name comes, it generally brings the rest with it. This principle will assist you in recalling the above names. The first thing to look for is to find points of comparison. We have here Adams, Jefferson; and Adams, Jackson. Washington, Adams present no difficulty, Adam having been the first man created. Now come Adams, Jefferson. The son in Jefferson helps you to remember Madison. M and M, MadisonMonroe. Now come the two I compared before with AdamsJefferson, viz., Adams-Jackson. Van Buren and Harrison present no points of comparison; must therefore be remembered in the ordinary way. P The s in Harrison reminds us of t, the next letter in the alphabet. Now I have t and p, t and f. P and f very frequently interchange in all languages, like in pater and father. Tyler-Polk, Taylor-Filmore. and F easily recall P and B, Pierce-Buchanan. Lincoln is prominent enough to be recalled without any aid. In Lincoln I find the letters i, o, n, which helps me to remember the next name, i, o, n, or Johnson. J and I are the same. As soon as I come to j I have J-G and H-G. Johnson-Grant. Hayes-Garfield. In Garfield I see the letters a-r, which tells me the next name will be Arthur. The last three names do not require any points of remembrance. Let us return now to dates. If we know the list of names of the kings of England well, which is very easily acquired, it will help us for dates, as already shown above; as in many cases two, and often one, figure will be sufficient to remind us of the date. Moreover, we can enlarge the possibility of finding dates in the facts themselves in the following way: If we find the required figures together in one word, like 1455 in roses, so much the better. If not, we may find them separately, i.e., in several words, each beginning with one of the figures required, as mentioned previously. Of course it must be in the fact itself, not in a phrase to be learned by heart. As an instance, the first crusade took place in 1096-96 being quite sufficient, you find 96 c..b in Crusades begin. Napoleon I. was born 1769, died 1821. 69 b-c Bonaparte, Corsican. 21 n-d Napoleon died. In order not to say "Bonaparte died," or "Napoleon, Corsican," you have only to pay attention to the fact that he was born as Bonaparte, the name of the family, and only later became Emperor Napoleon. We will now take up the dates of the kings of England, to show that, with a very little discrimination, we are able to find nearly all the dates in facts connected with the respective reigns. William the Conqueror, 1066-1087. 66 b-b Battle Abbey, the monument of the battle of Hastings, which took place in 1066. His death 87 h-f. At the siege of Mantes his horse put his foot into hot ashes by accident, reared, and, throwing him on the pommel of the saddle, caused an injury which killed the king: h-f, hoof, 87. William II. died 1100. This being a round number, it is sufficient to pay attention to it; if I have nothing, I have noughts. The two noughts are not difficult to be found,* but I wish by this to point out that the question is not to seek words, but to find something which is easily remembered. Henry I. died 1135-35 m-s. Henry I. lost his only son William in a shipwreck. He was coming over from France and perished in a shipwreck with all on board, and this afflicted his father so much, that he was never seen to laugh again: m-s my son. Stephen died 1154—54 s-r usurper. This king was not the right heir and seized the throne. Henry II., 1189-89 h-k Henry king. John, 1216-216, n-d-p or n-t-b. He gave the Magna Charta † to England; you find the date in independence or notables, who wrested it from him. This happened in 1215, i.e., one year before. * As, e.g., there is "11" in the word William. Ordinarily, this is not permissible, as we always take the first letters of a word to avoid confusion; but as there happens to be "11" in the name Tyrrell also, and Sir Walter Tyrrell killed the king, or is at least reputed to have done so, we may use this coincidence in this case. The basis of British independence. he died. If you know 216, you easily remember 1215. But even this 215 is easily found in knights, as they compelled him to sign it. Henry III., 1272. He was an infant when he came to the throne, and infant gives the date. I have not to remember infant instead of the date. That he was an infant when he came to the throne is a fact which helps me to remember the date. Edward I., 1307. I take the 3 Edwards together Edward II., 1327. Edward III., 1377. dates because the dates present some points of comparison : 3 Edwards 1300, the units the same in all the three -7, 7, 7. The date of Edward I. is easily found. He united Wales to England, and Milfordhaven * gives the date m-l-f. The date of Edward I. found, I know I have the same century and the same units with all the three. The II in Edward II. supplies the figure wanted in 1327, and 77 is easily found in the fact that Edward III. is the king who had the great wars with France. French wars 77. Richard II., 1399. This date I was unable to find in a fact connected with this reign. In such a case, see if one date found cannot help me to remember a date which cannot be found. Fortunately this is again very easy. We had Richard I., 1199; now we have Richard II., 1399. Henry IV., 1413. He is the first king of the house of the red rose. Red rose gives you 1414. * One of the chief ports in Wales. If you find a date within one or two years in the fact itself, it will be better than to look for anything else. Henry V., died 1422. At the treaty of Troyes it was stipulated that after the death of Henry V. the crowns of France and England should be united. Union or reunion will give 22, or 422, respectively. Henry VI. lost his throne in 1461. Here we meet with a double difficulty, not only to remember the date, but also that he did not die, but lost his throne in 1461; fortunately here the alphabet helps us again out of the dilemma: 1461-461 r-b-d. He was robbed of his throne. Edward IV. Edward V. { died 1483. Richard III., 1485. The word Richard gives 484, the only clear year in which Richard III. reigned. It is easy to remember, or rather to find out from this, that his predecessors died 1483 and he himself 1485. Henry VII. died 1509. This is one of the very few dates in which I could not find anything very striking. However, as he was very avaricious, and extorted large sums of money from his subjects, loved gold would give the figures 09. When he was on his deathbed he suddenly repented, and gave orders that all people in prison for debts of 40 shillings and under should be released. Late conscience. Henry VIII. died 1547-47, which is quite sufficient, is to be found in Reformation. |