ARTICLE I.

LANGUAGE is the Art of communicating to the Ear the Conceptions of the Mind, by means of significant Sounds.

II.

WRITING is the Art of exhibiting to the Sight, the Conceptions of the Mind, and the Sounds of Language, by means of Marks or Characters.

III.

In the Writing of most Languages, the usual modes of Expression have been Abridged and Varied, to answer the different purposes of Expedition, Secrecy, &c. and this method of writing is termed SHORT HAND.

IV.

To constitute a Good System of Short Hand, it is re­quisite.

1. That the Characters be as simple as possible, in or­der to their being WRITTEN with Facility—And,

2 That they be so distinct as to be READ with Ease at any distance of Time.

[Page 6]Hence a system, which boasts of few Characters, as each must necessarily stand for more words, will be found undistinct and ambiguous. On the other hand, such a variety of Multiform and Complex Characters, to render it more legible, may be introduced, as will annihilate all pre­tensions to expedition and brevity. Each Extreme has been mistaken for that Excellence, which consists in a Me­dium, equally remote from both.

V.

The System now laid before the Public, unites these different Objects of EXPEDITION and LEGIBILITY. For Practical Purposes its superiority is acknowledged, by its unrivalled Estimation wherever the English Language is spoken.

VI.

It is an Improvement upon the ingenious Mr. MASON'S La Plume volante, by the late Mr. THOMAS GURNEY of London, and the present Mr. JOSEPH GURNEY his Son, and is the result of upwards of Fifty Years Practice and Experience in the English Courts of Judicature, &c.

From some years Attention in Teaching, and from Hints and Communications from several Proficients in the Art, the present Editor has been enabled to reduce the Plan to an entire New Method, and to add a variety of Directions for its attainment; and he flatters himself that he has the Honor to present THE SYSTEM to the Professional Gentle­men of the American States in such a degree of Perfection as to be scarcely capable of further Improvement.

VII. FORMATION OF THE ALPHABET.

All the simple distinct Marks or Characters which can be made with the Pen, may be reduced to Three; the Point, the Straight Line, and the Curved Line; for the Circle is only a particular species of the latter.

The Point, as it cannot be distinctly joined with any Character, is not introduced into the Alphabet.

The Straight Line may be varied by being placed Per­pendicularly, Horizontally, and Obliquely; thus,

.

The Curved Line may be infinitely varied, but the only distinct form is the Semicircumference, in different directi­ons; as,

.

The Circle admits of no variety.

VIII.

There are therefore Nine distinct Simple Characters, a­dapted to the Alphabet; the Straight Line in Four differ­ent directions, the Curved Line in Four, and the Circle.

These Characters express those Letters which most fre­quently occur, and most easily join; viz. the Straight Lines T, N, A, D; the Curved Lines C, M, L, P, and the Circle S.

The other Letters are all Compound Characters. As, for instance, B is composed of part of a and t; E of part of d and a; F of part of m and t, &c.

IX. DIRECTIONS.

The First Object of the Pupil is to make a Perpendi­cular stroke; that is▪ to divest himself of the Habit of making all Characters sloping; a practice probably contract­ed from the frequent use of the usual Text, Round, and Running Hands.

The Alphabet is required to be committed to memory so perfectly, as to be written without the least Hesitation, and as Expeditiously as Three or Four times a Minute.— It is also requisite that the Words in the Third Column, which the Letters of the Alphabet represent, should be committed perfectly to Memory.

X. THE COMBINATION OF LETTERS INTO WORDS. DIRECTIONS.

In the Spelling of Words, such Letters only are made use of, as convey by their Sound a Competent Idea of the Words designed. Thus the Characters in the Fifth Co­lumn represent the Words in the Sixth; and are composed of the Letters in the First Column, arranged according to the Spelling made use of in the Fourth.

As the same Character expresses A, S, and Z, the A is struck upwards, or is an hair stroke; and the S and Z downwards. They will also be distinguished by the suc­ceeding Letter which begins at the Top or Bottom, ac­cording as the other ends, as in the words against and spelling.

The Oblique S is only to be used at the beginning and end of Words.

The Circular S is only to be written in the middle of a Word; except before T at the beginning. At the end it always stands for - ing or - ong.

[Page 9]When the Letter R does not begin a Word, it is ex­pressed by a Scratch, and, as often as possible, upwards.

When S immediately follows R, it must be written with a much longer Scratch as

power,

powers.

The Characters for the Vowels are never written, but at the beginning of some Words where their Sound is re­quired to prevent ambiguity. The Vowels may also be omitted in the middle of any Word, if there is no other Word in the Language which differs from it in the Vowels only, thus WGS will stand for WAGES, because there are no such words as weges, wiges, woges, or wuges.

XI. METHOD OF EXPRESSING THE VOWELS.

When it is necessary to distinguish the Vowels to prevent Ambiguity, as in the word TAN, which might otherwise be mistaken for ten, tin, ton, or tun, they are expressed by Dots, &c.

The Directions on the Plate, in the early Editions, were expressed in the following manner, and they are here re­stored to assist the Memory.

XII. THE CHARACTERS FOR THE PERSONS.

He, it, [...]e, and you are taken from the Alphabet.

Thou and we are the Characters for th and w, with Dots for the Vowels.

I, she, and they, are Arbitrary Characters.

XIII. THE AUXILIARY VERBS, ETC.

Are, art, is, be, did, and have, are taken from the Alphabet.

Am, was, were, being, do, doing, done, having, will, would, can, could, may, might, must, ought, and let, are Compound Characters, formed according to the pre­ceding Directions.

Been is an Arbitrary Character. In the words have been, the Character for have is prefixed.

Doth, hath, had, have had, shall and should, are De­ficient Characters.

XIV.

The Left-hand Column contains the Words of each Phrase, written according to the Specimen in Plate the Second. In the Right-hand Column they are reduced to a Form, more contracted, and better adapted for Ex­pedition.

XV. ARBITRARY CHARACTERS.

A principal Advantage in this System of Short Hand, consists in the small number of Arbitrary and Contracted [Page 12] Characters; and in their conspicuity, by which they will be understood, fixed in memory, and read again at first sight.

XVI. ABBREVIATING RULES.

In the early Editions of this Work, published by Mr. Thomas Gurney, they consisted of Twenty in number.— Mr. Joseph Gurney reduced them to eleven; and the present Editor, by referring the termination - ment to the Letter m in the Alphabet, has diminished their number.

The Original Method of expressing the Sound of the double r, or rer, or ror, by writing R on each side of the Character, is however worth retaining; according to which the words arrow, sorrow, dearer, terror and near­er, are expressed by the Character, A, S, D, T, or N, each barbed where the Pen is taken off; thus,

arrow,

sorrow, &c.

XVII.

Mr. Joseph Gurney has introduced the Letters in the common writing Alphabet as Arbitrary Characters in the later Editions of the Work, which seems to be a real Im­provement. The present Editor has formed them into a double Alphabet of Capital and Small Letters, by which he has been enabled to adopt all his significations, has ad­ded [Page 13] a few of his own, and furnished the Pupil with an Ex­ercise for his Ingenuity by leaving several Characters va­cant, to be supplied from his own Fancy, or the necessary Exigencies of his profession, as in the following scheme.

XVIII. ARBITRARY CHARACTERS FORMED FROM THE WRITING ALPHABET.

• A Administrator -tion
• B
• C Congress, Congressional
• D Demonstrate -tion
• E Ecclesiastic -al
• F
• G
• H
• I
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O Origin -ate -al -ally
• P President of the States
• Q
• R Representatives
• S Senate
• T
• U United States
• V
• W
• X Christianity
• Y
• Z

• a accord -ing -ingly
• b bankrupt -cy
• c circum -stance -es
• d evident -ly, evidence
• e establish -ed -ment
• f fraud -ulent -ulently
• g govern -ing -ment
• h hereditary -aments
• i justify -ing -able -cation
• k
• l legislator -ture -tive -tion
• m multitude -ply -ed -cation
• n notwithstanding
• o order -ing
• p precedent -cy
• q
• r represent -ed -ation
• s statute, spirit -ed -ual
• t trespass -es, transport -ation
• u unlawful -ly -ness
• v
• w witness -es -ing
• x extraordinary -ly
• y
• z

XIX. DIRECTIONS.

It is necessary that the Learner compare every Word of the Original with the following Contracted Form of Ex­pression; and both with the Specimen in the Plate.

If any thing occurs which at first view seems unintelli­gible, it may be advisable to pass it over for the present, till by a second perusal a more perfect Knowledge of the Art is attained.

XX. CONTRACTED FORM OF EXPRESSION. EXPLANATION.

1. The Words, or parts of Words, in Roman, are Com­binations according to the first Plate; the Alphabetical Cha­racters for the Vowels never being written but at the be­ginning of a Word.

2. The Words, or parts of Words, in Italic, are written from some Contraction, Arbitrary Character or Abbreviat­ing Rule in the first, second, fifth or sixth Plates.

3. Omissions, &c. are denoted by *, Contraries by ), and Repetitions by —.

[Page 15]4. The Figures have the same signification as in Common Arithmetic, and the Writing Letters are taken from Art. XVIII.

XXI. GENESIS, Chap. i. ver. 1,—21.

IN the bgning God cratd the Heaven and the rth

2. And the rth w [...] withot frm and vod, and drkns ws upon the fas of the dep: and the Spirit * God movd upon the fas of the wtrs.

3. And God sd, lt thr be lit: and thr ws lit.

4. And God saw the lit, that it ws good; and God dvded the lit frm the drkns.

5. And God cld the lit da, and the drkns he [...]ld nit: and the evening and the mrning wr the frst da.

6. And God sd, lt thr be a frmament in the mdst of the wtrs, and lt it dvd the wtrs frm the wtrs.

7. And God md the frmament, and dvded the wtrs which wr undr the frma­ment, frm * wtrs which wr above the frmament; and it ws so.

8. And God cld the frmament Heaven: and the evening and the mrning wr the second da.

9. And God sd, lt the wtrs undr the Heaven be gthrd tgthr unt on pis, and lt the dry land apr: and it ws so.

10. And God cld the dry land rth, and the gthring tgthr of the wtrs cld he [...]: and God saw that it ws good.

11. And God sd, lt the rth bring frth grs▪ the erb ylding sd, and the frt tr [...] ylding frt after his knd, wos sd is in itslf, upon * rth: and it ws so.

12. And the rth brt frth grs, and erb ylding s [...] after [...]i [...] knd, and the tre yld­ing frt, wos sd ws in itslf, after his knd: and God saw that it ws good.

13. And the evening and the mrning wr the third da.

14. And God sd, lt thr be l [...]ts in the firmament of the Heaven, to dvd the da frm the nit; and lt thm be fr sins, and fr s [...]ns, and fr da [...] and yrs.

15. And lt thm be fr lits in the firmament of the Heaven, to giv lit upon * rth: and it ws so.

16. And God md two grt lits; the grtr lit to rul the da, and the lsr lit to rul): he md the strs also.

17. And God st thm in the firmament of the Heaven, to gv lit upon * rth.

18. And to rul over the da and over the nit, and to dvd the lit frm the drkns: and God saw that it ws good.

19. And the evening and the mrning wr the fourth da.

20. And God sd, lt the wtrs bring frth abndntly the mving cratr that hath lf and fol that ma fly above the rth in the opn firmament of Heaven.

21. And God cratd grt wls, and every lving cratr that m [...]th, which the wtrs brt frth abndntly after thr knd, and every wingd fol after his knd: and God saw that it ws good.

XXII. CONTRACTED FORM OF EXPRESSION.

XXIII. THE ORNAMENTS OF YOUTH.

XXIV. CHARACTER OF A TRUE FRIEND.

CONCLUSION. XXV.

THE WHOLE THEORY is contained in part of the First, the Second, Fifth and Sixth Plates;—the other Five contain SPECIMENS OF THE PRACTICE.

XXVI.

After the Pupil has committed to memory the Theory, and compared the Engraved Specimens in the Seventh, Eighth and Tenth Plates with their Original Matter, and Contracted Form of Expression, he may begin to make an Attempt at Writing.

XXVII.

The Proverbs of Solomon, the Oeconomy of Human Life, or any other subject in short detached sentences, and especially those parts where the same words are often re­peated, will be most proper for the first attempt.

XXVIII.

Two Persons may mutually assist each other, by read­ing or writing alternately a small portion of time every day.—The reader must proceed faster or slower accord­ing to signals given by the writer, so as to keep just be­fore the pen.—The clock will discover what advances are made in Expedition, &c. if the same lesson is written se­veral times over.

XXIX.

In order for Expedition, the writer is advised to the use of an hard-nibbed pen.

XXX.

He is to consider whether each Word, or any part of it, is to be formed from the Letters of the Alphabet, in the first Plate, or whether from any Arbitrary, or Con­tracted Character, or Rule, in the other Plates.—It may also be observed, that after some Practice and Experience, little, or no difficulty, will occur in the Reading, if every particular is not so minutely attended to.

Thus, in PLATE X. in the fourth line of the Orna­ments of Youth, the word Injuries has the S mar­ked downwards, contrary to the direction in Art. X.

XXXI.

If any Arbitrary Character or Contracting Rule should not be instantaneously recollected, it will be attended with no other inconvenience than the loss of the advantage ari­sing from such Abbreviation, &c. as the Writer will then be obliged to form the word after the Alphabet.

Thus, in the last line of PLATE IV. in the right-hand Column, the word Here is formed by the letters ER, and not expressed by the Alphabetical R alone, as in the left-hand Column.

XXXII.

It would be impossible to invent an Expeditious System of Short Hand, in which every Character should have a distinct Signification.—The same Characters will sometimes stand for different Words, as

for people or been; but in the Combination of Words, or their Association into Sentences, ambiguity can seldom arise; for, (as in the above instance) people is a Noun and generally comes be­fore the Verb, whereas been is a Participle following the Preterite Auxiliary have.

Languages themselves are not exempt from Ambi­guities of this kind; thus, for instance, in the [Page 21] English, when the word BEAR occurs, it is the sense or the Grammatical Construction that must determine whether it means to carry, to bring forth, or the animal of that name; and in the Latin Tongue, the word sine may be either a Preposition, or the Imperative Mood of the Verb sino, &c.

XXXIII.

When a word is meant to be erased, draw two lines through it, thus

. If several words are to be oblite­rated, a single line, drawn through them all, will be suffi­cient.

XXXIV.

Were Points or Stops introduced into Short Hand, they would both impede the Writer's Dispatch, and confuse the Characters.—To remedy the want of them, leave a short Vacancy between each Sentence; and for every new Paragraph begin a Line.

XXXV.

To enable a Writer to follow Public Speakers, it is ad­visable, before he attempts a Lecture, Sermon, or Ora­tion, he should make his first effort in a Court of Judica­ture. The Repetitions, the frequent Interruptions, the length of Time usually taken in the examination of wit­nesses, &c. will enable him to take down the principal parts of a Trial, before he could be supposed sufficiently expeditious in the Art to retain an uninterrupted Speech.

XXXVI.

When a Council quotes an Author or Statute, or a Di­vine a Passage of Scripture, &c. the Writer needs only to take down the Folio, Chapter, Verse, &c. leave a Space, and Supply the Quotation at his Leisure.