n or
at the Universities, or in other parts of the kingdom, may think
such a situation desirable, takes this public method of enabling
them to obtain it. The salary, which will vary according to the
talents of the reporter, will at least afford a genteel
subsistence, and the business need not interrupt the pursuit of
studies necessary for a more important profession. _A gentleman who
has never tried parliamentary reporting, will be preferred by the
advertiser, because he has observed, that those who have last
attempted it, are now the best reporters._"

In the common mode of education, great exactness of repetition is
required from pupils. This seems to be made a matter of too much
importance. There are circumstances in life, in which this talent is
useful, but its utility, perhaps, we shall find, upon examination, is
over-rated.

In giving evidence of words, dates, and facts, in a court of justice,
the utmost precision is requisite. The property, lives, and characters
of individuals depend upon this precision.

But we must observe, that after long detailed evidence has been given
by a number of witnesses, an advocate separates the material from the
immaterial circumstances, and the judge in his charge again compresses
the arguments of the counsel, so that much of what has been said
during the trial, might as well have been omitted. All these
superfluous ideas were _remembered_ to no purpose. An evidence
sometimes, if he be permitted, would tell not only all that he
remembers of the circumstances about which he is examined, but also a
number of other circumstances, which are casually associated with
these in his memory. An able advocate rejects, by a quickness of
judgment which appears like intuition, all that is irrelevant to his
argument and his cause; and it is by this selection that _his_ memory,
in the evidence, perhaps, of twenty different people, is able to
retain all that is useful. When this heterogeneous mass of evidence is
classed by his perspicuous arrangement, his audience feel no
difficulty either in understanding or recollecting all which had
before appeared confused. Thus the exercise of the judgment saves much
of the labour of memory; labour which is not merely unnecessary, but
hurtful, to our understanding.

In making observations upon subjects which are new to us, we must be
content to use our memory unassisted at first by our reason; we must
treasure