THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ELEMENTS OF TACHYGRAPHY. ILLUSTRATING THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE ART, THEIR ADAPTATION TO THE WANTS OF LITERARY, PROFESSIONAL, AND BUSINESS MEN. DESIGNED AS A TEXT-BOOK FOR CLASSES AND FOR PRIVATE INSTRUCTION. BY DAVID PHILIP LINDSLEY. THIRD EDITION. BOSTON: OTIS CLAPP & SON, 3 BEACON STREET. 1873. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by D. P. LINDSLEY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1873, by D. P. LISDSLEY, in the Office ot the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. BOSTON : Stereotyped by C. J. Peters & Son. To THE -fioN. ABIJAH CATLIN, OF CONNECTICUT, WHOSE AID AND SYMPATHY PAVED THE WAY FOR THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF TACHYGRAPHY. WHICH, WITHOUT HIS PATRONAGE, MIGHT HAVE BEEN LONG BURIED IN OBSCURITY, THIS VOLUME IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. THE system of "brief writing, explained in the following pages, was mainly developed during the years 1857 to 1862. The delay in its publication has contributed somewhat to its perfection. JJ A brief and imperfectly-illustrated compend Avas pub- lished in 1864, which was so favorably received, even by * men long trained in the old systems, and so generously com- g mended by the most respectabh- portion of the public press, ' that the author was encouraged to labor for the fuller devel- opment of the system, and its general introduction, although S such labor was a sacrifice he could not well afford to make. fit Propagated, mainly, by the enthusiastic and unremunerat- ed labors of those who have seen in the art, in its present simplified form, a new instrument for the elevation of the human race, it has spread, without attracting much public M notice, aiding the student in preserving his lectures, the p clergyman in preparing his discourses, as well as the verba- pj tim reporter in his work. Those who have cultivated it believe it capable of more extended usefulness. The author has been urged repeated- ly, and by men from nearly all sections of the country, to provide a work sufficiently elaborate to furnish a complete guide to those who have no chance to secure the services of an instructor. Although he believes sincerely that a reli- 1* 5 449480 6 PREFACE. ancc upon books instead of teachers is false in theory, and likely to be unsatisfactory in its results, yet he has been compelled to acknowledge the propriety of providing teach- ers with better facilities than they have heretofore had. This work is, then, prepared principally as a text-book, for use by competent and thoroughly-trained instructors ; yet nothing has been omitted that was thought necessary to render it a complete guide to those who were compelled to rely entirely upon it. In the first three chapters is given a brief illustration of those fundamental principles upon which the art must always rest. Some of these principles were understood many years ago by the better writers of the old systems ; and those never fully incorporated in any previous system had been diligently sought for, and would be hailed with delight by writers who saw through the obscurity of their best ef- forts the brightness of a coming success, for which they could only pave the way. It is not proper that we should be filled with pride, who enter thus into the labors of others : it is more fitting that we should seek to exalt those who have borne the burden of cultivating a science that comes to fruitage only after several centuries have contributed to its growth. The two great principles of continuity and lineality, secured in Tachygraphy by connective vowels and a skilful arrangement of the consonant letters, had been apprehended by some of the stenographic writers, but were overlooked by phouographers. But these principles could not be em- bodied in the old systems successfully. It was necessary that the accuracy first secured by Isaac Pitman, Esq., the noble inventor of Phonography, should be united to the severe simplicity of the best stenographies. It was originally designed to give in notes the reasons PREFACE. 7 for deviating in all important cases from the practice of former writers, whether stenographers or phonographers. This has been done in a few instances ; but it was feared that such details, that must be merely negative at best, would tend rather to embarrass than to aid tjhe student. The practice of the art commences with Chapter IV., in which is given the method of learning the alphabet, and of applying the new letters to the sounds they represent. The writing exercises, commenced in Chapter VI., form a necessary part of the work. Only by writing these exer- cises, in connection with the study of the principles, can the student fully understand the text. It has "been thought better to introduce these Avriting ex- ercises where they were needed by the student, than to add them as an appendix. lu this we have consulted utility rather than the beauty of the work. It was necessary, however, to place the reading-lessons in the end of the volume, because, being printed from engrav- ings on copper, it was inconvenient to insert them in con- nection with the text they were designed to illustrate. They were engraved by Mr. Chauncy B. Thorne, whose skill in engraving short-hand has done much to beautify the science in its older forms. The wood-engravings scattered throughout the work are by the skilful hand of Mr. Richard B. Dyer of Boston. It remains only to add, that this work is designed for ordinary practical men, who wish to gain the greatest speed in writing, with the least outlay of time and labor. Such men will, we trust, be satisfied with it. There are, however, two classes whose wants will not be fully met. The first are those who care little for speed, but desire to designate all the sounds in the language, and even in some foreign lan- guages, with great accuracy. To accommodate these, a LIT- 8 PREFACE. ERARY STYLE was devised several years ago. But this class have not yet learned to rely upon short-hand to any great extent. If they ever demand such a style, it will be published. The second class will desire a briefer style, for verbatim reporting. For these, two briefer styles have been prepared (as yet aupubliohcul), called the NOTK- TAKEU'S, and the /BAM REPORTING V the first capable of beiug written at the rate 01 a hundred and twenty to a hun- dred and fifty words a minute, and the second from a hun- dred and fifty to a hundred and eighty, or faster. But it must not be supposed that a person will necessarily write more rapidly in one of these styles than in the style given in the following pages. Men in the liberal professions, or in business, whose time is mainly engrossed in duties that render any especial attention to the mere manner of writing impossible, cannot retain a greater speed, ordinarily, than eighty to ninety words a minute ; and this speed they will gain more surely in this style than in any other. If, dissat- isfied with this, they cultivate a reporting style, instead of increasing their speed, as they hope to do, they will, in nine- ty-nine cases in every hundred, find themselves laboring through reporting contractions at the rate of forty to fifty words per minute, or even more slowly than this, and have the additional disadvantage of writing an illegible style. If such men really wish to increase their speed of writing, they can do it most certainly by adhering to the simplest forms, increasing their speed, as they do in the common writing, by great familiarity with first principles. They may in this way extend the power of the common style of Tachygraphy as here given, to almost any desired degree. Some students have found it adequate for nearly verbatim reports of lec- tures and sermons ; and the author, after eighteen years' experience in the briefest contractions, finds this style PREFACE. 9 best adapted to the work of a clergyman. The experience of many persons confirms this opinion. Among them the author is permitted to mention the Rev. A. T. Clark, who took an entire course of theological lectures, and now writes all his discourses, in the style taught in this volume, and has found it brief enough for all the purposes of note-taking. He prefers it to the briefer styles which he previously learned. The Rev. Peter Vogel gives similar testimony to the peculiar value of this style for the use of clergymen ; and Mr. M. F. Tyler used it with the fullest success during his studies at Yale College and Law School, reporting, be- sides entire courses of lectures, sermons, conventions, &c. All these persons spent much time with briefer styles before falling back upon the plain and fully written forms ; and such has been the experience of many others. Still there are some students, and some professional men, who will pre- fer the briefer forms of the NOTE-TAKER'S STYLE. Such persons are referred to the Second Part of this treatise, published, for convenience, in a separate volume. Wishing the students of this little treatise a new life and joy in the truth and beauty of the principles here unfolded, it is commended to their love, with the ardent hope that it may give them leisure and ability to enter farther than they otherwise could have done into those beauties of science, opening on every hand, which speak of a Divine wisdom and love, inexhaustible and eternal. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. Page. Sect INTRODUCTIOH ,.15 CHAPTER I. THE ORIGIN OF THE BRIEF LETTERS. 39 Straight Lines and Curves . , 5 Half-Circles and Dashes ....- 9 CHAPTER n. THE SOUNDS TO BE REPRESENTED. 33 Number of the Consonantal Sounds 13 Number of the Vowel-Sounds 14 CHAPTER III. THE NEW LETTERS APPLIED. 34 Letters paired 23 Abrupts and Continuants 26 Lineality of "Writing 27 Consonants grouped. Labials, Lingua-Dentals, and Gutturals . 23 Summary of Principles 29 Application of Principles SO Signs for the Vocal Sounds 82 11 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. DIRECTIONS FOR PRACTICE. 44 Exorcise on the Straight Signs 42 The Sounds of these Letters 44 -u on the Curved Signs - ... 46 The Sounds they represeo' . i . . 48 Tin- Liquids and Ing 51 Wu and Ta 52 Jn and Cha 5? Tin- Direction in which the Letters are written 64 Size of the Letters 56 Variations of Vocal Signs 68 Size of the Vocal Signs 62 CHAPTER V. HETIIOD OF JOINING THE LETTERS. 5O Connecting the Semicircles 65 Dash Letters 66 Diamond Points 70 The joining of Full-sized Letters 72 Angles 73 Right Lines joined with Curves 74 The Joining of Curves. Facing Curves ...... 78-80 Opposing Curves 81, 82 Curves repeated 83 Straight Lines repeated 84 Vocals joined with Vocals 85 Disjoined Vocals 87 The Connecting Stroke 95 CHAPTER VI. METHOD OF STUD T. 59 Writing Exercises 100 A Scheme for rendering the Sounds of the Old Letters more definite, 101 CONTENTS. 18 CHAPTER VH. CONSONANTAL DIPIITaONGS. 69 Initial compounds, L, li, and S Series 106-7 Triphthongs 108 Qu and Compounds, with IF 109 Wlia and Ha ...' 110 Final Compounds. L and R Series Ill S Series 112 The Circle with the Small Dot Vowel 113 CHAPTER VHI. 8O The Omission of Vowels. Omission of Obscure Vowels in Long Words 114 The Omission of Vowels in Short Words of Frequent Occurrence . 115 CHAPTER IX. PHRASE-WRITING. 85 Ffirases determined by, 1st, The Convenience of the Writer; 2d, The Convenience of the Reader 116 Key to Paragraph 92, Reading-Lessons 116 Abbreviated Words and Phrases 117 Key to Paragraphs 93 and 94, pages 15 and 16 of Reading-Lessons . 117 CHAPTER X. THE VARIABLE LETTERS. 9O Equivocal Word-Forms 118 Variable Letters 119 Em, El, Ar, Ma, La, and Ra 120 Special Cases 121 Ith and The, Tha, and da ......... 122 2 14 CONTENTS. Principles determining the Use of the Variable letters . . . 123 A.. Right lines joined .......... B. Ri-ht lines joined with Curves ....... C. Curves joined with Curves. 1. Facing Curves. 2. Opposing Curves ............ Exercise Twenty-sixth .......... Key to pages 10 and 11, Reading-Lessons ...... CHAPTER XI. CONCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS. 96 Special Cases of Difficulty in Phonetic Spelling ..... 124 Double Consonants ........... 124 a. The Letter ^before A", G, &c ......... 124 b The Letter C ............ 124 c. The Letter X ............ 124 d. Punctuation ............ 125 Manual Drill ............ 126 KxiTcise Twenty-seventh ......... 126 Facility in Heading ........ . 127 Conclusion ............. 128 APPENDIX. 1O3 Tiio Position of Outlines ........ . 129 The New Sign for Wha .......... 131 The Vowel Z7. How Written ........ 137 Abbreviated Forms for -ness and -less ...... HI a- The Uce of the Circle with the Vowels 6 and fi ..... 141 b. flie Double Circle ........... 142 The Prefixes dis- and mis- ......... H.i The Termination -son .......... 144 n. Tin' Termination -ing .......... 1441). INTRODUCTION. IXVENTIONS are the levers that move the world. Every step in the advancement of mankind from barbarism to civ- ilization is marked by the application of some new power, by which the force of body or of mind may be greatly aug- mented. The puny arm of man has been relieved from nearly all kinds of drudgery by the power of water and of steam, and the ten thousand contrivances by which that power is ap- plied. We have, conquered matter, not by growing, as the fabled giants of old did, till we could pile mountain upou mountain by our unaided strength, but by learning how to apply, in a wonderful manner, the strength that God has given us. Though we depend upon facilities to aid in mental and moral advancement, as much as in physical, yet we have been slow to apply to the mental and moral elevation of the race the principles that have enabled us to develop our ma- terial resources. Inventions to aid in the commerce of ideas are no less essential than those which we have realized in the inter- change of coarser commodities. The art of writing was the original lever by which the race was at first raised above barbarism. Successive improvements in this art have "narked the epochs of the greatest mental activity. i* 16 INTRODUCTION. The invention and use of short-hand writing paved the way for tho introduction of Christianity, and aided its diffu- sion wonderfully. Verbatim reporters were common in the age of the apostles ; and the sayings of the martyrs would never have been preserved without this instrumentality. Those heroic men who battled so nobly with pen as well as tongue in upholding Christianity against the wisdom of the Pagan world, relied, in some instances, on their staff of swift writers as a means without which they would have accomplished but little. During the darkness of the middle ages, from the fifth to the fifteenth century, short-hand slept, and the intellect of the world slept with it ; but, with the new life of the six- teenth century, short-hand revived, never, we trust, to be again obscured. It would be necessary, to a full understanding of the pres- ent position of the art, to trace the gradual unfolding of its principles during the three centuries past. The devotion, zeal, faith, and patience that have been called out by the art are not surpassed in the records of any of the nat- ural sciences. That the art is a science, with laws based in Nature, cannot be doubted by any one who studies its history, or even acquires its principles in accordance with its more rational forms of development. And, if any are discour- aged by the long delay of its success, and the many failures that it has experienced, they should recollect that steam navi- gation and locomotion were as long unproductive of great results. But we cannot here enter into the history of the art. It may be many years before the labor necessary to do justice to such a history can be employed to advantage. The pea seems to have been very chary of the records of its own achievements ; and the great mass of men take the advan- ADVANTAGES OF SHORT-HAND. 17 tages of writing, even in the common form, as they do the air of heaven, without stopping to thank the Giver of all good, or to ask when, where, or how so wonderful a facility was discovered, who sacrificed their lives in its introduc- tion, who aided its development, or how it gradually grew into its present form. In the glory of the results, we forget the instruments, and become insensible of cur dependence upon them. The advantages of brief and rapid writing may be made available in two ways ; 1st, By the means of experts in its use, who act as reporters of popular assemblies, and aman- uenses for literary men ; and, 2d, By its general introduction among all classes of people. The advantages of the art have been secured, to some extent, by reporters for the press, and by amanuenses ; but this success is still partial. Less than one in ten of our newspaper reporters have heretofore been able to make the art available ; while very few of our literary and business men seem conscious of the vast relief from toil, and the great augmentation of their power, that they might effect by the employment of short-hand writers. A business-man can, in this way, dictate answers to his correspondents in a few minutes, that would require five times as long to wi-ite out in the usual way ; and thus save, at little expense, several hours of valuable time each day. And the literary man may dictate a work, not only with the freedom of ex- temporary discourse, but in a more satisfactory form than he could write it. To the orator, whether discoursing on sacred or secular topics, this means of preparing discourses would, at least, treble his capacity for usefulness, and add to the freshness and vivacity of his discourses as much as to the ease of preparing them. 18 INTRODUCTION. For these uses, the old and complicated forms of the art have answered to some extent. Though very imperfect for such uses, still, by a careful preparation of three to five years, young men of sufficient natural aptitude have become qualified for such service by the use of Phonography. Still, the introduction of the more facile and legible styles of Tachygraphy is demanded to render short-hand a complete success in this department of its use. The art cannot per- form all that it is capable of doing, until all our newspaper reporters, and all our amanuenses and private secretaries, are able to bring it into their service. Most of them could not afford to spend the great amount of time and labor necessary to master the art in its previously-complicated forms ; and besides, when they did devote years of labor to its acquisition, they found it too imperfect and illegible to answer perfectly the purpose for which they acquired it. But the labor of acquiring the art in its present form, as explained in the following work, is so greatly lessened, and its efficiency and accuracy so much increased, that all classes of amanuenses and newspaper reporters may avail themselves of its advantages. But this is not the most important service which the art can render. Thought cannot live without expression. All acknowledge that education is, to a great degree, a drawing- out, or developing, of the faculties of the mind ; and yet such are our educational facilities, that it is very difficult to do this. We are well supplied with books, and every facility necessary for furnishing mental food ; but aids to mental di~ gesliona.re few. Students in our schools are expected to put their own thoughts in order ; but such is the labor and time required to perform the mechanical part of this work, that the active youth is soon disgusted with the effort. But let all our students become skilful writers of T;i- SHORT-HAND FOR STUDENTS. 19 chygraphy, and writ lug will be a pleasure, instead of a drudg ery. The value of this means will, of course, depend largely upon the appreciation and skill of the teacher in using it ; but, properly employed, it will add greatly to suc- cess in the higher departments of education. Especially in colleges and professional schools, lectures that are now for- gotten as soon as heard will be preserved for use in after- life. This, however, is not the only use of the art in education. By converting what is now a drudgery into a pastime, a healthy mental activity is promoted. The passionate interest taken in the beauty and grace of the short-hand characters is such as .is called out in the study of the fine arts, - painting, sculpture, and music. There is still a broader field of usefulness for short-hand than the educational field. The art can never be useful to the highest degree, until all classes of people are instructed in its use. It will then be a social power wholly incalcula- ble. We are strangers to the thoughts of our friends, and must remain so until this wonderful art shall unseal the fountains of affection, and bring those nigh that have been Avidely separated. Letters of friendship have grown few and brief. Correspondence has been mainly confined to business that must be done. All that is genial and invigor- ating in the interchange of thought has been frozen in the tediousness of utterance. When Tachygraphy shall be generally known and used, an electric thrill of life will run through our communities, awakening new sympathies, and forming bonds of union long dissevered. What railroads have done in bringing friends together that could otherwise never interchange a visit during a lifetime, brief writing will ' do, in bringing minds together that would, without it, communicate with too 20 INTRODUCTION. much difficulty to be able to continue the acquaintance begun in youth ; ami aid in extending that more valuable inter- change of thought among those of similar tastes, which tends both to the perfection of our knowledge of science, and its general diffusion. Let us suppose, for illustration, that all mankind spoke with the slowness and painful effort with which we record language. Suppose we were obliged to spell every word by naming its letters, in order to talk ; thus, I-n in, t-h-o the, b-e be, g-i-n gin, n-i-n-g ning, beginning, G-o-d, c-r-e- a-t-e-d, t-h-e, h-e-a-v-e-n-s, a-n-d, t-h-e, e-a-r-t-h, &c. : how long would conversation be tolerated in this age? Suppose, then, that this race of semi-mutes should be en- dowed with speech, with our present fluency ; the new life that would burst forth in one universal shout of thanksgiv- ing would indicate, in part, the rapture of the freedom in- troduced by the general use of brief writing. The blessings of human speech are incomparably great. Nothing can take the place of that free and unfettered inter- course in which soul blends with soul. But, speech dies on the air, and is lost; while writing may fly on the wings of the wind to any part of the earth, and may be preserved, if desired, for coming generations. But, it may be asked, cau this brilliant conception be realized? We answer, Most undoubtedly. It is not even a difficult thing any longer. The only difficulty was in the discovery of a really practical style of brief writing. This was difficult; for it required the growth of several centuries to bring it to perfection. But that difficulty has been finally removed. Tachygraphy can le reduced to practice with far less labor than the chirography now employed. If intro- duced to children at a proper age, they would become as proficient in its use, witli one year's practice, as they now TACHYGRAPHY PRACTICABLE. 21 become in our common chirography -with the labor of seve- ral years. Besides, it would be to them an inspiration and a joy, instead of a drudgery, and aid them to under- stand those general principles of language which are ob- scured by our present orthography. The style best adapted to general use is fully written, and more legible than our present character. lu its fullest foi'm, it is written three times as rapidly as the common writing, while the labor saved is greater in proportion than the time. The hand is obliged, in Tachygraphy, to make only one-fifth as many strokes, and to move over only one-ninth the dis- tance, in writing a given paper, that would be necessary in writing the same thing in the usual way. The fully-written style of Tachygraphy, as illustrated in this volume, must not be confounded with those briefer styles designed for the use of reporters. We do not estimate here the speed and brevity of those more contracted styles ; for they are not adapted for general use. The use of stenographic contractions of any kind must always be limited ; and the introduction of such styles, in connection with those of general utility, is to be regretted, as it gives occasion for the supposition that the art is mainly designed for such professional service. In the styles of short-hand heretofore offered, legibility has been sacrificed to brevity, and the wants of the many to the demands of the professional reporter. But these works have professed to offer advantages to all, and have been eagerly sought for by all classes of people. Though we have no means of making accurate statistics on this subject, yet, from the enormous sale of some editions of the text-books on Mr. Pitman's phonography, we have reason to believe that at least half a million of text-books have been sold during 22 INTRODUCTION. the past, twenty-eight years.* Half a million of experiments would satisfy any scientist as a basis for generalization. Now, what does the result show in favor of the attempt to introduce stenographic peculiarities for the general pur- poses of writing? Probably not more than five hundred persons of the five hundred thousand persons procuring these works have become really expert in the use of them. One in every thousand has attained the skill sought for in the use of a style adapted only to report ers.f Perhaps five hundred, or possibly a thousand more, have gained a degree of speed equal to what they might have acquired in a simpler, plainer style ; while at least four hundred and ninety-eight thousand failed to make it answer the end for which they sought it. Must the millions be deprived of this art simply because they cannot thread the mazes of the arbitrary contractions de- signed for professional reporters? Such a conclusion would be no more reasonable than to assume that it was impossi- ble to fouud a city, because it was found impossible to draw together a very large number of persons on the top of the White Mountains ; or to deny that a railroad was practica- ble after a mountain had been tunnelled, simply because no train of cars could be drawn over its highest peak. The author of Tachygraphy has continually endeavored to keep within the bounds of actual achievement in stating the capacities of the art. Those who have spent much time in the study of Phonography, to but little purpose, may still make this study productive, by applying the knowledge of Most of these works were published in England. Probably, however, two hundred and fifty thousand copies have been sold in this country, counting those published here and imported from England. t Though the author has not been able to collect entirely accurate de tails on this subject, yet he has gathered facts from teachers of Phonog- raphy, that give a degree of definiteness to these estimates. The facts are too notorious to be doubted by those who have attended to the subject. BRIEF WORD-FORMS SEDUCTIVE. 23 the principles of the art gained in this way to the practice of Tachygraphy. Those who have spent from five to twelve years in the practice of Phonography have found, that, so far from heing hindered by this in acquiring Tachygraphy, their previous practice of a different style was a great aid to them. When the hundreds of thousands who have invested in Phonography a capital of labor that is not now available! shall follow the example of those who have already tested the matter, they will find that their former painful labor has- become highly productive ; and that the years which they had counted lost are restored again with an unexpected in- crease. Experience is more reliable than theory ; and the practi- cal success of a particular method is of more value than any explanation of the philosophy by which that success is gained. Yet the seductiveness of brief forms, attained at no matter how much sacrifice of simplicity or legibility, is so great, that those with but little experience are very likely to be deceived. There is something fascinating in the beau- tiful devices for contraction, that leads the student forward step by step ; and he is unwilling to leave any thing unlearned that the science renders possible. So far as this is a mere matter of taste, so far as it is a passion for science, it is to be praised ; but, if the student memorizes a greater number of details than he can command readily, they bur- den the mind, hinder speed in writing, and finally lead to disgust and failure. Modes of contraction that seem very easy to the enthusiastic student, when his mind is engrossed by the science, become far more difficult to employ when the distracting cares of business or other studies occupy the attention. But he is not likely to understand this at the time ; and when, in later years, experience teaches him his error, it is too late for him to rectify his mistake : he must 24 INTRODUCTION. abandon a style too cumbersome to be euclured, and has, too frequently, no leisure to master a simpler. If those who have made the experiment with Phonography will testify to their experience, as large numbers have already done, they will save many young persons from such a waste of time and effort ; but we ask no testimony of those who have used the art but a short time, and are still bewildered by its deceptive promises. We have felt it a duty to offer this word of caution, not merely to guard the inexperienced against the old forms of the art, but also to warn the student against attempting the reporting style of Tachygraphy, without first counting the cost, and considering carefully the probability of its being as well adapted to his purpose as the simplest style. While the reporting style of Tachygraphy is much more easily acquired, and much more legible, than Phonography, yet it should not be attempted by those who are not prepared to make its use their principal business, at least for a tejm of years. Students in academies and colleges who contemplate an extended course of education may master the note-taker's style to advantage, for the purpose of taking more accurate notes of the lectures of their proposed courses of study. But, when fairly engaged in their professions, they will be quite likely to drop all contractions, and write the art in its siiif plest form. There is one other caution, that we would make so em- phatic, if possible, that no student of the art should ever forget it. It is this : On no account attempt to write two styles of the art. Any one that should attempt to preserve his knowledge of Phonography while cultivating Tachygra- phy would most certainly fail. Let the decision made in favor of the style used be decisive. THE LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL. 25 The same caution applies to the effort to write a more or less contracted style of the same system. It cannot be done, except at a great sacrifice of facility in both styles. Teach- ers are sometimes compelled to do this to accommodate their writing to pupils of different degrees of proficiency ; but they must be content with a comparatively low rate of speed. These suggestions are offered to those who wish to make the art useful. If any cultivate it for amusement, and speculate in different styles from a love of variety, we trust they will accept the result of their choice, without making us responsible for their success in acquiring skill in rapid writing. We would not discourage an appeal, on the part of the teachers of Tachygraphy, to that love of the beautiful, which must always be an attractive charm, winning more to the culture of the art than even its great and acknowl- edged utility can do. This love ought to be encouraged as an ennobling influence, leading the mind to an appreciation of all true art, and through this to divine excellence. But let that appeal be made to the greater beauty mingling with the severe simplicity of the fuller forms of the art, rather than to those accidental devices which break the true har- mony of the science. Educate the taste until irregular forms shall be offensive. FOREIGN LANGUAGES. The alphabet of Tachygraphy was arranged with especial reference to its application to foreign languages. Some adaptation will be necessary to make it as useful in German, French, and other European languages, as in our own ; but this was originally designed, and provision was made for such additions as would be necessary, so that the harmony 3 26 INTRODUCTION. of the system might remain when it should be adopted by oilier nations. The best systems of short-hand have heretofore appeared in the English language. Nearly all the true principles of the science would seem to be of English discovery and development. And yet, with all their rudeness, the German systems seem to have been more generally employed, on account of their greater simplicity. It is hoped that the introduction of Tachygraphy will show that those who use the English language are not only able to discover the true principles of the science, but to apply them successfully to practical use. Let it be known that there is but one science of brief writing for all nations, as there is but one science of math- ematics, one true philosophy of human liberty, one true religion, and one God, and the general introduction of that system which best embodies the science, will pave the way for that universal language which must yet bind into closer relations the whole family of man. PRELIMINARY DIRECTIONS. WRITING-MATERIALS. A steel pen is the best instrument for writing short-hand. Some gold pens will answer ; but they are not apt to be stiff enough for this use. As a reporter is sometimes compelled to use a pencil, some practice in this way is necessary ; but, when a pencil is used, it is necessary to have unsized paper. MANNER OF HOLDING THE PEN. In the common writing, the principal strokes are back- ward, while in Tachygraphy they are mostly inclined for- ward. This renders a change in the manner of holding the pen desirable. The pen, when writing Tachygraphy, should be held be- tween the first and second fingers. It should be steadied by the thumb as it is when held in the usual way. Tachygraphy may be written on either ruled or unruled paper by the experienced writer ; but the learner will find it convenient to have ruled paper in his earlier exercises, for the same reason that ruled paper is convenient in learn- ing to write in the common way. 27 28 PRELIMINARY DIRECTIONS. EXPLANATION OP TERMS. VOCALS. The short-hand letters which represent the sounds of vowels are called vocals, or vocal signs. CONSONANTALS. Those representing consonant sounds are called consonantals. OUTLINE ; WORD-FORM. The form a word assumes when written with the short-hand characters. TACIITGRAPHY (pronounced ta-kig'ra-fy) . Greek m^v; (tachus), rapid; and y ^', x^, &c., we could write a-> & c, d-> &c. But we should not ain in ease of 30 THE ORIGIN OF THE BUIEF LETTERS. writ'mg by this; for this is the way the ancients wrote: :iiul we have found that we can write faster by joining the letters together, even if we use more strokes in writ- ing. So we will not, attempt to go back to a style that was abandoned several hundred years ago. 4. We shall have to lay the old letters aside ; but what kind of letters shall we employ in their place ? It takes time and labor to make marks with a pen : so we must get brief and oasy signs. Besides, letters must be joined to one another in many ways. They must be, then, regular lines, so that a boy or girl that has studied geometry can tell just the angle that any two letters would make when joined. In this way, we shall have a science, a. mathematical science. We will take the simplest regular characters. 1. Straight lines. 2. Curved lines. 3. Brief dashes. 4. Dots. STRAIGHT LINES AND CU11VES. 5. We must be careful to keep a sufficient difference between the letters. Suppose we take four light lines like these \ |/, and four heavy ones in the same direc- tion _\| /. This gives us eight very simple letters. 6. We will now make curved lines, of the quarter of a circle, in the same directions as the straight lines above. We can curve them either way. In the direction of , we have ^ and ^ ; in the direction of \, ^ and V^ ; in the direction of |, ) and (; in the direction of /, f and J. 7. In this way we get eight more letters formed with light characters; and can make eight more by HALF-CIRCLES, DASHES, AND DOTS. 31 making heavy letters corresponding to them, thus ; /-s We may get these signs from dividing a circle, as seen in the illustrations on the fifth page of the reading ex- ercises in the end of the book. 8. In this way we get twenty-four letters, each made of a single straight or curved line. They have a posi- tive, fixed direction, and regular form : so that we can always know just what the angle will be when they are joined together, or whether they join without making an angle. HALF-CIRCLES, DASHES, AND DOTS. 9. The old stenographers made large half-circles^ in- stead of quarter-circles, for their large letters. Tins was inconvenient. But semicircles, when very small, are convenient and distinctive. We will make them only about one-fifth the size of the lines and curves selected n paragraphs 5-7. By dividing a circle horizontally and perpendicularly, we get n u c 3 heavy, and r. u c D light, eight. Now let us take short strokes, only one-fifth as long as before given, and in the same directions, and we get - N ' t heavy, and ~ \ i s light, eight more. 10. There remain, of the simple characters chosen, only the dots. They are less useful than any of the others, because they cannot be joined in writing. We are more plagued in our old writing by the necessity of dotting the i and j, and crossing the t, than by the almost interminable m. But we will venture to take two dots, a heavy dot and a light one [. and .]. 32 ACKNOWLEDGED PRINCIPLES. NOTE. The use of the signs given above, in place of the old letters, is not only theoretically plausible, but has proved to be practically successful. They have formed the foundation of most of the systems of short-hand that have appeared during the past -ntury in England and America. There is no question now, a long intelligent students of tho art, as to the elementary signs t .it must form the basis of a practicable system of brief writing. All respectable modern writers on the subject accept the use of quarter-circles, and right lines (distinguished by direction), and dashes, dots, and semicircles, as the only proper and feasible letters to be used in brief writing. There remains, however, a difference of opinion between modern writers concerning the particular sound or sounds which each new letter, or group of letters, should represent. So far, then, we have followed principles developed by previous writers, principles that have been eliminated slowly by the experience of centuries. But there are still works on short-hand extant, in which these principles do not appear. The system most used in Germany would seem to be based on an alphabet totally devoid of method or design, a relic of the rudest stage of the art ; and some Eng- lish and American authors have deviated, in the selection of their alphabetic characters, so far from natural principles, as to give their readers an impression that short-hand was a mere collection of arbitrary symbols. We trust, however, that the art has at last a scientific basis , and that, whatever changes may occur in details, its found, itiou- will never again be removed. CHAPT.ER II. THE SOUNDS TO BE REPRESENTED. 11. LETTERS represent the elements of speech, and there should be a letter to represent each elementary sound in the language. This is not the case with our present orthography. We have only twenty-six letters to represent thirty-six elements.* Three letters, c, q, and x, represent sounds for which we have other representatives : c sounds like k, s, or sh ; q like k ; and x like Jcs or gz. This leaves only twenty- three letters for thirty-six sounds. 12. The thirteen sounds for which we have no letters, in the old orthography are expressed, 1st, By giving each of the vowels, a, e, i, o, and u, more than one sound each ; as, for instance, a in ale, all, at and arm ; o in ore, on, and done, &c. 2d, By making digraphs, such as th, sh, ch, ng, which express, when combined, sounds entirely different from what they express singly. 3d, By appropriating a letter that generally expresses one definite sound to another sound, either allied to it or wholly dissimilar ; as in the case of s, which is used for z and for a sound heard in azure, that has no proper let- ter of its own. * We can easily make more than thirty-six sounds by counting every variety ; but we only wish here to illustrate the general principles of pure phonics, without entering into details. Orthoepists differ widely in their estimate of the number of sounds in our language; but those that ccimt the least make the number thirty-six. 84 THE NEW LETTEKS APPLIED. NUMBER OF THE CONSONANTAL -SOUNDS. 13. We cannot pause here to enter into the matter fully ; but a little examination will show that we have twenty-four consonantal sounds, represented in our or- dinary writing by b, d, f, g, /*, j, k, Z, w, n, p, r, s, , v, w, y, 2, ch, sA, th (in thy), Ih (in thin), ng, and one that has no letter, and no combination of letters ap- propriate 'peculiarly to it; viz., that written with a z in azure, and with an s in pleasure. NUMBER OF THE VOWEL-SOUNDS. 14. Here we may find more difficulty ; for some vowel- sounds are ..not clearly distinguished in our ordinary conversation, so that they become obscure. So, to sim- plify the matter, we will omit all obscure sounds, and take only those that every one can distinguish without difficulty. 15. We have a, e, 0, long, and a, e, t, 0, w, short ; a as in/ar, and another a in/all; oo in moon ; u in full ; o in or ; ai in air ; and the diphthongal sounds i and u long, oi and ow, eighteen in all. CHAPTER III. THE NEW LETTERS APPLIED. 16. WE have found (6, 7, 8) twenty-four straight lines, and curves of the quarter of a circle, and (13) twenty-four consonantal sounds. We have also (9, 10) SMALL LETTERS FOR VOCALS. 35 eighteen small Half-circles, dashes, and dots, and eighteen vocal sounds. 17. It is quite appropriate to honor the consonantal sounds with full-sized characters, because the consonants are the principal elements in words. Vowels give the different shades of meaning which the same root-word assumes ; but the consonant forms the enduring and im- portant part of the word. 18. Besides this, it would be very awkward to mix up these signs, representing some consonants by full- length characters, and others by small signs ; for the difference between a vowel-sound and a consonant-sound is very great, and should be distinctly marked in an ac- curate system of writing. 19. We have, then, just enough large signs to repre- sent the consonant-sounds, and just enough small signs to represent the vocal sounds. We have a very good reason, besides the fact that the numbers correspond, for preferring the large signs for the principal elements in the word, and the small signs for the vocal elements (17, 18). 20. So far, we find very beautiful results and easy progress. The simplest strokes possible lines, curves, dashes, and dots can be so arranged as to furnish all the signs we need. They are so brief and beautiful, that it is a wonder that our wise ancestors ever thought of using any others in their writing. But to what individual sound shall we wed each individual sign ? Shall we make a perpendicular or inclined or horizontal sign for b? Shall it be light, or heavy? Shall it be curved, or straight ? We have only determined to take the twenty- 36 LETTERS PAIRED. four full-sized characters first introduced for the conso- nantal signs, and the eighteen small letters for the vocal MLJUS; but we see no reason yet for preferring one of these signs to another for any given sound. 21. RUM AUK. If we can find no principle to guide us here, w.) A law of harmony, by which abrupt sounds liave signs equally unbending, and more flowing sounds i lore flexible signs. (c.) A regard to lineality. We gain lineality and facility of writing by giving those groups of sounds that occur most frequently horizontal signs. This last fea- ture alone is peculiar to this system. The principles mentioned in a and b are found also in the various sys- tems of Phonography. APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES. 30. Applying the above principles, we find most of the new letters fall very naturally into their places as follows : | | N S \___))^. bpglcdtvfz s w, &c. ANOMALIES. 31. But still some perplexing questions occur ; for no science falls so completely into order and harmony as to render human ingenuity useless. We have three letters, 7t, w, and y, that seem to be scarcely consonants at all, and deserve separate treatment. We have four letters, m, n, /, and r, that cannot be paired, as b and p are, with any other sounds in the language ; then we have the nonde- script sound ng, and the semi-compound c/t, and /, all of which anomalies demand attention. But these little difficulties are easily reduced to some assignable limits. SIGNS FOR THE VOCAL SOUNDS. 41 We have a frame- work, and must leave the student to fill up the outline for himself, or consult the alphabet for further particulars. SIGNS FOR THE VOCAL SOUNDS. 82. We have assigned the small signs given in para- graphs 9, 10 to the vocal sounds. It remains that we assign particular classes of these signs to particular classes of sounds. We shall be obliged to treat of this matter brief!}', and shall mention such distinctions only as are made use of in forming the alphabet. Vocal sounds are either, (1) Long or Short ; (2) Labial or Palatal ; (3) Simple or Diphthongal. 33. Long sounds are represented by heavy or shaded signs ; and the short sounds corresponding to them by the analogous light signs. And here it should be ob- served that the short sound most resembling e long is not e short, but i short ; and the sound of a long short- ened approximates more nearly to that of e short in ebb than to that of a short in abb. 34. The sounds represented by the light vocal signs must not be considered as differing only in quantity from those represented by the corresponding heavy signs ; for there is also a slight difference in quality. PALATAL VOWELS. 35. Vocal sounds, as well as consonantal, may be classed with reference to the organs principally used in 4* 42 DIPHTHONi uttering them. Those formed in the back part of the mouth, called palatals, or gutturals, are the long sounds heard in eve, ale, are, and air ; and the corresponding short sounds heard in it, ebb, add. These we have rep- resented by the semicircular and dot signs ~ c . v ^ . u 36. Those vocal sounds formed near the front part of the mouth by the use of the lips, called labials, are heard in the words ooze, ore, all, foot, up, on. They are rep- resented by the dash signs - i / , - ^ / . DIPHTHONGS. 37. The long sounds of i and u are considered diph- thongal, and are represented by the diamond points v and A respectively. The open diphthongs oi and ow are written by the union of the signs of their component parts. Thus, oi is composed of / and <^, and is written \' or v ; and ow is composed of ^ and -, and is written ^ or x. ; the direction of the second stroke being changed to make a more acute angle. o We add, on the following page, a complete alphabet of all the new letters, with the sounds they represent. THE ALPHABET OF TACHYGRAPHY. CONSONANTAL SIGNS. NAME. BOUND. SIGN. NAME. SOUND. j Be, b in bay. ^ The, th in they. Pe, P in pay. -^ Ith, th in oath. \ Ga, g in g r Em, m in may. N Ka, k in key. -^ En, n in nay. De, d in do. ^.x Ing, n g in sing. __ _ Te, t in to. J El, 1 in lay. ) Ve, V in eve. / Ra, r in ray. ) Ef, f in if. t/ Wa, w in we. ( Zhe, , in azare. c y Ya, y in ye. ( Ish, sh in show. s Ha, h in high. ^ Ze, z in ooze. 6 Ja, j in jail. Es, 8 in so. Cha, eh in each. VOCAL SIGNS n E, e in eve. n i in it ; y in duty. c A, a in ace. . Ai, ai in air. - e, e in ebb. w Ah, a in are. u a, a in ask, at. - Oo, o in do. 56, oo in foot ; u in full. 1 o, in ode. V u, u in us . fun, but. Au, au in aught. x 6, o in on -> or fs Oi, oy in boy. V I, i in ice. < Ow, OW in now. A Ew, ew in dew. CHAPTER IV. DIRECTIONS FOR PRACTICE. 38. HAVING, then, an alphabet of the simplest charac- ters, the next step is to learn to use them with freedom and grace, as we do the old letters. It is first necessary to commit them to memory, so as to form them with ease, and read them at sight. 39. This can be done best by writing the letters in pairs, commencing with | | | | | | | | , &c., repeat- ing them twenty to thirty times. Take care to make them exactly perpendicular and of the proper length, one-sixth of an inch. Make them of an even thickness throughout, of equal length, and parallel to each other. 40. It will be well to speak the sound as you make the letter that represants it. This will enable you to associate the letter with its proper sound. 41. Do not attempt to learn the whole alphabet at once, but master two letters at a time. After learning | j, add \\, observing their direc- tion as before. Then proceed in a similar manner with , as follows : EXERCISE ON THE STRAIGHT SIGNS. 42. b,p\ | | | | | MIM |, &c., repeated throughout the line. 9i k \\\\\\ \\\\\\ &c., repeated through- out the line. 44 EXERCISES. 45 t, t ~ ~, &c., repeated throughout the line, or ----- I I I I \\l I \\--,&c. NOTE. 43. It will be well to trace the characters throughout the work with an ivory point ; but this method of practice should never detract from the use of the pen, because the student needs to train his eye to accuracy, and develop his taste and judgment, which cannot be done by mere imitation of printed forms. THE SOUNDS OF THESE LETTERS. 44. j | and have the sounds always represent- ed by 5, p, d, and t. \ has the sound of g heard in go, beg, but never the sound of j, or g soft, heard in gem. \ has the sound of &, and the identical sound of c hard in come. NOTE. G soft is represented by c ; and c soft, by ^-^. 45. After thoroughly mastering these letters, proceed in a similar manner with the curves, observing that the heavy curves are shaded only in the middle, and taper towards each end. EXERCISE ON THE CURVED SIGNS. **<((<'<((< (((((((( THE SOUNDS THEY REPRESENT. 47. ) ) s~** and ^^ represent the sounds of the letters t, /, z, and s, as given in the alphabet. It need only be 46 SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS. observed that the letter s in our common orthography has very frequently the sound of z; and in these cases must, of course, be written in Tachygraphy by the letter x-\. 48. The sound ( has no corresponding letter in the >ld alphabet. This sound is represented by z in the ivord azure, and by s in the words pleasure, measure, treasure, &c. It is, however, a simple elementary sound, and deserves a simple and appropriate letter. 49. The sound ( is usually written with the common digraph sh, as in show ; but it is also written with the letters ti and ci, as in nation, Grecian, &c. 50. The letters "^\ and "^ stand for the old th as heard in then and thin. The heavy sound in then dif- fers from the light sound in thin, as d differs from t. The student should be careful to distinguish these two sounds of th, and to employ ~^\ when the sound is vo- cal, and ^\ when it is aspirate. THE LIQUIDS ANL) ING. 51. The letters f ^ ' **-/ J and X are not arranged in pairs, as the preceding letters have been. They are all vocal, and might properly have been represented by heavy curves ; but being letters of frequent occurrence, having no lighter correlative sounds, it is much more convenient to represent them as given in the alphabet. Ing. **-/ differs from ^-^ in sound radically, instead of being a mere variety of the same sound, as other letters so paired are. 52. Wa and ya. The letters ^x an( ^ cJ have a very feeble consonantal power, and, occurring always in th DIRECTION OF THE LETTEUS. 47 commencement of a syllable, the forms given (always written upwards) are very convenient. They have no correlative sounds. 53. The letters c _ and c represent sounds that are considered diphthongal ; c being composed of the sounds and ( [ ~C ] , and <" of the sounds and ( ["("]. THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THE LETTERS ARE WRITTEN. 54. The letters | | \\ ) ) ( ( ^N d "\ are in variably struck downwards, and may be called descenders. The letters -- / N s~^ ^^ ^-" c _ and c are writ- ten from left to right, and may be called horizontals. The letters ^x ^ and w and w are determined by the direction in which they are struck, rather than by the VARIATION OF VOCAL SIGNS. 49 form which they assume when written. The first pair (A and ^) are always struck in the direction in which the hands of a watch move ; but they may turn round toward the right as far as may be necessary to form a proper angle with the following letter. ILLUSTRATION. The second pair (w and ^) may turn in the opposite direction, as follows : These forms become perfectly definite when joined to other letters, as they always must be if varied. The freedom and beauty of the writing is greatly increased by the power to vary these letters as shown above. 59. The letters i and \ are variable in direction, being struck either in the direction of \ or |, as may be most convenient. Exercise. l\l\l\ I V I \ I \ I \ I \ l\|\ 60. The letter x is struck downward in most cases ; but it may be written upward when more convenient. This sign [ / ] is made light to represent the sound heard in the words or, nor, &c. 61. The letter / (o short) always represents the vocal sound heard in on, odd, &c., and is distinguished from the light sign given in paragraph 60, by being nearly always struck upward. It is also written at a greater inclination. .| 50 METHOD OF JOINING THE LETTERS. SIZE OF THE VOCAL SIGNS. 62. The vocal signs should be about one-fifth the size of the consonant sij^ns. This will make the semicircles O about one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and the dashes one-thirtieth of an inch in length. Exercise. Downward^ /// /// ////// /// /// Upward, //// " // /^// ^^ ^>- Oi and ow, f^^^^^^^f^^^-^ * /- / I and M, v v v VA AA AVVV VA A A v v v CHAPTER V. METHOO OF JOINING THE LETTERS. 63. HAVING memorized the letters of the alphabet, by frequently repeating the exercises given in the preceding chapter, the student should now proceed to join the let- ters into short syllables, or words of two letters. All letters are joined in the simplest manner. It is only necessary to observe the principles already given as to the proper direction of the letters, and the amount of variation allowed in certain vowels. All silent letters that appear in the common print are omitted in Tachygraphy ; and the true phonetic equiva- lents are used in place of the common orthography. CONNECTING THE SIGNS. 51 Examples. J - \ f J eat ear eel ease ache aim ale are ooze owes awes owed oar ^ I (^ j ^ tea pea fee she bay may nay who coo no gnaw dough (See Reading-Lessons First and Second.) 64. The principles of joining apply, with some specific differences, to the various classes of vocals ; hence we treat of connecting the semicircles, the dashes, and the diamond points, under special rules. CONNECTING THE SEMICIRCLES. 65. The semicircles must always form an angle with the following consonant ; hence o ^ and >- are varied, as explained in paragraph 58 ; but there is no need of an angle when the semicircle is joined to the end of the strokes : they form hooks in such cases, as will be seen in the examples below. CONNECTING THE DASH-LETTERS. 66. The dashes always make angles with the prece- ding letters, as well as with those that follow. 67. The horizontal dashes - and - admit of no variation. When they do not make a distinct angle 52 THE DIAMOND POINTS. with the letter or letters to which they belong, they are disjoined, and treated as non-connectives. (See para- graphs 87-92.) 68. The i and \ take either the direction of ] or \ ; that direction always being chosen which makes the acutest angle. When they form no angle in either of these directions, or when between two other letters they fail to join properly with either, they are also disjoined. 69. The dash / is struck upward when it makes a better angle ; but it .should be struck downward when- O ' ever it is at all convenient. The light dash / , though struck upward generally, may be struck downward when necessary to form a good angle. THE DIAMOND POINTS. 70. The letters v and A may be formed of lines curving outward, when they will thus connect more easily with either a preceding or a following consonant. Either the first stroke or the second may be curved, or both strokes ; or both may be made straight, as in the alphabet. JOINING FULL-SIZED LETTERS. 53 No rule need be given in reference to the use of these letters, except that, generally, that form is best that makes the most distinct angle with the letter to which it is joined. 71. The light strokes of the letters A- and * may be curved in a similar manner ; and even the heavy strokes may be slightly curved in a few cases. Example*. nigh sigh ice size nine L __N ire by dew tune hue ruse *^~^ <^ N_ L noise how coin bound ' sound NOTE. Before proceeding to the next section, the student should attend carefully to Reading-Lessons Third, Fifth, and Sixth. THE JOINING OF FULL-SIZED LETTERS. 72. The consonantal strokes and curves, when joined without intervening vocals, make angles of a determi- nate mathematical quantity, in accordance with the principles of geometry. They sometimes unite without angles ; and this, too, is to be determined by fixed math- ematical laws. ANGLES. 73. The angles formed by uniting the right lines of the alphabet may vary in quantity from 30 degrees to 5* 54 RIGHT LINES JOINED WITH CURVES. 135 degrees. But it will be sufficient for the practice of the art to class them as right, acute, or obtuse angles. Examples. Right angles, j } \ ^\ \^ A 2ute " -7 [x XI // Obtuse " NOTE. \/ and /\ are d asse d among the right angles, although the angle is greater than 90 degrees. RIGHT LINES JOINED WITH CURVES. 74. When straight and curved lines join, the angle cannot be preserved in many cases where mathematical accuracy would require one. 75. When the curve faces the angle, and would, if straight, form an obtuse angle with the right line, no angle can be formed ; for the right line would form a tangent to the curve. Example*. 76. When the curve, situated as above, is in such a direction as would make, if straight, a right angle, the angle is sacrificed for convenience in writing. Examples. ^^V n > u n /v'-j; \j 77. And even in cases where the curve faces an angle that would be acute if formed of right lines, the THE JOINING OF CURVES. 55 angle is often rounded so much, that the two letteis unite into one stroke. Examples. THE JOINING OF CURVES. IS. Facing curves, of such a direction that their chords would form right angles, always form half- circles. Examples. C ^^ ^^ C 19. Facing curves whose chords would form acute angles are joined without angles. Example*. u r> n o o ^ 80. But facing curves whose chords would form ob- tuse angles must in all cases form an angle. Examples. OPPOSING CURVES. 81. Opposing curves in the same direction unite into a waved line. Examples. 56 VOCALS JOINED WITH VOCALS. 82. Opposing curves in different directions always make angles. Examples. CURVES REPEATED. 83. When the same curve is repeated, an angle is formed. Examples. STRAIGHT LINES REPEATED. 84. Two right lines in the same direction unite with- out an angle. If one of the lines is heavy, and the other light, the shading should be so gradual that both letters may blend into one stroke. Examples. (See Beading-Lesson Seventh.) VOCALS JOINED WITH VOCALS. 85. The principles explained in the previous part of this chapter apply, for the most part, to the connection of vocals with vocals. It should be observed, however, that the vocal curves are half-circles, and unite with different angles from those formed by quarter-circles similarly situated. 86. The dashes make the same angles as full-sized strokes similary situated. They cannot unite with other DISJOINED VOCALS. 57 dashes without an angle, but may take a vowel-hook, as full-sized letters do. Examples. meander aerial recreation deism geography piety owing wooing (See Reading-Lesson Ninth.) DISJOINED VOCALS. 87. The dots are always disjoined ; the dashes are disjoined in many instances ; and the semicircles in a few cases. A disjoined vocal is written near to some full-sized letter in the syllable to which it belongs, and has a position with reference to that letter. 88. If the vocal is to be read before a perpendicular or inclined stroke, it is written on the left of it ; if read after, on the right. 89. If the vocal is read before a horizontal stroke, it is written above it ; if after, below it. 90. When the disjoined vocal occurs between two full-sized letters which belong to the same syllable, it is generally written with the latter, except as provided in the next section. 91. The dots are written near the middle of the let- ter; and, when they occur between two letters, the heavy dot is written with the former, and the light dot with the latter. 68 OTHER DISJOINED VOCALS. Examples. I \ x>* ^ ^ ^ \ -- ^ ebb egg air rare faith feather web keg debt bury -^ - ^ > Edit do etch chair soul foot come known far face nonentity 92. Other disjoined vocals may be written near the beginning, middle, or end of the letter ; but, if the vocal is written last, it will generally be more convenient to write it near the end of the latter of the two strokes between which it occurs. 93. If the word contains more than one syllable, it is better to write the vowel with that consonant to which it belongs in pronouncing the word. 94. When there are three or more consonants, the vocals must, of course, be written in their proper sylla- bles, not in connection with letters from which they are separated in speech. (See the examples in paragraph 91.) THE CONNECTING STROKE. 95. When the semicircles do not join conveniently, it is often better to connect them in the outline by means of a slight stroke than to disjoin them. This stroke should be light, and briefer than the vowel strokes. It may be in any direction, but should THE METHOD OF STUDY. 59 be written generally perpendicular to the letters which it. joins. If the semicircle occurs between two full strokes, to neither of which it will join without a connecting stroke, it is better to disjoin it. Examples. aid fade each reach knee purvey NOTE. No connecting stroke is used with the dashes or diamond points. The use of this stroke is very infrequent, and it may be avoided in all cases by disjoining the vocals when it would be required ; but in such words as aid, paid, made, &c., its use adds to the facility of writing by giving continuity, and it also increases the graceful- ness of the outlines. There seems to be some reason for joining an initial vowel, which does not apply with so much force to a medial vowel. A disjoined vocal in aid and each does not look as well as in fade and reach. One reason for this is the ease with which a medial vowel may be spared in reading. The eye is arrested by the first letters of a word, and passes more lightly ovor the remaining letters, if the form of the word is plain enough to be understood. (See Reading-Lessons Third and Eighth.) \ CHAPTER VI. THE METHOD OF STUDY. 96. WHEN the student of the art has mastered the theory given in the preceding chapter, he should turn his attention to the practice of the principles learned. 60 THE METHOD OF PRACTICE. And, to make his practice productive of any good results, he must have a definite plan, and follow it. Skill in reading should keep pace with skill in writ- ing. The student should read, in connection with his study and practice of this chapter, the first nine Roading-Exercises in the end of the book. They should lie reviewed until they can be read as easily as the com- mon print ; and the forms there given should be con- sulted in all cases of difficulty in combination. In addition to this, the student should read his own exercises, and write nothing that he is unable to read. Skill in writing must be based on a knowledge of the principles of the art. These can be acquired practically only by special drill on each principle by itself. This drill should be made to accomplish two purposes: 1st, To render the method of combining the characters more familiar ; and, 2d, To train the hand to skill in forming the word-forms. No one plan can be exhaustive ; but the following will be found to yield good results if faithfully fol- lowed. 97. Let the alphabet be so thoroughly mastered, that all the characters can be written within fifteen or twenty seconds. For the method of practice, see Chapter IV. When every sound in a word instantly suggests its ap- propriate letter, the first point is gained ; then the student should proceed to gain the greatest facility in joining the letters. To accomplish this, let him write each vocal before every consonantal in the alphabet, except wa, ya, and 7ia, as follows : THE METHOD OF PRACTICE. 61 This should be repeated until perfectly familiar to the eye, and until the fingers can execute it with perfect facility and a tolerable degree of accuracy. When mastered sufficiently, the preceding exercise can be written within fifteen seconds. Then proceed with the next vocal in the same man- ner, adding every consonantal, except wa, ya, and Aa, which are not so frequently preceded by vowels as the regular consonants ; and in the same manner join all the vocals to the following consonants, or disjoin them, as the case may be. 98. When this is thoroughly mastered, join all the vocals to preceding consonants, omitting the signs of the short vowels, which are never final. Examples. ULLU Uj't Ul.LlJ Go through, in this way, with all the consonantals, adding all the long and diphthongal signs to each of them, and rewrite it until it is perfectly familiar. 99. The third step in this practice will be to insert all the vowels between every possible combination of the consonants. But since but a small part of the possible combinations actually occurs in writing, it will be suffi- cient to insert all the short vowels between every conso- nant, as follows : 62 PHONETIC ELEMENTS. In connection with this practice, read the first nine Reading-Lessons, near the end of the book. O * WRITING-EXERCISES. 100. It is desirable that the student should distinguish between the true sounds the phonetic elements in a word, and the letters employed in the common spell- ing. To make this easier, and to mark the pronun- ciation of syllables left indeterminate in the ordinary spelling, a few of the first exercises are printed by limit- ing the sounds of some of the old letters, and inverting or marking others, as follows : 101. The vowels a, e, i, o, and u, retain their short sounds, as heard in at, ebb, it, on, and put (oo in foot) ; and the long sounds corresponding are marked by the acute accent, thus : far, fct, fit, f6t, fad. far, fate, feet, fought, food. The o in note is marked 6 ; the u in up, ii ; and the long sound of i and u by the digraphs ei and in; thus : not, nut, neit, niuz. note, nut, night, news. 102. The sound of th heard in the word that is repre- sented by an inverted D ; thus, Q : the sharper sound, heard in thin, is written in the usual way. The letter c is omitted, s being used for it when soft, and k when hard ; z is written for when the sound of z occurs ; j is written for g soft; and g always retains its hard sound, heard in go. The sound of z in azure has no proper representative WRITING EXERCISES. 63 in the common print : it is here designated by the letter j with the lower part slightly clipped. Examples. hum, rtij, slid, iz. come, rouge, show, ease. Gem, thtim, ej, ek. them, thumb, age, ache. NOTE. The above scheme is taken, in part, from the Kosmic alphabet of the American Philological Society, Rev. N. Brown, 3 < Park Row, New York, president. We have, however, adopted only such distinctive signs as seemed absolutely necessary to express the sounds intended in an intelligible manner. Those desiring to secure a more perfect phonetic scheme should procure the Kosmic alphabet, which is extensively employed by foreign missionaries in printing uncultivated languages. EXERCISE FIRST. To be written in Tachygraphic characters, for correction by the teacher. It will be well to leave two lines blank under every line written, so that, after the exercise has been corrected on the second line, it can be rewritten by the pupil on the third. Long Vowels. E long : ib, ip, ig, ik, id, it, iv, if, iz, is, i. P : pi,pe,pd,pu, pd,p6. Go on in this way, adding all the long vowels to every consonant in the Tachygraphic alphabet, except ing.. EXERCISE FOURTH. The joininy of the Diphthongal Signs. /long: bei (by}, pei (pie), gei, kei, dei, tei, vei,fei, jei, shei, zei, sei, (lei, tlie'i, mei, nei, lei, rei, wei, yd, liei, jei, chei. U long: biu, pin (pew), gin, kin, din, tiu, &c., throughout the alphabet. Oi : boi, poi, goi, koi (coy), doi, toi, &c., as above. On: bou (bow or bough), pon, gou, kou (cow), don, ton, &c. EXERCISE FIFTH. Eib, iub, oib, oub, eip, iup, oip, oup, eig, ing, oig, oug, ,&c., through the whole alphabet, omitting the letters tea, ya, and ha. WE1TIXG EXERCISES. 65 EXERCISE SIXTH. Ib, eb, ab, ub, iib, ob, ip, ep, op, up, tip, op, &c., through the alphabet, as above. EXERCISE SEVENTH. Bib, big, bid, bif, bish, bis, bith, bim, bin, bil, bir. Kip, kik, kit, kif, kish, kiss, kith, kim, kin, king, kill,kir. Tip, tik, tit, tif, tish, tis, tith, tim, tin, ting, til, tir. Fip, fik, jit, fif, fish, fith, fim, fin, fing, fil, fir. "Sip, sik, sit, sif, sis, sim, sin, sil, Sir, sing. Mip, mik, .mit, mif, mish, mis, mith, mini, min, ming, mil, mir. Nip, nik, nit, nif, nis, nith, nim, nin, nil, nir. Lip, lik, lit, liv, Us, lith, Urn, lin, ling, lil, lir, lick, lij. Rip, rik, rid, riv, ris, rith, rim, rin, ring, ril, rich, rij. Wip, ivik, ivit, wif, wish, wis, with, wim, win, wing, wil, wich. Hip, hik, hid, hif, his, hith, him, hin, hing, hil, hich. Chip, chik, chid, chif, chis, chim, chin, chil. EXERCISE EIGHTH. Beb, beg, bed, bev, bes, beth, bem, ben, bel, ber, geb, geg, ged, gev, ges, gem, gen, gel, ger, &c., commencing with the letters d, v, z, m, n, I, r, w, h, and /, and using all the short vowels a, u, ti, and o. EXERCISE NINTH. Consonants united without Vowels. Bk, bt, br (ra), pg, pd, pr, gk, gd, gr, db, dk, dr (ar), rr, rp, rk, rt, u'p, u'k, wd, wr, hb, hg, hd, hr. Btha, ptha, gn, kn, dth, tth, rs, rz, wz, sg, sk, shg, shk, ind, mt, nr (ra). Bn, pn, bng, png, dv, df, tv, tf, kl, gl, sb, sp, mg, mk, inb, mp, dl, tl, bl, pi, rv, rf, rl. Shtha, shda, thn, dn, zth, dz, thf, thv, ms, mz, nl, ngl. Jz, js, shz, shs, vn, vng, fn, fng, zsh, ssh, mn, nf, nv. 6* 60 WRITING EXERCISES. EXERCISE TENTH. Bb, bp, gg, gk, dd, dt, pb, pp, kg, kk, td, tt, jn, j din, xhng, zv, zf, sv, sf, (Lala, thala, md , mth, jla, shla, mv, mf, ml, zl, si, zn, m, zng, sng, ml, la-m, vsh, f#/t, ththa, tha-th. 21, ic, id, id, id, id. It, ie, ia, iu, iii, io, iei, iiu, ioi, iou, ii, ci, di, ui, oi, 6i, eii, ui, oil, out. NOTE. The preceding exercises will be found to comprise nearly all the combinations of the Tachygraphic letters which occur in writing the English language. The student can master these combinations in no other way so well as to rewrite those exercises until they are perfectly familiar. Negligence in this part of the work will add to the labor of mastering the art. They must be familiarized in some way. The negligent student, who prefers to master each combination as he meets it in writing, will continue to blunder for months ; while the diligent pupil, who masters these combinations here, will find that no real difficulties can occur in his subsequent writing. EXERCISE ELEVENTH. Spelled in the common orthography. The silent letters should be omitted. Pea, bee, eat. Ape, pay, bay, day. Key, eke, gay, ache, too, dough, toe, oat, aught, cow, dow. Tea, day, thee, they, see, say, saw, awes, owes, ooze. She, show, shaw, foe, oaf, oath. Are, say, me, may, ma, aim, nay, know, gnaw. Hay, ho, haw. Way, woe, we. You, who. Lea, law, low. Eel, awl, ale, oar, mow. It, eat, at, are, age, odd, awed, of, off, the, thee, us, owes, is, ease, easy, allay, an, Anna. Tie, die, toy, joy, coy. Bow, vow, cow, out, owl, oil. Nigh, dew, view, few, mew, cue. Die, due, cow, cue, coy, tie, toy, high, hoy, my, mew, mow (ow), wry, right, wine, wind, coin. About, gout, annoy, duty, night, nine, might, mine, tight, tipe,foul, thou. WRITING EXERCISES. 67 Ice, eyes, dice, ties, nice, rise, vice, vies. Hew, neiv, news, Hew, rue. Sow, now, allow. Sigh, sighs, sign, lioyce, toys, noise. G-O up nigh. Now see hoiv it is ! Is ease the aim ? How may we find the right way ? This is the right way. May iv e walk now, or by and by ? You may go now. EXERCISE TWELFTH. Ebb, egg, etch, edge. Err, air, fir, fair, bird, bare, were, ivear. Very, ferry, merry, mercy. To, do, so. Good, food, mood, could, would, should. Not, but, tub, knob, notch. D) they err if they d) so ? TJiey may do so. It is easy to do it. Is it SJ easy ? We may know more about this by and by. HJW d) you know this? I know the way, and have often seen the view you mention. Said, led, wed, head. There, care, rare. Wreck, web, men, ten, then, aired. If he said si, then you may act on it. We now know hoiv you and they were led to d) this. There is no other way so good. You may attain this if you desire to do so. The good and wise are often led by a way they know not. Ope, open, rope, robe, though, pope, poet, poem. Love, enough, tough, govern. Undone, unwise, unde, unworthy (onward). Up, ut, us, hum. Bone, cone, tone, moan, port, import. TJiey have done so, and 'we may hope to do the same. The vessel is not yet in port. The import of his answer is this. EXERCISE THIRTEENTH. In, bin, fin. As, ask. Epistle, epoch. Aid, paid, bads. Dish, ye, knee, each, teach. Faith, fade, fasten, separate, nourish, cherish, tui- tion. Cat, bat, jack, jacket, bad, pad. Tick, wick. TJiin, king, give, gift, forgive, arithmetic. Shall, shanty, shad. 68 WRITING EXERCISES. His, has, list, last, mist, mast, wist, rasp, hist, hast. Fact, fancy, than. Deed, did,* heal, hill, iveal, will, meal, mill, seal, till, reel, ril, wreak, rick, reed, rid, heed, hid, heat, hit, weed, wit, wisdom, seen, sin, keen, kin. Deep, dip* reap, rip, weep, weak, wick, leak. Barrel, bar,* parrot, part, garret, guard, carry, car, tarry, tar. He did the deed* They paid for the Jish. Jf yv had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye should say to this mountain, Be ye removed, and be ye cast into the sea, and it should obey you. Beat, bet, pate, pat, pet. Beak, pick, beck, big, beg, peg. Lack, talk, nook. Dip, top, nap, sack, tack. Dog, dig, dim, tame, dumb, numb. Came, game, name, same. Keg, dead, debt, edged, etched, jet, caged, dated. Edited, noted. Griff, cake, deed, did, cog, pip, pop, publish, baptism, judgment. Non, says, cease, unended, nonentity, fifty, jive, thither. Shovel, sheaf, Jish. Sometimes, seldom, sold. iSun, notion, mission, sadness, send, occasion. Nonsensical, business, Johnson, lemon, insufficiency, inefficiency, insincere, multitude, darkness. * NOTE. The long vowel in deed is distinguished from the short vowel in did by writing the former in the full form, and using the hook for the latter. The ^ is distinguished from the in this way wherever convenient ; but, in other cases, the hook is made larger for the long vowel than for the short. The same principle applies to the letters o and and J should be noted as irregular, and will need especial attention in practice. 107. The g-series initial are the following : f V -- *) - o/ *^ sp, sk, st, sf, sm, sn, si, sw. It will be noticed that the circle is on the right side of | and \, on the upper side of and ^^ , and on the inside of the curves. When these signs occur in the middle of a word, special rules are observed as follows : Case 1. Between two straight letters in the same direction, the circle retains its original position. Case 2. Between straight letters that make an angle, it is always on the outside of the angle, as J_ , bestow, dl./ obscure. Case 3. Between a straight and a curved line, the circle is always on the inside of the curve. (See Read- ing-Lessons, paragraph 67.) When oX is medial, the hook of the c^~ appears. 108. The letter s precedes the diphthongal sounds of the I and r series in a few cases, forming triphthongs. 72 DIRECTIONS FOR PRACTICE. They are the following : T"~1 ^^ and ^- spl, spr, scr, str. REMARK 1. In the case given above, where three letters unite, as in the words spread, street, &c., it would seem as proper to con- sider the sp the diphthong as the pr; but the forms given above are the most convenient. The ^-^ joins to preceding letters more conveniently than the circle would do. In all eases where the s-series is followed by the I or r series, it yields to them, and the s is written in its alphabetic form. REMARK 2. The circle should not be made inside of the hook, as it is in Phonography. The fuller forms are more convenient and facile. REMARK 3. When s is preceded by a vowel in the commence- ment of a word, the long sign is used, except in a few cases after the letter u . DIRECTIONS FOR PRACTICE. 1. Read Exercises Ten and Eleven in the end of the book. 2. Drill on the compounds of the I and r series until you are as familiar with them as with the alphabet. 3. Write the following. EXERCISE FIFTEENTH. Bl, pi, gl, kl, fl. Slow, play, plow, glow, clew, clay, claim, gleam, blame, disclaim, emblazon, enclose, displace, flow, fled, influx, reclaim, declaim, reply, apply, appli- cation. Br, pr, gr, kr, dr, tr, fr, thr, shr. Brow, brown, brain, breeze. Preach, principle, proper, pretences. Crrtat, greatness, gravity, grievance. Crown, cro-p, crockery. Drive, trial, trivial. Frame, from. TJiree. Shrewd. Apprehend, April. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Greatness and glory shall crown the achievement. Truth crushed to earth shall rise again. That shrewd and QU, AND THE COMPOUNDS WITH W. 73 thriving man of business gives freely for every improve- nK'iit. Thouyh Ids powers of comprehension were not cunxldered very brilliant, yet he apprehended our design with little explanation. 4. Drill on the characters of the s-series, and write EXERCISE SIXTEENTH. Sp, st, sk, sf, sm, sn, si, sw. Spare, spoil, speak. Stay, stand, stiff. Sky, sketch, skiff. Sphere, spherical, sphinx. Small, smite, smith. Snow, sneer. Slough, slim. Sweep, swear. Inspiration, instances, insphere, ensnare, enslave, un- swerving. Espy, estate, escape, hemisphere, dismiss, dis- locate. Give especial attention to small things. Observe the s in sphere and hemisphere, in escape and landscape, in state and estate, in itpy and espy, &c. Spr, skr, sir, spl. Spray, spread, spring. Screen, scroll, scribble. -Stray, street, strive, Splendor, resplend- ent, explain. Sapple, sickle, sicker, supper, sadder, suitor. Stir, spear, scare, spool, frown. Spring, screen, splint, scrawl, stick, stake, speak, streak, strike, smoke, destroy, distress, prosper, express, describe, descry, subscribe, dis- grace, disclaim, discreet, exclaim, disclaimer, discriminate, disagree. QU, AND THE COMPOUNDS WITH W. 109. The digraph wh represents a very close diph- thong, if, indeed, it may not properly be considered a simple sound. It has for its first element the sound of h, and for the second a whispered sound of w, not heard in English, except in combination. The second sound in the diphthong qu is the same ; and, when ^ is used for this sound, it should be noticed that this letter has, in this combination, a less vocal sound than when it is initial. 7 74 FINAL COMPOUNDS. The combinations tw, thw, dw, and gw, end with the same sound, except that, when w is preceded by (/ and R SERIES. Final Compounds. ample. tumble. fickle. regal. medal. metal. oval. awful. kennel. ember. temper. anger. anchor. rudder. writer. over. suffer. measure. WRITING EXERCISES. i t slir, enshrine. usher. (fr, . other. thr, enthrone. anther, iir, . sooner. Play, pray, idle., dry, glow, grow, eagle, glee, upper, Iray, tray, dray, utter, try, plow, prow, blew, brew, clew, accrue, glue, grew, tattle, latter, people, peeper, papal, paper, Babel, bobber, fickle, figure, local, looker, maker, table, tabor, steeple, steeper, chapel, cheaper, trouble, drabble, trapper, trooper, broker, platter, prattle, clutter, battle, batter, flow, fro, oval, over, through, either, initial, essential, treason, pleasure, ambrosial, brother. Treble, terrible, traitor, Tartar, frame, farm, odor, adore, utter, attire, seeker, secure, idle, dull, glow, goal, clan, coal , flow , follow , evil, volley, fritter, ferreter, break, bark, breath, birth, frail, furl, trade, tardy, blubber, pil- fer, gutter, guitar, crier, currier, boulder, bladder, plaid, pallid, peal, plea, pale, play, Saturday, stride, purpose, propose, torpor, trapper, brawl, barrel, crave, carve. b'upple, supper, sable, sabre, settle, setter, sickle, sicker, struggle, streamer, scribble, scruple, distress, prosper, ex- press, expressive, extra, exclaim, disgrace, describe, dis- agreeable, describer, strata, pastry, disclaim, disclose, sooner, suitor, suttle, sphere, suffer, safely, safer, sever, swivel, sparrow, spray, spar, saddle, sadly, sagely, an- cestor, ancestry, impostor, imply, impolite, employ, impel, temple, temper, tamper, tempter, trample, prompter, trump, tramp, plump, shrink, shriek, scream, scraivl, improve, impress, impervious, imperial, implead, im- pelled. REMARK. Those accustomed to the license in the use of these characters which is permitted in Phonography will notice that the compound is used in Tacbygrapliy only when the letters unite without an intervening vowel. Though the use of these com- pounds in final syllables leads to some indefiniteness, the difficulty 78 THE S SERIES FINAL. is increased many fold when these si;4ns are, used in such words as bill, dear, &c., where the letters are separated by full vowels. This should never be done in Tachygraphy. THE S SERIES FINAL. 112. The sounds of s or z blend ^yith all the letters cf the alphabet, except ( ( ^ _ c^ J S <- and o_ Since z only can unite with a semi-vocal, and s only with a whispered sound, the circle may be used for either z or s. We use s, in the common spelling, for z in such words as heads, bags, &c. ; and even z for s in quartz. Since only z can unite with d and g, and only s can unite with t, these sounds become definite. So we have the follow- ing compounds ending in z : bz,gz, dz, vz, dz, mz, nz, Iz, rz. and the following ending in s : I \o -^ 3 "^ ^ J? ^ ps, ks, ts, ft, ths, ns, Is, rs. It will be noticed that I, n, and r take either z or s after them, as m false, falls, worse, wars, hence, hens. To distinguish z from 8 after these letters, the circle is made heavy for z, and light for 8, as seen in the exam- ples above. This is not necessary in ordinary practice, but may be done when special accuracy is desirable. 113. When is preceded by e short (represented by the light dot), the circle may be used as though no WRITING EXERCISES. 79 vowel occurred. In this case, the dot is placed near the middle of the full-sized character, to which the circle is added so that it will belong to the first consonant in such words as test, rest, &c. Examples. |. n ^P y-o. _J^ best, test, rest, zest, impressed, lesson. EXERCISE NINETEENTH. Shrubs, shreds, shrugs, loaves, seems, seals, seas, hopes, hats, books, hoofs, hence, else, horse, west, crest, prest, distressed, request, carelessness. He is stern, steady, and stoical. The slow snail slides smoothly along his slippery way. Whence come wars and fightings among you? He accepts the office, and attempts by his acts to conceal his faults. For the hundredth time he spoke of lengths, breadths, widths, and depths. Amidst the mists and coldest frosts, with barest wrists and stoutest boasts, he thrusts his fists against the posts, and still in- sists he sees the ghosts. A storm ariseth on the sea. A model vessel is struggling amidst the war of elements, quivering and shivering, shrinking and battling like a thinking being. The merciless, racking whirlwinds, like frightful fiends, howl and moan, and send sharp, shrill shrieks through the creaking cordage, snapping the sheets and masts. The sturdy sailors stand to their tasks, and weather the severest storm of the season. CHAPTER VIII. THE OMISSION OF VOWELS. 114. IN ordinary conversation, and even in oratorical discourse, many vowels are pronounced very obscurely. To give them their full, proper sound would be consid- ered a needless precision, and would rather offend the ear than add to the beauty of the declamation. These sounds embarrass the phonetician. If he writes the sounds fully, and reads accordingly, he is too pedan- tic. If he attempts to represent these obscure sounds in all their minute shadings, he multiplies signs to his own embarrassment, and to the utter confusion of the great multitude, who have less appreciation of the deli- cate shadings of the sounds of the language. Were it our design to develop a literary style of writing, whose chief excellence was to consist in the ac- curacy with which it represented the sounds of the lan- guage, we should have but little hope of bringing the subject within the reach of all. But the following rules will be found extremely simple, and lead to a style of writing sufficiently accurate for all the ordinary purposes of life. If, for any purpose, it should be desirable to write any thing more accurately, all the vowels should be written fully. The omission of a few vowels, as indicated here, can- not embarrass the reader, as it will very seldom happen that the outlines will be left equivocal. It must be distinctly understood, that the following 80 THE OMISSION OF OBSCURE VOWELS. 81 rules arc for the more advanced writer, and that, while the adept can dispense with all vowels that do not con- nect readily, the less skilful Tachygrapher will do well to write all except those that are so obscure as to be somewhat indefinite. RULE 1. Omit all obscure vowels ; as, for instance, the o in mason, nation, lesson, &c., the final e in lessen, lesser, level, &c., the iou in contagious, &c. EXERCISE TWENTIETH. Omit the vowels in the final syllables of the following words : Centre, enter, winter, fester, letter, ever, never, river, pepper, gospel, barrel, novel, coral, pastor, parlor. Immortal, parental, triumphal, eternal, diurnal, aban- don, demon, razor, major, minor, rumor, terror, mirror, censor, citron, piston, canon, dictator, testator, envelope, develop. Anonymous, ungenerous, analogous, motion, action, unction, mansion, proposition, arithmetician, academi- cian, physician, adventitious, unpropitious, sus2neious, brazier, glazier, profusion, allusion, opinion, civilian, disunion, collier, familiar. Ambition, rotation, caution, negation, fashion, vision, relation, oration, emission, nation, passion, probation, erection, reckon, arrogation, organ, confession, ovation, lotion, perception, determination, deception, dissipation, exception, exhibition, perturbation, selection, silken, liken, rational, notional, mission, provisional, effusions, emis- sions, institutions, investigations, instigation, transactions, consideration, contortion, affection, rejection, dejection, emulation, inclination, recreation, direction, station^ sta- tions, reformation, reservation, demonstration, confisca- tion, exclusion, seclusion, construction, resolution, com- 82 OMITTING DOT AND DISJOINED VOCALS. prehension, preparation, assumption, operation, reduc- tion. RULE 2. Omit the dot vowels when not initial. REMARK. In words of infrequent occurrence it is often well to use the dot, and in many short words. Words of one syllable mjuire vocalizing more carefully than words of two or more syl- lables; and, generally, the longer a word is, the more easily vowels may be spared. This remark applies to all the rules for omitting vowels. RULE 3. Omit all vowels that do not readily join in the outline, except in short words of infrequent occur- rence, or when initial. EXERCISE TWENTY-FIEST. Omit the dot vowels in the following words : Banishment, punishment, instrument, sentiment, com- pliment, dialect, intellect, pungency, currency, regency, decency, potency, fluency, orient. Buffet, tablet, ticket, docket, sonnet, billet, garret, &c. Congress, witness, fortress, &c., careless, homeless, need- less, baseless, &c. Defensive, oppressive. When, whence, hence, &c. Insert the dot vowel in the following words : Every, edify, edible, etch, ebony, epsom, elf, &c. Err, air, &c. Hair, fair, care, &c. Omit the disjoined vowels in the following words : Addition, emission, condition, furnish, garnish, tar- nish, decision, recognition, composition. M ISCELLANEOU3. Carefulness, faithfulness, gra< WXH, composure, consequence, composition, condensat/'n/, lamentable, constitiitionalitij , concomitant, non-committal. A true gentleman is G-od's servant, the world's master, and his own man ; his virtue is his business ; lus study WRITING EXERCISES. 83 his recreation ; contentedness his rest, and happiness his reward. Grod is his father, and the Church his mother ; the saints his brethren; all that need him his friends. He is necessitated to take the world in his way to heaven ; but he walks through it as fast as he can. RULE 4. Unaccented vowels in long words may be sometimes omitted, even when they could be joined in the writing. This rule applies to most of the frequently occurring prefixes and affixes of derivative words, such as com and con with all their compounds, decom, discom, discon, &c., circum, contra, &c., with the terminations ing, ed, es, ness, less, &c. Examples. com. con. discom. discon. decom. decon. contra. The Tachygrapher will notice that the use of the vowel is frequently an aid in the formation of the outline, and should be very careful not to omit vowels that are neces- sary on account of forming better angles. EXERCISE TWENTY-SECOND. Notwithstanding, nevertheless, remarkable, uncondi- tional, disconnectedly, accommodating, unconstitutional- ity, comprehensive, apprehensive, persuasory, persuasive, persuade, disquiet, peculiarity, linguist, vanquish. Passing, facing, racing, rising, hissing, guessing, being, beings, having, loving, living, moving, teaching, touching, canvassing, Knowing, weighing, laughing, quaffing, com- mencing, convincing, composing, confessing, supposing, accordingly. 84 OMISSION OF VOWELS IN SHORT WORDS. In-com-plete, in-con-stant, in-com-bustible , incompat- ible, incompetency, incomprehensible, inconceivable, incon- clusive, incongruity, inconsiderable, inconsistent, incon- venience. Uncommon, unconjined, uncommunicated, un- concerned, unconscious. Dis-com-pose, discommode, dis- concert, discontent, discomposure. Disparity, principality, incomprehensibility, barbarity, dexterity, credulity, fragility, majority, locality, frugality, vulgarity, inseverity, servility, liberality, morality, immo- rality, cordiality, humility, temerity, minority, criminality, sensuality, inequality, recklessness, carelessly, wickedness, indebtedness, impressiveness. THE OMISSION OF VOWELS IN SHORT WORDS OF FRE- QUENT OCCURRENCE. 115. It is better to write the vowels in words of one syllable in most cases ; but there are a few brief words of so frequent occurrence that they become too familiar to need vocalization. The student may memorize the following, and write them as they are given on the top of page 14 of the Reading-Lessons. Be, go, can, could, come, do, done, to, of, for, from, should, shall, is, so, some, though, they, that, them, then, there, may, many, on, any, not, unto, we, were, one, he, her, you, your, when, where. REMARK. Some persons may wish to increase this list for their own private writing ; but it is very desirable that only recog- nized abbreviations of this kind should be introduced into general correspondence. The widest experience strengthens the convic- tion that it is safer to err by vocalizing too much than too little ; yet the writer that wishes a fair degree of speed should make the most of the abbreviations given, and not fall into the loose habit of using the vowel at one time, and omitting it at another. This remark will apply also to the briefer forms given in subsequent chapters. CHAPTER IX. PHRASE-WRITING. 116. THE one distinguishing glory of our common chirography is its continuity. We may write a line without lifting the pen from the paper, if we omit to dot the z's and to cross the t's. This freedom of running one letter into another, and one word into another, adds greatly to the ease of writing, and mitigates, to some extent, the cumbersomeness of the letters employed. It would be desirable to imitate the common script in this respect. In Tachygraphy we are able to do so to bet- ter advantage than in any previous style of short-hand. The few disjoined vocals are omitted, so that the pen need not be raised to insert a vowel one-tenth as fre- quently as it is necessary to do so in the common writ- ing to dot i's andy's or cross t's. It is allowable in Tachygraphy to join words together into phrases very frequently. Examples of such phrases will be found on the 13th page of the Reading-Lessons. The student should study this page thoroughly, before attending to the following principles. The propriety of uniting words in writing, in any given case, is to be determined by the convenience, 1st, of the writer, 2d, of the reader. 1st, The convenience of the writer demands that the words unite either with a good angle, or without an angle. If the first word end in a vowel, or the second word begin with a vowel that cannot be joined, it is often 8 85 86 mi: ASK -WRITING. necessary either to disjoin the words, or to omit the vowel. The writer is not aided by making too long forms : long phrases detract from the speed of writing more than they add to it. The convenience of the writer, then, demands, a, that the words joined shall make good combinations and facile forms ; b, that the phrases shall be so brief and simple, that they shall not embarrass the writer. 2d, The convenience of the reader. An observance of the above principles will aid the reader ; but, besides these, it is essential to ease in read- ing phrases that no words be joined that are separated in speaking by a pause of any kind. It is not sufficient that the common marks of punctuation be observed : it is equally important to observe where a good reader pauses, and what words are united in sense. And here it will be observed that there are several degrees of closeness in the union of words. We have, ' First, a class called adverbial phrases, that seem to form in sense one word. Such are the following : In fine, in short, no doubt, in fact, in truth, to be sure, by chance, &c. Second, The preposition and its object are closely united in sense. Examples. To them, of this, from that, for one, with me, through t\em, &c. Third, The pronoun and the verb. JBxamples. lam, I have, you are, he is, they can, we may, who wish, &c. WRITING EXERCISES. 87 Fourth, The same phrases in the interrogative form, have I? are you ? &c. So we might specify many other forms of speech which may form phrases properly. But such details would only embarrass the writer. If the words unite a; all in sense, or are not positively separated in speech, they may be joined, in writing, into phrases of con- venient length, so far as they join readily. If, on the contrary, they are the most closely united in sense, and do not join easily, or form long and cumbrous phrases, they should be disjoined in writing. The student must rely for a time upon the phrases given in the Reading- Lessons, and those indicated in the following exercise, o ' and, so far as he forms phrases for himself, study sim- plicity and brevity, avoiding every long phrase or awkward combination. EXERCISE TWEXTY-THIED. (1.) Of the, on the, to the, to a, of it, of this, of that, of me, to me, to know, to do, with this, with that, for this, for them, from it, from them, in this, in such, in fact, in fine, in short, in truth, on me, on any, in the, in no way. (2.) I am, I shall, I do, I can, you are, you may, you, could. He will, he should, he has. We know, we love, we learn. They should, they are, they ought. It is, it was, it may, it can, it has. The ivay, the time, the day, the present. There are, there may be. (o.) Would you, would they, could we, can we, can they, shall we, could you, can be, cannot be. (4.) It seems to be, ought to be, in the world, if there is. It would not be, with reference to, it is impossible, it is necessary, it is unnecessary. On account. 88 WRITING EXERCISES. (5.) Let it be known, come unto me, give them tJieir choice. M; i son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments ; for length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and trnlh forsake thee ; bind them about thy neck ; write them upn the table of thine heart; so shalt thou find favor, and good understanding, in the sight of Grod and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. NOTE. See paragraph 92 of the Reading-Lessons, in the end of the book. / shall be there to-day. We wish to see you. So far from that, one should choose some other road to happiness. They never know the cause of their calamities. ABBREVIATED WORDS AND PHRASES. 117. REMARK. We have given, in paragraphs 93 and 94* of the Reading-Lessons, a few abbreviated forms lor some words and phrases, of frequent occurrence, whose fully-written forms are too long for note-taking. They should not be considered as forming any necessary part of the common style, as it can be written with- out them. Yet, if thoroughly mastered, lliev will add somewhat to the speed of writing for those who care to employ them. KEY TO PARAGRAPH 93. WORD-SIGNS. And, as, has, have, this, what, had, would, which, will, been, ye, who. NOTES. And is written by a half-length ~^^ made heavy; what, had, and would, by halving the stem of their first letter. Have, ye, and who arc written with the vowel-sign, omitting the consonant; as, has, and this employ the circle for z and s ; been is written with the first letter only, and which and will by the last letter. WRITING EXERCISES. 89 KEY TO PARAGEAPH 94, TO BE USED AS WRITING-EXERCISE TWENTY-FOURTH. As well as, as soon as, as we, has been, have been, you have, you've, we have, we've, I have, I've. They will be, you ivill be, we shall have been. This is, this is not to be, and they were, as they say, as some say, for instance, at jirst, at once, to be sure, to have been, and it is said, what would be, what had been, who would be, who are, ye are, at which, to which it is. What is it? had it, had it not been, would it not be? This will be. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 1 ivill give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. REMARK. The last six pages of the Reading-Lessons will fur- ther illustrate the use of phrase-signs, both in their simple and more contracted forms. We add a Key to a part of pages 15 and 16, to serve as WRITING-EXERCISE TWENTY-FIFTH. A DISTINCTION. A Roman ecclesiastic, in reply to whatever question might be proposed, began by saying, " Distinguo," I make a distinction. . A cardinal, hav- ing invited him to dine, proposed to derive some amuse- ment for the company from the well-known peculiarity of his guest ; and, saying to him that he had an impor- tant question to propose, he asked, " Is it, in any cir- cumstances, lawful to ba2^tize in soup?" " I make, a distinction^" said the prieat : " if you ask, Is it lawful to baptize in soup in general, I say, No ; but if you ask, Is it lawful to baptize in your Excellency's soup, I say, Yes ; for there is really no difference between it and water. 1 " IMPEDIMENTS TO REFOUM. When George Stephen^ son was presenting the claims for the first locomotive t& the British Parliament, he was sneered at by many mem- bers. Said one of them, u Well, Mr. Stephenson, see how 8* 00 THE VARIABLE LETTERS. absurd your idea is ! Suppose it tvere possible for yon to run iinr carriage thirty miles an hour, on straight rails, so that it could not get off, what if a cow got on the // and s . With other vocals, El and La are equally convenient. (8.) Ra is used before c ^ ^ , and after <> n u u v and A. Ar, only, follows c - and - . In other cases, Ar and Ha are equally convenient. When r commences a word, Ha is almost always used. 92 SPECIAL CASES. b. When the direction of tlie.se letters is determined by their union with other consonant letters, they arc written upward both before and after all the down strokes, and before the hooked letters Wa, Ya, Ha, C/t. Manual Drill, when perfected on the old exercise-, should be turned to advantage in Tachygraphy, as fol- lows : (1.) Drill on the alphabet as directed in Chapter IV. (2.) Drill on the combinations of the vocals with the consonantals. (3.) Join the consonants into the most natural angles, and learn to make two letters without the slightest pause between them. REMARK. This will afford scope for much practice. The teacher should draw up tables of swch combinations as he may deem most important, and give a dozen or more examples with each lesson. (4.) Join the consonants also that unite without an angle, and practise on them until both strokes can be struck as though they were but one. REMARK. It maybe well here to select phrases containing such joinings, and let the pupil drill on a number of phrases until he can write them at the rate of a hundred words a minute. Most persons will do this readily. We add a few phrases, making about a hundred words, which will serve as a specimen of this kind of practice. EXERCISE TWEXTY-SEVEXTH. To this day, from this time, from that day* at this time, in some way, it is not, he should do, to do so, owjlit to CD, it ought to be. Tliey will be (Tha-La-Be). This is not to be, we shall have been, may there be, let there be. 100 \VKiTixr; EXERCISES. Come f onward, from them, from them that, from their own, t/K'i-i' xlitill he, come unto me, w w c 3. 2. O f-t- t-t- o o a fl> <0 CD o B. ? 143. In analogy with the use of the circle in discom- and discon- (as given on page 83), the circle may also be used in the prefix dis- in such words as discuss, dis- tance, and wherever it is more convenient than the full form ; so also in the prefix mis- in misfortune, mis- conceive, &c. 144. a. The circle may also be used in the words person, parson, Johnson, and all similar words where the termination -son follows r or n without an interven- ing vowel; but comparison, Tennyson, and words having a vowel before this termination, are written with the ,~x. b. When to a word ending with the circle the termi- nation -ing is added, the circle is retained. The circle is written, in accordance with this rule, in the following words ; tax taxing, force forcing, nursing, co- alescing, caressing, witnessing, and many others. REMARK. These brief forms are given as an aid to those per- sons who wish to gain a high rate of speed in the COMMON STYLE. Those who design to pass on at once to the NOTE-TAKER'S STYLE will learn the use of the circle in its more general application. SI 1.1 J \ J 2.U 4. ) 5 o J. 10. tl. 18 . 7 >^ 7 /s, 1 1 I i ^ 7 114 16 A V \ r* 3 \ ; 1A A\ f -- C }, -- X i 19 \ -I . -i. 20. -^ 21 . *< 22. ~7 23. L 24. XI r-= L, -N, L^ ^7 - /Q_ 115 (jfe^oH ^i ^\ s\ 36. -* s" -= ^ -> "J ! " 7 ^ ^ . _y ^^^- S^ *_s *-*-. "> "C, ^"^ ^c ^^ -^y ^/ ^_^ ^^XN v < ^^' ^"'111 ^ L _/ ~~~> --v 41. 42. /i ^ ^ ' OSPEL. (DW 1. 3. . 4. ^ S <^ - ^ _ ~\ VO, ) r^. 5. ^ -\, ~x ,-^^ f-^s Y~ \ }>t ^ , , f __ |^ ^ s ) J ^^ ^-x ^ r^~ i^). 3. 7 ~\ r.^-7 117 43. 44. 46. C C -n u 48. \ \ _ \\ 1 o 51. L . 52 53. 58. f r 1 i 59..T 2 Cl 60. 5 C 2. e t &_ L- e 63. t \> _- ^ ~ 65. 67. 69. o^9 119 . 61. . 64. . 66. V . 68 . ^-^, , V. J" 120 *L k v-^ 12,1 73. Q 74. _/ 75. 76. Q is- -A A ^ 7 1 ur JTo im tr y '5 a e; . -J^S-^ -^svC ' 77. 122 78. 123 83. V, 85. A V- S , ^ ^-^ X%o 124, 86. 87, 88. 89. 90. jDe fjcvucd io the C ripip . Y-^ X, 125 '^ 127 30 L-, N Ir- 128 / ennyson. I ^ Ux- ; ; - r> 1^ . THE ELEMENTS OF TACHYCRAPHY. WE give below a few extracts from notices of the Elements of Tachygraphy. The Third Edition of this work, containing an Appendix and newly engravL-d Heading Lessons, is now ready, and may be obtained of the Publishers, Otis Clapp & Son, 3 Beacon St., Boston; D.Kimball, P. O. Box 398, Chicago; and at the office of the Rapid Writer, Andover, Mass. NOTICES OF" THE PRESS. From the Springfield Republican, Mass. Otis Clapp, No. 3 Beacon Street, Boston, the old-time publisher of phono- graphic works, has just issued a neat little text-book, entitled the Elements of Tachygraphy. The system of shorthand developed in this work is the result of years of careful and critical investigation. The author was at one time an enthu- siastic follower of Isaac Pitman, of England, who, a little over thirty years ago, reduced the arbitrary stenographies of former ages to a basis approaching scien- tific accuracy. . . . Even with its pretensions to simplicity, phonography was found altogether too complex in its arrangements. First, the signs employed, though universally acknowledged as a correct basis, were married to sounds ut- terly unfitted for them. Instead of representing those sounds that occur most frequently by horizontal strokes, thus conducing to linealily of writing, a very important requisite of ease and rapidity, perpendicular characters were sup- plied, which, when words were fully written, produced forms the most awkward and unmanageable. To obviate this, numerous devices of contraction were re- sorted to, which at once destroyed that simplicity so essential to a system of writing that aspires to common use. In the next place, vowel signs were discon- nected in the writing, much to the detriment of speed, or were they omitted as cumbersome, ambiguity inevitably resulted. These were the radical imperfec- tions of Pitman's Phonography thirty years ago ; and, although its author har made numerous modifications and imaginary improvements since, they still co tinue to be the chief objections. This is also the case with Graham and Man eon, and several other inventors of systems in this country, who, however weR they have administered to the wants of a few professional reporters, have entirely ignored that great class of business, professional, and literary men, chiefly to be benefited by such an invention. Tachygraphy, however, avoiding these stum- bling-blocks of its predecessors, has at last developed into that ideal writing which has filled the brains of phoneticians for these many years. At once the very embodiment of grace and beauty, its simplicity commends It to all, while the results already obtained in its practical use are extremely satisfactory. The book before us is devoted to the simplest style of the art, which it treats in a thorough and comprehensive manner. It offers a system of writing that may be readily written with three times the speed and one-fifth the labor of our common longhand, and which is more easily mastered than that. With suitable instruc- tion it is within the comprehension of the merest child, while mature persons, though doubtless more secure of satisfactory results with the help of a competent teacher, can hardly fail to find it a complete guide. 2 From the Congregationalist and Recorder, Boston. The art of saving time and trouble is a great art. And of all weariness, that of much writing to many, at least most needs alleviation, if possible. Short- hand, iu various forms, has been invented and taught, without coming into gen- eral use. Of late years the system called Tachygraphy (or rapid writing) has been invented, and is believed, by those who have made themselves acquainted with it, to be destined to supersede every other system of condensed writing in meeting the wants of the world. From the Boston Journal. Mr. Otis Clapp, No. 3 Beacon Street, has just published The Elements of Ta- chyi/raphy, a full and compendious test-book upon the new and popular system of shorthand originated by Mr. D. P. Lindsley, formerly of this city. The sys tern has been in use for several years, and its practical utility has been demon- strated beyond cavil by scores of writers. The principles, which are as simple as the multiplication table, are readily comprehended by the youngest learner, and can be mastered by any one in a very short time, and without a teacher. The system is especially adapted to the wants of students and literary men, in a great degree superseding the use of longhand, and it forms the basis of a briefer system for verbatfm reporters. From the Citizen and Hound Table, New York. Mr. David Philip Lindsley has prepared a little work, entitled The Elements of Tachygraphy, in which he explains an improved system of shorthand writ- ing. From a thorough examination of this system, we have no doubt that it loill entirely supersede phonography. It is vastly more simple, can be mastered in a comparatively short time, and can be written certainly as fast, if not faster, than the system of Pitman. Mr. Lindsley inspires one with confidence In the excel- lence of the art which he has invented, by the remarkable clearness and brevity of his explanations. His book needs only to become known, in order to ensure the adoption of Tachygraphy in place of the wearisome and difficult art of Pho- nography. From the Christian Standard, Alliance, Ohio. We once tried to master Phonography, but found it so intricate and perplex- ing that we could not afford to bestow enough time and attention to succeed But Mr. Lindsley has, as Ilorace Mann said, "phonograph ied Phonography," and it looks like an attainable art. Avoiding the contractions and word signs of Pho- nography, he teaches the student, as soon as the alphabet is mastered, to proceed at once to use the system. We do not pretend to be much of a judge, but a pe- rusal of this book impresses us very favorably as to the practicability and value of Tachygraphy. From the Presbyterian Banner, Pittsburg, Pa. Tachygraphy is the classical title of a manual of 126 pages, upon shorthand writing, by D. P. Lindsley, published by Otis Clapp, Boston. It is the result of twelve years of study and practice, and it is claimed for this system that it is written in one fourth the time and with one tenth the labor of ordinary writing; is perfectly legible, and for use in the pulpit and lecture-room is plainer than longhand writing, and can be learned more readily than common writing. These considerations are sufficient to commend this system to all literary men. From the Northwestern Christian Advocate, Chicago. This excellent paper, after a long and favorable notice of the art, and its new text-book, makes the following points in reply to a correspondent who favors Graham's Phonography : "He (the critic) has simply compared Lindsley's most elementary style with the various (contracted) styles of other phonographies. As to ' corresponding styles,' we believe that there are none at all comparable with that in Tachyg- raphy. We indorse this because of its use to the masses. It is learned twice or thrice as soon as the same style in the old Phonography. In the reporting style, Tachygraphy is not inferior." From the Meriden Daily Recorder. Our opinion of the system of shorthand explained in this book has been given several times before, and a repetition of it now is unnecessary. Let it suffice for us to say that our conviction of the vast superiority of Tachygraphy over all other systems of brief writing is stronger than ever. Its superiority is acknowl- edged by all competent judges. Taken as a whole, it is certainly the most per- fect shorthand text-book ever published. We heartily indorse the most flatter- ing testimonials in its favor. The work is adapted to self-instruction, but this art, like all others, can be best acquired with the assistance of a living teacher. From the Methodist, New York. We commend this essay to learners. From the "Western Christian Advocate, Cin., Ohio. Those who wish to become shorthand! sts will find Mr. Lindsley's manual jest the thing. From the East Boston Advocate. After some examination of this and other systems of shorthand writing, we have unhesitatingly given this the preference over all others as being the mos easily acquired, the simplest to write, and most practicable. From the Atlantic Monthly, February, 1870. Wo have a real pleasure In speaking of this system of shorthand. Its prin- ciples are so clear and simple that they can be understood with nu hour's study. . . . Until a writing machine is invented, Mr. Lindsley's system must seem the greatest possible benefaction. Phonography is a science to -which months of study must be given, and in the acquirement of which the memory is burdened with a multitude of arbitrary and variable signs; while in Tachygrapliy the letters are almost invariable, and as easily memorized as the ordinary Roman characters; a single impulse of the hand forms each letter; there are as few detached marks as in the ordinary Chirography, and the writing is fluent and easy. . . . We feel certain that to editors, clergymen, and the whole vast and increasing body of literary men, it must prove a great advantage; and we comr mend it to the attention of teachers as a system which might very well be taught in schools. From the Gazette' and Courier, Northampton, Mass. \Ve cannot go into a critical examination of the merits of this system. "We only wish that all who are groaning under the burdens- of our common long- band, who are vexed by the irregularities of our cumbrous orthography, would Bend for and examine this little book. We say nothing of the comparative merits of Phonography. After a ten years' use of that tedious method, an experience of three years with this later system has made us, perhaps, in some measure qualified to speak in its praise; and to say that there are good reasons for the one becoming, as it fast is, an extinct thing, and for the other steadily coming into general use. From the Churchman, Hartford, Conn. THE ELEMENTS OF TACHTGRApnr, ETC. If any person were to say that there are contained in this unpretending volume the elements of one of the greatest intellectual improvements of modern times, his assertion would seem to be extravagant. Yet those who have become familiar with the system, of rapid writing, of which Mr. Lindsley is the inventor, know that the assertion is true to the letter. Every one who is much engaged in literary composition is painfully conscious that the mechanical labor needed in putting his thoughts upon paper becomes at timt-s an almost intolerable drudgery. . . . Many persons who had written shorthand in the old way for years, became nearly discouraged at their slow progress. Those of them who have practised the system contained in this volume are, without exception, enthusiastic in its praise. Not only will the professional reporter, aud they who take notes of addresses, be benefited by Mr. Lindsley's book, but also every literary man who has much occasion for making memoranda, or for writing what he has to deliver in public. The clergy, especially, will find the time and labor spent in mastering this system amply rewarded. W. 8. D. THE RAPID WRITER QUARTERLY. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 8 71- Wo. 6. January. PAGE Report on the New Short-hand, presented to the American Phi- lological Society, New York . . 81 The Cherokee Alphabet 85 The Foundations of Despotism. Edward Everett 80 Editorial Items 88 Correspondence 88 Literary Notices 91 Wo. 7. April. Professional Reporting 97 The Saxon Orthography 90 Kapid Writing 101 Chinese Printing 103 Foreign Correspondence. Gabels- berger's Stenography 104 Wo. 8. July. The Origin of Words. Dan Saxon 113 1 8 Wo. 10. April. PAGE Where was Fusang? An Inquiry into the Settlement of the West- ern Coast of America, and the Introduction of the Buddhist Re- ligion by the Chinese in, or prior to, the Fifth Century of our Era. By Eev. Nathan Brown, D. D 1 The Sun an Emblem. Beecher . . 13 Editorial Items 15 Answers to Correspondents . ... 17 Literary Notices 18 Wo. 8 continued. PAOK What Clergymen are Learning . . 115 Undo the Heavy Burdens ..... 116 Friendly Neutrality ....... 117 Various Replies to a Practical Ques- tion .............. 117 Editorial Items .......... 1?0 Books and Periodicals ...... lil Wo. 9. October. The Origin of Words, No. 3, writ- ten in Illustration of a New The- ory of the Meaning of the Ulti- mate Roots of Language .... 129 Our Mother Tongue ....... 131 Editorial ............. 13(5 Extracts from Correspondence . . 137 Literary Notices ......... 138 Second Biennial Address, by the President of the American Ta- chygraphic Association ..... 140 Wo. 11. October. PAOB The English Phonography How Managed ............ 19 The Relm of Language. Max Miil- ler ................ 22 Best Works for Study in Philology 23 Ministerial Work ......... 24 Self and All. Horace Greeley . . 25 Elihu Burritt and the Vowel U . . 27 Moov Forward .......... 28 EDITORIAL.- The Note- taker ; To Old Phoneticians; Eight Styles of Phonography, &c. ...... 31 NOTICES OF THE PRESS. " Contains much valuable information on short-hand writing." New Bruns- wick (iV. J.) Daily Fredonian. " Full of choice articles on literary and philological subjects." American Baptist, New York. " Devoted to the introduction of a purely phonetic system of short hand writing. This subject cannot help receiving more attention." Springfield Republican. " Worthy of its reputation and its mission." LANCASTER'S Monthly Jour- nal of Health. Single Numbers $0.12 The Numbers for 1871 and 1872 (Six Numbers) . .60 The Series Complete to 1873 (Eleven Numbers) . 1.00 Address, THE RAPID WRITER, ANDOVER, MASS. For sale by OTIS CLAPP, 3 Beacon Street, Boston; and D. KIMBALL. Chicago, 111., P. O. box 398. TACHYGRAPHIC AND PHONETIC PUBLICATIONS. THE ELEMENTS OF TACnUGRAPUY. A Complete Treatise on the simplest style of the Art. The prin- ciples are illustrated by numerous examples of short-hand word- forms inserted in the text; by an extended series of exorcises to be written by the student; and by reading lessons, beautifully engraved on copper. 120 pp. 12mo. In cloth Price, Si. 7."> Per dozen KS.so In boards 1.."o Per dozen 14.40 Postage .... 12 cents a copy. U?" The Third Edition now on sale, is printed on paper of the first quality, in the neatest manner. THE TACHTGRAPmC ALPHABET. With directions for its use, and reading Lesson with Key . 10 Per dozen 75 THE RAPID WRITER (Quarterly) for 1869, 70, and '71. Single numbers 10 Volume 1, bound in cloth (postage paid) .... $1.23 JJupid Writer and Philological Magazine for January and April, 1873 25 THE NOTE TAKER. A full Treatise on the Second Style of Tachygraphy, to follow the " Elements," is now in course of publication, and will be issued soon, complete. Bound in cloth S-.7.T Introductory specimen Number, now on sale ... .40 ADDRESS, No. 31 Beacon Street, Boston D. KIMBALL, Box 338, Chicago, 111, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-25ro-9,'47(A5618)444 LOS ANGELES LIBRARY L6l*e 1873 *MSliM m