_An additional Element._--The intuitions of sense, thus replaced in the absence of the external objects, present themselves to the mind as mere conceptions, involving no reference to ourselves as the perceiving subject, nor to the time, place, and circumstances of the original perception. But suppose now this latter element to be superadded to the former; that along with the conception or recalling of the object, there is also the conception of ourselves as perceiving, and of the circumstances under which it was perceived; in a word, the recalling of the _subjective_ along with the _objective_ element of the original perception, and we have now that form of mental representation which we term _recognitive_, or mental recognition. _The two Forms compared and distinguished._--The two taken together, the reproduction, and the recognition, constitute what is ordinarily called memory, which involves, when closely considered, not only the reproduction, in thought, of the former object of perception, but also the consciousness of having ourselves perceived the same. The conception is given as before, but it is no longer mere conception in the abstract, standing by itself; it is connected now by links of time, place, and circumstance, with our own personal history. It is this _subjective_ element that constitutes the essential characteristic of memory proper, or mental recognition, as distinguished from mere conception, or mental reproduction. _Specification of Time and Place._--It is not necessary that the _specific time_ and _place_ when and where we previously perceived the object, or received the impression, should be recalled along with the object or impression; this may or may not be. More frequently, perhaps, these do recur to the mind, and the object itself is recalled or suggested by means of these specific momenta; but this is not essential to the act of memory. It is enough that we recognize the representation or conception, now before the mind, as, in general, an object of former cognition, a previous possession of the mind, and not a new acquisition. _Not of necessity voluntary._--Nor is it necessary to the fact of memory, that this recurrence and recognition of former perceptions and sensations, as objects of thought, should be the result of special volition on our part. It may be quite involuntary. It may take place unbidden and unsought, the result of casual suggestion. _Distinction of Terms._--Memory is usually distinguished from _remembrance_, and also from _recollection_. Memory is, more properly, the power or faculty, remembrance the exercise of that power in respect to particular objects and events. When this exercise is voluntary--when we set ourselves to recall what has nearly or quite escaped us, to _re-collect_, as it were, the scattered materials of our former consciousness--we designate this voluntary process by the term _recollection_. We recollect only what is at the moment out of mind, and what we _wish_ to recall.