No one who has made even a very slight trial of the process of impressing on the mind before sleep something which must be remembered, can fail to be convinced ere long of the truth that there is in it a marvelous power which will with easy and continued practice enable him to recall whatever he pleases.  It follows as a matter of course, that this would be of incredible value in education, but notwithstanding the vast discussion of this subject which is ever going on, it does not seem to occur to a living man that we should develop and train the mental faculties, such as memory and quickness of perception, as well as set them to hard work.

It is also safe to say that there is not a man living who was educated from boyhood upon this principle, and yet I am confident that no scientist in existence, knowing the facts on which my statement is based, will deny that it is as easy to develop the mental factors alluded to, as to learn a language or play on the piano.  It is not a matter of theory but of facts.  Millions of men have in the past acquired the faculty of being able to repeat and remember whatever they heard, if they earnestly attended to it.  Earnest attention in this case means a strong exercise of forethought, or determination to an end or given purpose.  In Iceland, that which has since become the English common law, was at an early date very fully developed, without any books or writing.  And there were lawyers who had by heart all the laws, and incredible numbers of precedents, as appears from several sagas, among others, that of The Burnt Njall.

Our present system of Education is that of building houses without foundations.  No one suspects or dreams what mighty powers there are latent in us all, or how easily they may be developed.  It would not be so reprehensible if men entirely neglected the subject, but they are always working hard and spending millions on the old system, and will not even make the least experiment to test a new theory.  One reason for this is the old belief that we are all born with a certain quantum of “gifts,” as for example memory, capacity, patience, et cetera, all more or less limited, and in reality not to be enlarged or improved.  The idea is natural, because we see that there are very great differences, hereditary or otherwise, in children.  But it is false.  So we go to work to fill up the quantum of memory as soon as possible by violent cramming, and in like manner tax to the utmost all the mental faculties without making the least effort to prepare, enlarge or strengthen them.

I shall not live to see it, but a time will come when this preparation of the mental faculties will be regarded as the basis of all education.

To recapitulate in a few words.  When we desire to fix anything in the memory we can do so by repeating it to ourselves before we go to sleep, accompanying it with the resolution to remember it in future.  We must not in the beginning set ourselves any but very easy tasks, and the practice must be steadily continued.