work is concerned. Keep on with the work of memorizing and reviewing, but limit your lines or verses to the highest easily memorized number. Remember that the main purpose of the exercises is not to see how much you can do, but simply to give you training and development. After stopping for a time, without any attempt to increase, you may find, all of a sudden, that you are able to master a much heavier daily memory task. But whether you do or do not, matters little. And in any event you will find that your power of recollecting steadily increases, apparently having no limit.

Learn a thing thoroughly before going to the next. It is better to know one thing thoroughly, than ten things partially. Do not pass on to another verse until you have mastered the one upon which you have been working.

Do not attempt to “rush” matters. Take your time. And do not attempt too much at first. The average student is too eager. He starts off with a rush, and is apt to tire before he has gone very far. Better hold yourself in a little, and develop naturally as does the plant which grows from seed to shoot; from shoot to stalk; from stalk to leaves; from leaves to flower.

Do not attempt to do this work when you are tired or worn out. In such condition you will fail to receive clear impressions or to recall clearly and distinctly. Many find the morning the best time in which to practice.