Esteem and Value that you will thereby obtain from your Congregations by this way of Delivery besides the greater Efficacy and Power that your Words and Preaching will have upon the Minds of your Auditors besides the promoting of the Glory of God and perhaps the perswading a greater Number thereby out of the broad Road of Eternal Perdition I must needs tell you that you will quickly find an unspeakable Benefit in a few Years and your great Pains at first in conquering your natural Weaknesses will be fully recompensed with a greater Ease Pleasure and Delight in the publishing of your Meditations You will find that this way of Delivery will smooth and polish your Conceptions and Fancy You will find that it will unty your Tongues and make you more ready to express your selves you will find that your Labours will be the less your Preaching more acceptable your Improvements greater your Learning more sound and your selves able upon a sudden to answer all Gainsayers for by this means the Body of Divinity will become as familiar to you as your Pater Noster Antisthenes the Athenian Philosopher when a Friend complained that he had lost his Book where he had recorded weighty Matters told him that he ought not to have trusted things of so great Importance to Pen Ink and Paper but to his Memory where he should always have found them ready at hand in time of need There is one Advantage more which we shall receive by the Exercise of our Memories how considerable it may be to us and what Influence it may have to increase and inlarge our Eternal Happiness we may at a distance guess for thereby the Soul will be inabled to increase its Abilities Faculties and Graces which have a natural Dependance upon this of Memory and that also will be inabled to retain more because as there is a strict Union and Communication of all the Perfections between the Soul and Body so that if one receives an Inlargement it conveys the same Benefit to the other and the other becomes more perfect and accomplished in that Ability which its Partner enjoys The Exercise therefore of Memory will not only inable the Organ now to perform more perfect Acts and inlarge the Ability while the Soul is in Conjunction with the Body but at its Separation and at the great Morn of the Resurrection this Perfection with all the rest being as immortal as the Spirit where it is fixt and to which it is conveyed by our constant Endeavours and Correspondence with the Body will then appear more compleat and greater for the better Reception of future Glory and Bliss and to our everlasting Comfort and Satisfaction Therefore as St. Bernard very well expresseth himself Ad aeternitatis Gloriam acquirendam nullus labor durus nullum tempus longum videri debet In Doct. I would not have those Worthy and Learned Gentlemen of my Function be displeased with this Exhortation and Advice that I address to the Students of our Universities as if it were designed to undervalue their wise and profitable Meditations pronounced with the Assistance of Book from the Pulpit Our Nation only is used to this way of Delivery for we are wont ofttimes as we ought to consider and weigh the Things and Expressions more than the manner of the Publication Neither is it possible for them after a Tract of Time and a long Usage to change their Custom of Preaching But for the Young Men coming up to supply our vacant Places in Church and State 't is now in their Power to alter this Custom to exercise their Memories to follow the Practice of the Learned Men of other Nations 'T is now in their Power to use themselves to such a Practice as will be advantagious to the Glory of God the Salvation of Souls the Credit of our Church and infinitely beneficial to themselves I recommend therefore this Treatise principally to you Gentlemen and let nothing hinder you from the Exercise of your Memories and the Practice of the Rules here prescribed which I will assure you from Experience have proved effectual for the overcoming the Weaknesses of Nature and inabling frail Memories to perform the Acts of large and strong If some of them seem common despise them not they will be no less useful if put in Practice I have not only consulted in the delivery of them my own Knowledg and Experience but have also set down the Advices of several Learned Men about this Subject and borrowed from the Skill of the Physicians several approved Experiments for the strengthening and corroborating the Faculty of Memory However I intreat you Gentlemen to accept kindly from my Pen this Endeavour for your Benefit and the Publick and this sincere Expression of my earnest Desire of your Success Promotions and Advantages and of the Prosperity of our Church and Nation I beseech God of his Infinite Bounty to make you all truly useful in your Generation to inlarge your Memories increase your Learning bless all your Abilities and Graces and to preserve you all to his Eternal Kingdom Amen ERRATA PAge 8. line penult dele all P. 10. l. 27. read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 23. l. 28. r. suscitat P. 43. l. 26. r. tam. P. 54. l. 3. r. capillis P. 57. l. 24. r. linguam P. 58. l. 3. r. dicta P. 59. l. 13. r. albi l. 24. put a colon after dictas P. 60. l. 26. r. bulliant P. 61. l. 4. r. Stichadâ—s THE CONTENTS Chap. 1. OF the Soul or Spirit of Man page 1 Chap. 2. Of Memory its Seat and Excellency p. 18 Chap. 3. The Temper or Disposition of the Body best and worst for Memory with the Natural Causes and Reasons of both p. 30 Chap. 4. Some General and Physical Observations and Prescriptions for the remedying strengthning and restoring a Memory injured by the ill Temper of the Body or the Predominancy of one of the four Qualities in the Brain p. 38 Chap. 5. What is very much prejudicial to the Faculty Habit and Practice of Memory p. 42 Chap. 6. Of such Natural Things as may be assisting to and may comfort Memory from the Procurement of Nature and the Contrivance of Art p. 49 Chap. 7. Rules to be observed for the Acts or Practice of Memory p. 62 Chap. 8. Rules to be observed to help our Remembrance of things that we desire to preserve in Mind p. 77 Chap. 9. Of Artificial or Fantastical Memory or Remembrance p. 82 The Art of Memory c. CHAP. I. Of the Soul or Spirit of Man THE Excellent and Wonderful Frame of the Human Body wherein the Wisdom of the Creator shines so beautifully and apparently before our Eyes being but the Cabinet of the Soul or the outward Shell made on purpose to receive and entertain this Immortal Creature gives good reason to imagine that this Jewel is far more excellent and of a greater Worth Certainly our Wise Maker had no mean Esteem of this Master-piece of the Creation
once a King of two and twenty Kingdoms where so many differing Languages were spoken which he understood so well that he could speak every one of them and to all his Subjects without an Interpreter The Great Cyrus had so large a Memory that he could call every Souldier of his numerous Army by his proper Name Likewise Seneca tells us of himself that he could repeat 2000 distinct Names that had no dependance And in our late Days the Cardinal du Perron was able to repeat without missing a Word two hundred Verses which were spoken before Henry the Fourth by a famous Poet and never heard nor saw them before Likewise in our Age and Nation some carry with them whole Libraries in their Memory Which in reason cannot be expected unless Men endeavour to improve this rare Gift of God by a continued Exercise I need not inlarge upon the Usefulness and Excellency of Memory to incline Men to the practice of the Means to attain to it All other Abilities of the Mind borrow from hence their Beauty Ornaments and Perfections as from a common Treasury And the other Capacities and Faculties of the Soul are useless without this For to what purpose is Knowledg and Understanding if we want Memory to preserve and use it What signify all other Spiritual Gifts if they are lost as soon as they are obtained It is Memory alone that enriches the Mind that preserves what Labour and Industry collect which supply this Noble and Heavenly Being with those Divine Excellencies by which it is prepared for a Glorious Immortality In a word there can be neither Knowledg neither Arts nor Sciences without Memory Nor can there be any improvement of Mankind either in respect of the present Welfare or future Happiness without the Assistance and Influence of this Supernatural Ability Memory is the Mother of Wisdom the common Nurse of Knowledg and Vertue as the Poet very well hath express'd Sophiam me vocant Graeci vos sapientiam Vsus me genuit mater peperit memoria But as these Lines are designed for the Benefit and Encouragement of their Memories chiefly who are to appear in the Pulpit or at the Bar to speak in the Audience of the People I need not tell them with St. Austin Memoria in primis oratori necessaria That there is no Ability more useful to an Orator than Memory For it gives Life to what is spoken and makes a deeper Impression in the Minds of Men it awakens the dullest Spirits and causeth them to receive a Discourse more kindly than otherwise it adds a Grace and an extraordinary Excellency both to the Person and his Oration and is the greatest Ornament of that part of Rhetorick that we commonly name Pronunciatio So that if there is any thing worthy to be esteemed or valued in that Art so useful in a Common-wealth 't is all borrowed from Memory alone which gives the greatest weight and efficacy to the Words that are spoken It is reported of Eschines that when he came to Rhodes he read to the Inhabitants a famous Oration of Demosthenes which they very much admired tho pronounced without the Grace of an Orator But said he to them Quid si ipsum audissetis How much more would you admire and esteem this Oration if you had heard it from his own Mouth But our daily Experience can declare more of the Excellency of this rare Ability I shall therefore proceed to examine what Temper is most agreeable with a good Memory CHAP. III. The Temper or Disposition of the Body best and worst for Memory with the Natural Causes and Reasons of both MEmory is named or rather described by Plato that great and famous Philosopher of his Age the Soundness of the Senses because the Soul making use of the Senses of the Body to receive the Impressions of Things the Memory is either larger or narrower greater or less according to the good or ill Qualities of the Senses and the Ideas are more or less lasting in Man However 't is most certain that in general it is requisite for a good Memory that the Body be in a perfect Health for if either the whole be distemper'd or any part be diseased the Sufferings are communicated to every Member and all are sensible in some respect of the Pain with the disaffected Part and the Disease whatever it be disorders the Functions more or less according to the nearness of Communication Some Diseases have that evil Influence that they totally deprive us of our Memory for a time as those that seize upon the Head and Brain and such as distemper the Nerves and Veins that are uppermost and corrupt the Blood and Spirits which are used for the Exercise of Memory Besides when any part of the Body is diseased the Mind is distracted and cannot so readily perform that Office as when it enjoys a perfect Tranquillity free from the Avocations of Maladies and Pain Likewise if the Spirit be disturbed by the violent Passions of Anger Fear Despair c. the Exercise of Memory can never be so free because it requires a sedate and quiet Temper of Mind as well as a Soundness in the Body All the Alarms and Troubles of the Soul blot out the Ideas that are already entertain'd and hinder others from coming in They obstruct all the Passages and the Crowd of Thoughts that in such Cases arise is a great hindrance to Memory But the Learned observe that two Tempers of the Body or Brain are Enemies to a good Memory and that such can never expect any great Advantage from this Ability that in those cases is naturally disinabled The first is a Temper extraordinary Cold for thereby the necessary Motions are stopt and the Passages for a speedy Conveyance frozen and the Imagination as it were benumm'd So that as a convenient Heat of the Body is a notable Help to an active Memory a cold Temper can never be so quick in Apprehension nor receive the Impressions that are offered Therefore a noted Physician names Cold the Mother of Forgetfulness and declares that there can be nothing more pernicious to Memory either to the admittance of the Ideas or to the making use of them than an inward or a too violent and ambient Cold. The second Temper unfit for Memory is Moist when a too great Humidity seizes upon the Brain as in Drunkenness Intemperance and Defluxions Memory in such a case may quickly receive an Impression but it will as speedily lose it As a Ship at Sea running swiftly through the Waves leaves behind a Track which is almost assoon lost as made so that no sign can be found of its Passage through that fluid Element So the Moisture of the Brain may be susceptible of an Idea for the present but 't is not lasting nor is there any sign a little after of any such matter Those Persons may remember the things near at hand but they seldom call to mind that which hath been long ago done I might add
a third Temper very much unfit for Memory that is an extraordinary dry Brain or a corrupt Disposition of Body proceeding from too much Heat and Driness for tho these two Qualities are necessary Assistants of a good Memory both for Reception and Retention yet when they exceed the Prescript of Nature they must needs be offensive to Health and consequently to the Practice of Memory It is therefore needful for this purpose that the four Qualities of the Body be in an Equilibrium in an equal Ballance because this Equality serves very much for a more ready Formation of the Ideas and inables the Organ the better to receive and retain them But of the four Qualities it is observed that Cold and Moist are the most destructive to Memory an excessive Cold being the greatest Enemy of Nature and of its Preservation For Humidity it cannot be expected that when the Brain is drowned in Liquor or overflows with Humours that in such an Inundation Memory can act and perform its Duty with that Exactness and in that Perfection that it can at other times and in a better Temper Now 't is not difficult to understand what Quality is predominant by these following Experiments First by our Sleep for if we are more inclinable to it than ordinary it is a sign of a wet and moist Brain that makes us heavy and drowsy but if we cannot take our usual Rest it is an evident Token of a dry Temper Besides this Humidity falls down into the Palate by an extraordinary Spittle breaks out of the corner of the Eyes and evacuates it self through the Nose and other Conveyances from the Brain in a greater abundance than is usual But if the Brain be too dry you will not be able to close your Eyes as formerly you will find a Lightness in the Head there will be seldom any natural Evacuations and the Eyes will appear sunk into the Head and the Excrements of the Ears will encrease This is the Case of such as grow in Years which causeth old Age to be less susceptible of new Impressions in their Memory but to be more retentive of those that are there already So that all the Passages of their youthful days they can quickly call to mind But if an inward Cold predominates it will appear by these Signs The Face will seem very white the Eyes languishing the Veins will scarce be seen a Cold may be felt about the Parts next to the Head and a Dulness and Stupidity seizeth in such a case upon the Spirits and Brain so that by this means Men are rendered less fit for Action Now it is observed by Physicians that the Brain is naturally hotter in Summer than in Winter unless it be when some Distemper increaseth the internal Heat and augments it the more by reason of the ambient Cold. If too much Heat be in the Brain it may be perceived by these infallible Signs All the Parts about the Head will be hotter and more red than ordinary the Eyes will be rolling and fiery the Temples burning and the Person cannot be inclinable to sleep because all the Vapours that cause Drowsiness are consumed by that internal Heat and dried up as soon as they enter the Closets of the Brain From what hath been said it is most certain that a moderate Temper where all the four Qualities correspond and agree in an Equality is the most fit for the Practice of a good Memory and when any of these exceed the natural Proportion both the Health and Memory also are impaired in that Body and rendered more unfit for Exercise In such cases therefore the Physicians Art may be very useful to restore Health to rectify the Brain to remedy the Temper and remove the superfluous and pernicious Quality and consequently it may preserve increase inlarge and help Memory For as it is most certain that divers Diseases destroy this Ability or disinable it so it is unquestionable that several Remedies may assist comfort and corroborate this excellent Faculty which requires a good Disposition of Body a careful Government of our selves and an Abstinence from the Extravagancies and Debaucheries of the Age. Now in some Cases 't is impossible to remedy a decay'd Memory as when Nature fails through some violent Disease when an extraordinary Heat and internal Driness hath corrupted the vital Parts or the Closet of Memory and filled it with infected Spirits or when old Age brings a Diminution to our Strength Vigor Abilities and all our Natural Parts decay with our Body 'T is then in vain to attempt by Physick to help or remedy that which is naturally lost and perished However in such Cases we may preserve what remains of Memory by a regular manner of living and by such Food as may expel the inward Driness and Cold and comfort the Brain with a Recruit of wholsome Spirits proceeding from the Easiness and Quickness of Digestion CHAP. IV. Some General and Physical Observations and Prescriptions for the remedying strengthning and restoring a Memory injured by the ill Temper of the Body or the Predominancy of one of the four Qualities in the Brain THE Excellency of Memory as we have taken notice depending wholly upon the Health and good Disposition of the Body 't is not to be doubted but that which restores Health to the one is by consequence useful and assisting to the Welfare and Operations of the other Chiefly if the Head or Brain be any ways damnified incumbred or prejudiced such Medicines as are proper to remove the ill Qualities or to restore Soundness are also proper to help Memory Divers therefore are prescribed by the most eminent Physicians answerable to the several Distempers of the Brain and the Causes from whence they proceed First If by reason of extraordinary Loosness and immoderate Evacuations or of any internal Driness the Memory be prejudiced we must seek a Remedy from a convenient Diet which may strengthen the Body and comfort the Spirits and Senses In such a Case juicy Meats are to be used and such as are of easy Digestion in the Stomach good and wholsome Drinks are to be taken as Claret Wine Metheglin well made c. We are likewise to exercise our Bodies moderately and without being tired we ought to rub the Head and Temples softly with Woollen Clothes and endeavour to restore the Body to its ordinary Temper by Sleep Bathing and other natural Means But if the Brain and Memory be injured by reason of an internal Cold Heat must be applied to expel it as Humidity is used to remedy the Driness of the Temper but always with a convenient Moderation for we must take heed that we heat not the Brain too much nor totally dry up the internal Humidity for fear of falling into a more dangerous Distemper which may deprive us both of Life and Memory together When the Brain is out of order by reason of Cold and Moisture the Air is to be chosen for the Patient to live in which may