other our out read shall short should so spirit that the their there them thing think to too truth two under up upon us was were where what when which who will with word would year your ab ac ad al circum con-tra cum des dis extra for im in-r-o op pre pro recom sub super trans un with able ary ate dom eous ful hood ing-s ion ious ity kind less ly ment ness self ship sion tion tude

an n.

The marks at the top, viz., O 1 2 3 4 b, &c., refer to the following, which is printed at the top of each page :

I a few years 2 according 3 advantage 4 as a whole 5 because 6 beyond our control 7 cannot 8 coming and going 9 difficulty 10 from day to day 11 however 12 immediate 13 important 14 ce 15 improve 16 ed 17 ment 18 in consequence of 19 language 20 member 21 not only 22 opinion 23 opportunity 24 particular 25 remember 26 ed 27 tear and wear 28 to and fro 29 without.

Short-hand sheet No. 2 contains the following, printed sixty-four times on a page :

a b c d f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z & are the that which ing tion.

The following is a set of the alphabet belonging to shorthand sheet No. 3. It is printed two hundred and thirty times on a page.

a b c d f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z & are the that which ing tion ly ty.

The following is a set of the alphabet belonging to shorthand sheet No. 4. It is printed one hundred and sixteen times on a page :

abcdfghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz & ch nd ng sh th 12345678910 ing ion ive ness ty always an are as have his like more than that those which who The numbers 1 2 3 4 5, &c., refer to the following (printed at the top of each page) :—

1. The present.

2. The past. 3. The former. 4. The latter. 5. A week.

6. A year. 7. Nothing. 8. Bona fide. 8. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 10. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

No. 4 is the best, and extremely suitable for being used as the universal mode of penmanship.

The letter e, which is the letter which occurs most frequently in the English language, is not found in the set, the sign for it being a set passed over.

Will it be

Now the question is, Will this system work? possible for an expert to write by means of it as fast as a person speaks, I trow not. An expert will be able to write

as fast by it as by Taylor's system, but not faster. It is certainly easier to learn than Taylor's system. And it is applicable to every language, while the other system is applicable to not more than one language. It may be useful as the universal mode of penmanship. It would then destroy the possibility of illegible penmanship at a stroke. But that it can ever enable a man to keep pace with a rapid speaker seems impossible.

In reference to all existing systems of short-hand, it ought never to be forgotten that practice makes experts as nearly perfect in them as their defects will allow. When one begins to play the piano, he plays at first very slowly; but, by practice, he learns to play with the greatest rapidity. But the chief aim of good short-hand is not the perfecting of a few experts. The chief aim of short-hand is, in the first place, to invent a system which will enable men of moderate education to keep pace easily with the swiftest speaker, and, in the second place, to supersede common long-hand writing in ordinary correspondence, and in the ordinary business of life. The second aim, at least, is the view approved by Anderson, who says (page 161), "M. Chauvin, we ought to state, recommends the application of stenography to the ordinary writing. That, indeed, is the true aim of all short-hand."

Short-hand bids fair to become a sine quâ non of a good education. "The governments of the different parts of Germany have been convinced of the general utility of short-hand; they have encouraged its progress and organised its public teaching, under their patronage, and at their cost, with the result that to-day, stenography is everywhere in Germany, one of the branches, sometimes obligatory, more frequently facultative, of the public instruction. Besides, numerous stenographic associations have been formed for the purpose of propagating stenography, of maintaining a unity of system, of studying all questions of stenographic interest, and of affording, often, a support not only moral, but of a material and pecuniary character, with the view of bringing about a practical solution. These associations are busy at their work, and the most important of them are represented by a special journal each. It is, therefore, not astonishing that under this powerful impulse, with such favourable conditions of application, and with that wellknown disposition of perseverance characteristically German, the results have proved happy in the extreme, and that, today, stenography in Germany counts not by hundreds, but

by thousands, and that not only amongst the professions styled liberal, but also in all avocations, in the army, in business, in which it is variously used; and, in fine, by all those who appreciate the value of time." (Anderson, page 183.)

"To-day, Gabelsberger's system is taught with ardour in all the principal German States and Duchies. For the year 1874-75 the number of pupils in this stenography amounted to 16,449, belonging to 608 establishments, and receiving lessons from 779 professors. Besides the public pupils, there were 4,660 persons under private tutors of this same system. Altogether, there are 249 societies for the propagation of the Gabelsbergian short-hand, and at the head of these is the Society of Leipsic. Stolze's system, which first saw the light in 1841, is disseminated by no less than sixty associations in Germany, and five monthly journals (page 187). "At the Colleges of Caracas and Vargas in Venezuela, short-hand is a regular branch of education. Blanco, the rector of the latter seminary, is the author of a system based on the English ones (256), In the staff of the short-hand writers to the Senate of Roumania there are eight of the first rank, who take each five-minute turns. In that of the Chamber of Deputies there are sixteen who relieve each other, in eight divisions, every ten minutes (288). Gabelsberger's short-hand system is taught in more than a hundred Hungarian colleges" (page 284).

Now, in the face of all these facts, the regular introduction of short-hand into Britain and into British possessions cannot be long delayed. Anderson tells us that short-hand has been introduced even into China and Japan. It will be invaluable if it obviates the necessity of writing the cumbrous alphabets of Asia. And if it is introduced into Asia instead of common writing, it can hardly fail to give a mighty impetus to literature. For during the last two thousand years the condition of short-hand has been the truest test and index of the state of literature. In the palmy days of Roman literature, it flourished to such an extent that emperors delighted to learn and to practise it. In the Middle Ages, when learning was at a very low ebb, short-hand was unknown; and since 1588, when Bright published his system, about 3,422 different works on short-hand have been published in Europe.

COPYRIGHT LAWS VERY DEFECTIVE IN ENGLAND.

It is to be regretted that the present deplorable state of short-hand in England is very largely due to the shamefully defective state of the law regarding copyright. "A point which has not been touched on in connection with this topic, however, is this—that owing to the unsettled state of the law of copyright at present in our country, any man with an invention of a new system of short-hand would be slow to divulge it. It might be very difficult for such a person, even after publication, to establish his claim, at least to secure his profit in the invention. In that way, what has been above suggested as to the establishment of a university board for the consideration of the subject would be found, perhaps, to be highly serviceable" (Anderson, page 241). The grave imperfections attaching to Copyright and Patent Laws account for the backward condition of ten thousand things, short-hand among them. If these two laws were only sufficiently improved, many evils which are now most absurdly supposed to be beyond the pale of patents, such as the prevention of famines, of droughts, and of many other calamities, might either be mitigated or removed. But as long as the Patent and Copyright Laws are what they are -costly and incapable of affording protection-inventors and authors, in large numbers, will continue to withhold valuable secrets from the public. The greatest glory shed on the present Gladstonian administration of England is the honour it has gained of having very materially reformed and improved, under Mr. Chamberlain's skilful pilotage, the late iniquitous patent laws of England.

I confess that the system of short-hand now described has never been put to the test of experiment. But what is perfect in theory is very likely to be perfect in practice also. The 47th proposition of the First Book of Euclid has been, for many centuries, accepted as correct, without probably having been once proved experimentally. To prove it experimentally it would be necessary to cut out a square equal to the square of the hypothenuse, and squares equal to the squares of the sides containing the right angle. And then it would be necessary to cut the two smaller squares into such portions, as that, being placed on the large square, they would be seen to cover it exactly. This has probably never yet been done. Yet no one doubts the truth of the 47th proposition of the First Book of Euclid. Valuable secrets have probably been lost to mankind from their possessors being unable to affirm that what they had proved

use.

not.

correct in theory had been also repeatedly proved correct by experiment. Theoretically my system, though a perfect one, is also a very expensive one. But whatever its defects may be, as it seems to have some advantages, it is advisable that it should be published. The electric light was discovered a century before it was put to any practical The invention of the balloon has not, even yet, been put to any practical use, though it has been known for about a century. But although these two inventions have lain so long useless, is that any reason why their first discoverers and publishers should be deemed fools? Certainly So this discovery of mine may be proved utterly impracticable. Or it may lie useless for a long time. But inasmuch as there is some probability that it will, sooner or later, be found useful, it ought to be published. And its very defects, if it has any, may suggest to other and more intelligent inventors a method of short-hand that will really be the boon which men long for. Its expensiveness will probably prove on trial to be more imaginary than real. The best railways in the world are the most expensive. The underground railways of London are the greatest triumphs of engineering skill in the railway line. Yet they cost a million pounds per mile. Had any man in the year 1830 gravely affirmed that some London railways would in 1880 cost one million pounds sterling per mile, he should certainly have been deemed a lunatic and should have been perhaps treated as such.

By the system of short-hand which I have now described, I believe it will be possible to report what is not even now attempted-viz., the gestures of an orator.

In the following speech, which is a kind of epitome of the whole of this "Bitter Bitter Cry of Outcast Inventors," enough is said in the way of describing the gestures of the speaker to show what I mean.

"MR. THOMAS WAGHORN'S LECTURE ON THE WRONGS OF INVENTORS IN ENGLAND.

"Mr. Waghorn, on coming on to the platform, at once proceeded to the business of the evening and spoke as follows:-When I read the lives of English Inventors, I never can avoid recalling the terrible declaration of the great Whitefield. Men,' said Whitefield, 'are half beasts and half devils' (here the speaker brought his clenched fist from two feet above his head down rapidly and forcibly to two feet below his face); 'but we must beg the beast's pardon,