Or I

rather than others, and so detain some for special consideration, while others pass on into oblivion. By thus detaining a certain idea and looking at it more particularly, this very process may call up new objects and trains of thought, which would never have come but for this voluntary action of the mind. Thus there may, in the natural order, occur to me a thought of Bunker Hill; this may suggest to me the monument there, and this, Webster's oration at the laying of the corner-stone, and this the career of the great orator and statesman, and this lead off to other orators and men of powerful intellect. Or I may detain the idea of the first suggestion instead of letting my mind run on spontaneously, and may by force of will compel myself to attend to the event the monument was designed to commemorate, the fierce battle, the encouragement which the stubborn and effective resistance gave men in defeat, and thus follow the whole history of the war, or any portion of it, till some other incident presents itself upon which I may think fit to dwell. In this way we may come to have great control over our thoughts, and turn them to higher or lower meditations, as we please. Of course, to be always pursuing a profitable and wholesome line of thought requires effort and much culture, but we so fully recognize this as practicable that we do not hesitate to condemn a man who lets his mind run perpetually on low and unworthy themes, or to commend one who has habituated himself to elevated and wholesome thinking. We can also, by foresight and moderate skill, determine the associations which decide what our trains of thought shall be. This, much more than we can estimate, has to do with the style of men or women we shall be, and the kind of characters we shall have.

Effort and

discipline

required to

do this ef fectually.

Fantasy

CHAPTER III.

THE FORMS WHICH THE REPRESENTATIVE
PRODUCT ASSUMES.

guished from

THERE are three forms which Representation assumes in the mind; namely, Fantasy, Memory, and Imagination. By Fantasy is meant the power which the mind has of forming images of objects which have been previously presented to it, these images being wholly severed defined. from all relations of time and place. It is this latter feature which distinguishes it from Memory, to which the time element is essential. It is distinHow distinguished from Imagination in that the latter is constructive and in a sense creative. It is also memory and imagination. less under the control of the will, and is not subject to judgment nor guided by taste. It is the characteristic of undisciplined minds, or of those relaxed and freed from restraint, though not confined to these. It is active in reverie, and becomes predominant in disturbed sleep or half-waking conditions, in dreams and somnambulism; as also in children and savages. In all Images come and go spon- these conditions here implied, the images come taneously. and go more or less and sometimes entirely at random and hap-hazard, frequently in utter chaotic confusion and with the strangest mixture of elements. The term fantastic both etymologically and appropriately expresses many of the products of this form of representation. Sometimes under the influence of certain bodily

conditions the representations are most disagreeable and painful; but sometimes also they are just the opposite.

The word Fancy is in its origin a synonyme of Fantasy. But recently and in its more popular use it has a somewhat wider range, and in philosophy it has a Fancy and meaning somewhat distinct from that just now fantasy. assigned to Fantasy. But the terms are not radically different. Fancy "collects materials for the Imagination; therefore the latter presupposes the former, while the former does not necessarily suppose the latter." Whether Fantasy or Fancy, it is a power by which images of individual objects formerly perceived are re-presented to the mind, usually without perceptible effort of the Wordswill. Wordsworth says, Fancy "does not re- worth's quire that the materials she makes use of should be susceptible of change in their constitution from her touch; and where they admit of modification, it is enough for her purpose, if it be slight, limited, and evanescent."

MEMORY.

statement.

It is one of the facts with which all are familiar, that the mind has the power to retain cogni- The mind's tions of which it has come into possession power to

retain cog

or, as it may be more fully stated, the mind nitions. has the power of returning to states in which it has formerly been, with a clear consciousness that they are recurrences of former states. It is held by not a few writers of note, that no cognition, or thought, or feeling, or mental action of any sort which has ever existed, can ever so far be lost as that it may No cognition not under certain conditions recur. We do wholly lost. certainly know that a very great number of our mental 1 Dugald Stewart.

experiences return to us, and that too sometimes, when, owing to their trivial character, or the long lapse of time, it would seem most unlikely. This characteristic of the mind we call Memory.

Two functions of

Reproduc

tion of two kinds.

Spontaneous reproduction distin

There are two functions of Memory; namely, Conservation or Retention, which has in part been already described, and which Sir William Hamilton regards as Memory proper, and Reproduction; Hamilton memory. adds also Representation. But Representation is a generic term including not only Conservation and Reproduction, but all kinds of recurring mental experiences. Reproduction is either spontaneous or voluntary. In both cases it proceeds under the laws of Association. Spontaneous Reproduction is when the previous thought recurs to the mind through the operations of the general laws of Association, without effort or volition on the part of the subject. It is distinguished from Fantasy only by the recognition guished from of the element of time, that is, of the fact that the state of mind has been previously experienced. Voluntary Reproduction or Reminiscence occurs when an effort is made to recall some thought or cognition of the past. Every one is familiar with the fact that frequently when we have a part, or some intimation, of a former presentation in mind, we seek to reproduce the whole; as, for instance, having distinctly in mind a person or place, we endeavor to recover the name, which has escaped us, and which, as we say, we have forgotten; or knowing the name, possibly, we strive to bring back the object. This we do by compelling certain associations which if left to themselves would take another direction; or by concentrating the

fantasy.

Voluntary reproduction.

Recollection.

mind upon certain suggestions when others would occur if left to spontaneity. In the one case we follow the general connection existing among associated ideas and the line of easy and natural suggestion; in the other by an energetic effort we select such associations as are likely to lead to the recognition desired. This is commonly called Recollection, as in it we re-collect the missing elements which make up the entire representation. Of course, it is obvious that we cannot recall that of which the mind has no knowledge whatever. When, for instance, I try to recall a name of which the object is already present to my mind, or an object of which the name is present, I already know that there is a name or an object, as the case may be. There is always something some way related to that which we desire to recall, and from this the association must proceed.

VARIETIES OF MEMORY.

Instance.

There are wide differences in the memory of different individuals. These differences are in respect of both kind and power. Some remember words and names with great facility, others retain these but feebly, while they recall things readily. One man will easily recognize a face he has once seen or a person he has previously known, while it is with great difficulty he can recollect the name. Another class of persons retain and reproduce circumstances and events with remarkable accuracy and minuteness. The last is likely to be the case with uneducated persons. Such a memory has been called CircumstanCircumstantial. Others still have a logical or tial memory. scientific memory. They recall the thought or principle connected with the object, and thus recollect the latter.