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Show 66 Retention. BookiiJ. ficrht when they were very young; in whom the !dear of Colours, h~vi~g been but llightly taken notice of, and c~fing to be rep~ ted, do quite wear out; fo that fome years nfrer, rhcre .ts no more Not1on, nor Memory of Colours left in the1r Mmds, than m thofe of People born blind. The Memory in fome Men, 'tis true, is very tenacious even, to a Miracle: But yet there feems to be a conftant d~cay of all our Ideas? e· ven thofe which are ftruck deepeft, and m the Mmds the mofi retent1ve l fo that if they be not fometimes. renewed ~y repeated Exercife of the Sen· lcs or Refled:ion about 1hofe kmd of Ob;e&s, whtch at firll: occafioned th~m the. Print wears out, and at J.afi there remains nothing to be feen. Thus' the Ideas, as well as Children of our Youth, often die before u>: And our Minds reprefenttous thofe Tombs, to which we are approach· ing; where though the Brafs and Marble remain , yet the Infcriptions are effaced by time, and~:he Imagery moulders~way. The J!illures draw11 i• our Mmr/s, are laul •• fadmg Colours; and if not fomet.lmes refrelhed, ,·anilh and difappear. How much the Confiitution of our Bodies are concerned in this; and whether the Temper of the Spirits and Brain make this difference, that fome retain the Charad:ers drawn on it like Marble, others like freeStone, ,andothers little .better than Sand, I lhall not here enquire, though it ,may feem probable, that the Conititution of.the Body, does fometimes influence the Memory; fince we oftentimes lind a Difeafe.quite firip the Mind of all its Uea1, and the flames of a Feller in a few days, calcines all tl1ofe Images to dofi and confnfion , which Jeem'd to be as Jafiing, as if carved in Marble. .§. 6. But conq:rning the Ideanhemfelves, it is cafic to remark, That thofe that are oftenejl rcfrefhed ( amongfi which are thofe that arc con· veyed .into the Mind by more ways·than one) by a frequent return of t11e OQjed:s.o~ Ad:ionsthat produce them, !x them[el'lles !Jejl in .the Memory, and remam clcarefi and Ionge{\ there ; and therefore thofe rwhich are of the original Qgalities of Bodies, vi .. Solidity, Extenjion, Figure, Motion, and R.jl, and thqfe that almoll: confiamly affed: our Bodies , as Heat and Cold; and thofe which are ,the Atfed:ions of all kind of Beings, as Exij}ence, Durat1on, and Number, whtcl> almoft every Objed: that atfed:s our Senfes, every Thought which imploys our Minds, bring along Wtth them: Thefe, I fay, and the ltke.fdeas, are feldom quite lofi, wh.illl: the Mind retains any Ideas at all. §. 7· In thisfecundary Perception, as I may fo call it, or "iewing again the Ideas,that are lodg'd m the Memory, the Mind iJ oftentimes more than 6arely paJ!ive, the appearance of thofe dormant Pid:ures, dependingfumet! Dies .on the W til. The Mmd very often fets it (elf on wprk in fearch of fome hidden .Ide80 and turns, -as.invere, the Eye of the Soul upon it; though fometunes too they fiart up m our Minds of tl,eir own acoord and Olfer themfelves to the Undellfi<~nding; and very often are rouzed and tumbled out<>f their dark Cells, into opep Day-light, by fome turbu• lent and tempefiuous Pafiion, our 1Affed:ions bringing Ideas to our Memory, wbtch had .other~ife Jain quiet and unrcgarded. ?· 8. Memory? m an mtclled:ual Creature, is nece!lary in tl1e next degree to Percepllon. It IS of fo.great moment, that where it is wanting, all the refi of our foacuktes are to a great meafure ufeleiS : And we in our Thoughts, Rcafonmgs, and Knowledge, CGuld not proceed beyond pre· fent ObjeCts, were It not for the affifiance of our Memories wherein there may be two defdls : ' Firfl, Chap. X Retention. Firjl, That it lofts the Idea quite, and fo far it produces perfed: IgnOrance. For fince we can know nothing farther, than we have the Ideas of it, when they are gone, we are in per fed: ignorance, Secondly, That it moves llowly, and retrieves.1ot the Ideas that it has and are laid up in fiore, quick eno•gb to ferve the Mind upo~ occafions: "£his, if it be to a great degree, is Srupidity; ahd he, who· through this de• fault in his Memory, has not the Idei1J, that are really preferved there ready at hand, when need and occalion calls for them , were almof!: a; good be withom tltem quite, fince they f~rve him to little purpofc. The dull Man, who lofes the opportumty, wh1lfi he IS fcekmg in his Mind for thofe Ideas, that lhould ferve his turn, is not much more happy in his Knowledge, than ooe that is perfcd:Jy ignorant. 'Tis the bufinefs therefore of the Memory, to furnilh to the Mind thofe dormant Ideas which it has prefem occafion for, and in the having them ready at hand on all occafions con lifts, that which we call Invention, Fancy, and quiclmcfs of Parts. ~. 9· Thisfacu!tyofl:iying up, and retaining the ldeaJ riJat arc brought ir>to the Mind, feveral other 'Animals feem to have, to a great degree as well as Man. ~-or to pafs by other in fiances, Birds learning of Tunes, ;nd the cnd~voursone may obfervc m them t~lutthc Notes right, put it>pafi doubt With me, that they have PerceptiOn , and retain Ideas in·their Memories, and ufe them for Patterns.. Fo~ it feems to me impot1ible,thac they lhould endeavour to conform thetr Votces to Notes (as 'tis phin they do)ofwhich they h~d no ~deas,Fortho'.' lhould~ran.t Scund may mocha· . meally caufe a certam motion of thearltmai.Spmts, m the Brains ofthofe Birds, whilft the Tunc is ad:ually playing; and that motion may be con·· tinued on to the Mufcles of the Wings ; and fo the Bird mechanically be dnven away by certmn nmfes, becaufe th1s may tend to the Birds prefervarian: yet that can never be fuppofed a Reafon, whyitlhould caufe me· chanically, either whilft the Tune was playing,'·much lefs after it has cea· fed, fuch a motion in the Organs of the Bird's voice, as lhould conform it to the Notes of a foreign Sound, which imitation can be of no ufe to the llirds prefervation. But, which is more, it cannot with any appea· ranee of Reafon, be fuppos'd (much lefs proved) that Birds without Senfc and Memor¥, can approach their Notes nearer and nearer, by degrees, to a Tunep lay d yefierday; wluch tf they have no Idea of m their Memory, is now no-where, nor can be a Pattern for them to imitate, or which any repeated Elfays can bring them nearer to. Snce there is no reafon why the found of a Pipe 010uld leave traces in their Braiqs, which not at firfi, 6ut by their after·endeavours 010uld produce the like Sounds; and why tho Sounds they mal<e themfelves, lhould not moke traces which they lhau!d follow, as well as thofe of the Pipe, is impoiliblc to conceive. K 1 CHAP. |