t

Seek always to form a free, flowing, graceful outline. The most easily written forms are the most beautiful, and vice versa.

We have given, of this system, only a synopsis of the fully written Common Style, but sufficient, however, to explain the merits and principles of Tachygraphy. Those who wish to fit themselves for verbatim writing are referred to the work entitled, " The Note Taker. A Treatise on the Second Style of Lindsley's Brief Writing, for the use of Lawyers, Editors, Reporters, Students, and all persons desirous of taking full notes in Courts of Record, Professional Schools, Seminaries, and Public Assemblies." Published by the firm to which we have before alluded.

The following Extracts are from Pope's
Essay on Man.

£-— ~—* /* s V> X—p /^—* ,

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;

Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We !ir»t endure, then pity, then embrace.

Pope's Essay on Man.—Second Epistle.

SPELLING.

EAUTIFUL penmanship should be accompanied by correct spelling. If the person can possess but one accomplishment, it is, in fact, better <$ to spell correctly than to write well. HJ Nothing so mars the effect of beautiful chirography as bad spelling, which is the more conspicuous when set oft' by good penmanship. True, there are over a hundred thousand words in the English language, and we cannot reasonably be expected to remember the correct orthography of them all; and not until the phonetic system is-received, by which every word is represented by a recognized sign, can we spell all words correctly without reference to the dictionary; but the few hundred words in general use are not so difficult to master. At any rate, the writer should have at hand a reliable dictionary, and no word should go from his hand without being correctly spelled.

The following will aid students somewhat in their knowledge of spelling:

Names of Elementary Sounds.

An elementary sound is the simplest sound of the English language, as a, e, b, k.

The English language contains about forty elementary sounds.

These sounds are divided into three classes— vocals, sub-vocals, and aspirates.

The vocals consist of a pure tone only, as a, e, i, o, u.

, The sub-vocals consist of tone united with breath; as b, d, 1, m, n, r.

The aspirates consist of pure breath only; as p, t, k, f.

The following words contain the different elementary sounds of the language:

Vocals.— N-a-me, b-a-11, a-t, m-e, m-e-t, f-i'-ne, p-»-n, s-o-ld, m-o-ve, n-o-t, m-u-te, p-w-11, c-u-p, f-ow-nd.

Scb-vocals.— B-&t, d-og, (7-0, /-oy, Mfe,

m-an, n-o, so-ng, ba-r, th-o&e, v-oice, w-ise, y-es. z-one, a-z-ure.

Aspirates.— .F-aith, h-&t, ar-fr, p-ine, *-un, <-ake, th-'mk, sh-one, ch-ur-ch. wh-i.ii.

Letters.

A letter is a character used to represent an elementary sound.

The English Alphabet contains twenty-six letters: A, a; B, b; C, c; D, d; E, e; F, f; G, g; H, h; I, i; J, j; K, k; L, 1; M, m; N, n; O, o; P, p; Q, q; R, r S, s; T, t; U, u; V, v; W, w; X, x; Y, y; Z, z.

As will be seen, there are more elementary sounds than letters. It therefore follows that some letters must represent more than one sound each.

Those letters which represent vocals are called vowels. They are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y.

Those letters which represent sub-vocals and aspirates are called consonants.

The Bub-vocals and consonants are J, d, g, I, m, n, r, v, z.

The aspirates and consonants are /, h, k, c, q, p, t, s.

Rules for Spelling.

1. Words of one syllable ending In F, L, or s, preceded by a single Towel, double th 1nal consonant; as sTArr, mix, Pass; except If,

or, AS, OAS, HAS, ,VAS, YES, IS, BIS, THIS, US, Tills.

2. Words ending In any other consonant except F, L, and s, do not double the final letter; except Add, Odd, Eog, Ebb, Inn, Ebb, Purr, Butt, Buzz, and some proper names.

8. Words of one syllable, and words accented on the last syllable, when tbey end with a single consonant, preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant before an additional syllable beginning with a vowel; as Bob, Bobber; Permit, Permitting; but x final, being equivalent to Ks, is an exception, and Is never doubled.

4. A final consonant, whin not preceded by a single vowel, or when the accent la not on the laxt syllable, should remain single before an additional syllable; as Toil, Toilino; Visit, Visited. L and s are often doubled, in violation of this rule, when the accent Is not on the last ilabl ;as Travel, Traveller; Bias, Biassed. It Is better to write Traveler and BIASED.

5. Primitive words ending in Ll reject one L before Less and Lt; as Skill, Skili.ess; Pull, Fully: but words ending in any other double letter, preserve lt double before these tirmlnations; as Free, Freely; Odd, Oddly.

6. The final K of a primitive word is generally omitted before an additional termination beginning with a vowel; as Rate, Ratable; Porce, Forcible; but words ending in Ce and Oe retain the a bvfore Able and ous; as Peace, Peaceable; Outkaoe, Outrageous.

7. The final E of a primitive word Is generally retained before an additional termination beginning with a consonant; as Pale, PaleNess; but whi n the E is pr> ceded by a vowel it is sometimes omitu-d; as True, Truly: and sometimes retained; as Shoe, Shoeless.

8. The final T of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is changed Into i before an additional termination; as Merry, MerRily: but with a vowel before, the Y is not changed; as Valley, Valleys, and not Vallies, as frequently written; and before Ino the Y Is retained to prevent the doubling of the i; as Pity, Pityino.

9. Compounds generally retain the orthography of the simple words of which they are composed; as All-wise, Blue-eyed,

10. Words ending in r or Fe have v substituted for the r in forming the plurals: as Wife, Wives; Knife, Knives,etc., eiceptwhen ending InFF.

11. Some words are spell the same in both the singular and plural; as Deer, Sheef, etc., In which instance, by placing A before the word, one is meant, am] by usiug The, more than one.

12. Some words are spelt altogetu, r differently in the singular and plural; as Mouse, Jut; Goose, Geese.

13. In spelling words it is necessary to consider well the different sounds of each part of the word. Every separate sound in a wor.1 must have in it one of the following letters, A, B, I, O, or v. Take for ins ance, Contemplate, which consists of three different sounds, Con-tem-plate; there are the letters o, B, and A, respectively, in eacli sound or syllable, as it is called, and each one gives the sound to ii* "yllable. In dividing such words at the end of a line, you must not let the last letter be any one of the above-mentioned five vowels, but must divide according to the syllable.

Another rule to be observed in the spelling of words which have Ino added to them, when such wordB end in B, the B must always be left out; as Comb, Coming; Divide, Dividing.

It is also found difficult when the letters i and B come together In a word, to know which Is to be placed first. The following simple rule will obviate such difficulty: When I and E follow c in a word, the E Is usually placed first; as Receive, Deceive, Conceive, etc.; In other Instances the I comes before the E; as Believe, Relieve, etc.

Words of Similar Pronunciation that are Spelled Differently.

Ail, Ale. Ail, unwell; Ale, a liquor.

All, Awl. All, everyone; Awl, shoemaker's tool.

Bear, Bare. Bear, wild animal; Bare, naked.

Bier, Beer. Bier, frame for carrying corpse ; Beer, a malt liquor.

Bore, Boar. Bore, carried, or to make a hole ; Boar, the male

swine. Birth, Berth. Birth, to be born; Berth, sleeping place. Bee, Be. Bee, an insect; Be, is used in every other instance. Call, Caill. Call, to visit, or shout after; Caul, the covering

on the heads of some children when born. Currant, Current. Currant, a fruit ; Current, a stream. Draft, Draught. Draft, commercial form, or current of air;

Draught, to draw a load, or a drink. Dear, Deer. Dear, not cheap, term of affection; Deer, an

animal. Fourth, Forth. Fourth, next after third; Forth, forward. Four, Fore. Four, the number after three; Fore, the front. Great, Grate. Great, large; Grate, fire support in the stove. Hail, Hale. Hail, to shout after, frozen rain; Hale, vigorous. Hear, Here. Hear, to understand; Here, in this place. Hole, Whole. Hole, an opening; Whole, entire, complete. I, Eye. I, myself, used thus it should always be a capital;

Eye, organ of sight. Know, No. Know, to understand ; No, a denial. Lief, Leaf. Lief, willingly; Leaf, part of a tree. More, Moor, Moore. More, in addition; Moor, a piece of

waste land; Moore, a man's name.

None, Nun. None, not any; Nun, a female who secludes

herself from all worldly affairs. Piece, Peace. Piece, a bit; Peace, quietness. Pare, Pear, Pair. Pare, to peel; Pear, a fruit; Pair, two. Rain, Rein, Reign. Rain, water falling from clouds; Rein, a

strap for guiding a horse; Reign, to rule. Reed, Read. Reed, a kind of tall grass; Read, the act of

reading. Red, Read. Red, a color; Read, past tense of read. Sign, Sine. Sign, a token; Sine, a mathematical term. There, Their. There, in that place; Their, apersonalpronoun. Tow, Toe. Tow, rope material; Toe, a part of the foot. Vain, Vane. Vain, conceited; Vane, a weathercock. Vice, Vise. Vice, wickedness; Vise, a blacksmith's tool. Ware, Wear. Ware, goods, or earthen-ware; Wear, to make

use of clothing. Write, Wright, Rite, Right. Write, to use a pen ; Wright, a

man's name; Rite, a ceremony ; Right, not wrong. Wrote, Rote. Wrote, having written; Rote, to repeat from

memory. YOU, Yew, Ewe. You, yourself; Yew, a tree; Ewe, female

sheep.
Blew, Blue. Blew, having blown; Blue, a color.
Made, Maid. Made, formed; Maid, female servant.
Pail, Pale. Pail, a vessel; Pale, white.

Words having prefixes and suffixes of different spelling, while having each the same or nearly the same pronunciation.

ible and able.

The following words end in ible. Most other words of similar pronunciation end in able.

Accessible, Decoctible, Fallible,

Admissible, Deducible, Feasible,

Appetible, Defeasible, Fencible,

Apprehensible, Defectible, Flexible,

Audible, Defensible, Forcible,

Coercible, DepectiWe, Frangible,

Collectible, Deprehensible, Fusible,

Comminuible, Descendible, Horrible,

Compatible, Destructible, Ignoscible,

Competible, Digestible, Illegible,

Comprehensible, Discernible, Immarcessible,

Compressible, Discerptible, Immiscible,

Conceptible, Distractible, Intelligible,

Conclusible, Distensible, Irascible,

Congestible, Divisible, Legible,

Contemptible, Docible, Miscible,

Contractible, Edible, Partible,

Controvertible, Effectible, Perceptible,

Convertible, Eligible, Permissible,

Convincible, Eludible, Persuasible,

Corrigible, Expansible, Pervertible,

Corrosible, Enforcible, Plausible,

Corruptible, Evincible, Possible,

Credible, Expressible, Producible,

Deceptible, Extendible, Quadrible,

Decerptible, Extensible, Reducible,