50 NOTHING FORGOTTEN. "Indeed! I should think you were fitting out for the tour of Europe. But these are not what comes within my province. But there is one thing I am very desirous to have you carry, and which, if you are not very careful, will be left behind." 66 Why, I am sure I have forgotten nothing. We have put up everything we could think of, even to the boxes of hair-pins." But have you any "No doubt; no doubt. where packed away a correct idea of the object for which you go, and how you are to accomplish that object? You go in order to study; but do you know why you study and how to study ?" "No, father, and I wish you would tell me.” "Well, then, forget the crowded trunks and the hair-pins for the present, and I will try to tell you. Now you must be patient and attentive, for I shall be what you call 'awfully dull.' "The objects of study, then, are these:— "1. To give you power to command the attention. Till we have made many and longcontinued efforts, this is no easy matter. You A VACANT STARE. 51 sometimes undertake to read a book, and while your eye runs over the pages or the lines of the page, the mind and the thoughts are off upon something else; and when you reach the bottom of the page, you know nothing of what you have been reading. When you are in conversation with another person, it often happens that you lose whole sentences, and have to assent to what he has said, though you know not what it is. Have you never found it so, my daughter?" The young lady looked up with a vacant stare, and nodded her head in assent, though the fact was that she had scarcely heard a word of what her father had said: for the moment the words "command the attention " were uttered, her thoughts had been wandering off to a small party which she had attended, and where she was sure she had the power to command the attention of a certain young gentleman, who wore young whiskers and a yellow vest. Thus she was unconsciously illustrating the need of which her father was speaking. "2. A second object of study is to give you 52 TWO-THIRDS LOST. the power to hold the mind down to a subject or to a point, as long as is necessary. In doing a long sum in arithmetic, in demonstrating a difficult problem in Euclid, or in evolving a complicated question in algebra, you must hold the mind down to the point, and hold it there till you understand it and can explain it to others. When you write a letter, or a composition, you want the power to hold the mind or the thought till you know what to say and how to say it. How many people lose almost the whole of a lecture, or a sermon, or a public speech, because they cannot hold their minds fast till it is through! Perhaps two-thirds of every sermon, and of every lecture and every valuable public effort of mind, are lost for the want of this power. It is the want of it that makes it so difficult for the school-girl to master her lesson. And it is to be acquired only by severe and continued application of the mind. "3. The third object of study is to strengthen the memory. "You know that some men are rich in conyersation, welcomed everywhere, and their so MEMORY WANTING. 53 ciety eagerly sought, because they have at their command history, books, beautiful thoughts and great thoughts, all held fast by the memory, and all ready to be used at any time e; while other men, who have read quite as much, are dry and barren of thought, and almost dull; they cannot recal any thing, they are sure of no fact, they are afraid to be questioned about any date. Such a mind is a sliding plane, down which every thing hurries, and with no power to draw it up." "But, father, I have a good memory now. I can tell over every story I read, and can almost repeat the whole of that delightful new novel in the last Saturday's Post." "Very likely. But suppose I should ask you to trace the route which Xenophon in his famous retreat followed, or to give me the date of the Magna Charta of England, or period of Cromwell's government, or the date of the Reformation in Europe, what says your memory then ?" 66 Ah, you surely do not expect me to remember every thing." "No, I should be sorry to have you remem 54 ALL NEED JUDGMENT. 6 ber everything; but surely,' as you say, you ought to remember many; and you ought to remember facts and not fiction; the history of human deeds, human efforts, and human sufferings, and not imaginary deeds and the sufferings of imaginary heroes and heroines. At school, you are made to store up dry facts, history, definitions, and a thousand things, for the very purpose of strengthening the memory. "4. The fourth object of study is to strengthen the judgment. "In all the departments of life, we need a balanced judgment. For the want of it, households are made wretched, homes are made unpleasant, property is squandered, character is never obtained, and life is almost lost. No lady can make a custard or a cooky, a jelly or a garment, spread a table or a cradle, without it, nor can a man well provide for his family, accomplish much in business, or gain in property or influence. It is an everyday commodity, and no day can be a happy one without its abundant exercise. The laundress needs it to make your clothes white and |