successful wherever they have been steadily practised. As in Drawing, so in Writing, the straight line should constitute the first lesson, and should be practised till the pupil can form it perfectly. He should have a clear and distinct model of what he is to imitate, from the first mark to the last lesson in finished penmanship. Let the strokes be made in pairs, thus: //1; it will aid him to secure perfect parallelism, or equality of slope. This accomplished, the stroke with a curve at the bottom follows, thus: 2; next, the first element of the small, thus: ; then the second element, thus: 2; next the 05; then the. He is now prepared to practise on the and all the letters formed from the o, -a, d, g, q. Let him next practise on all the letters whose elements he has become familiar with, namely, a, d, g, h, i, j, l, m, n, o, p, t, u, y3; dividing them into several portions for practice; and, finally, the others, which are more or less irregular: as, b, c, e, broken into divisions. f, k, r, f, s, v, w, x, z, §o, also Having thus mastered the small alphabet, he may pass to the capitals,10 either broken up into their elements, or taken whole in their alphabetical order. If the drilling up to this point has been successful, he may attempt the full-formed capitals at once. After sufficient practice on the single letters, small and large, he is prepared for combinations. Let him then join an m to each of the other letters of the alphabet, as am, km, &c., following this combination with a still further practice of the m connected with each of the other letters, large and small, thus: Amma, Bmml", &c. This method, well persevered in, will have prepared him for what teachers call joining,13 or joining hand; in it we begin to introduce in the copies sentiment, facts in History, Geography, Art, Chronology, as far as it can be done in a single line, and make it the vehicle of important scraps of knowledge, which the pupil inevitably stores away in his memory, for use in all future time. 12 And here it may not be amiss to say that, on taking up joining, you should insist on attention to everything in the copy; not merely the dotting of the i's, and crossing the t's, but to the punctuation, 1 This may be called No. 1 in the series of copies; 2 this 11; 10 No. 2; 3 No. 3; 11 No. allowing no comma, apostrophe, admiration mark, question, or other point due, to be omitted. Although this may not, strictly speaking, belong to the teaching of penmanship, it should not be separated from it when thought is to be expressed in what is written; and the injunction is introduced here because of the very general neglect of the matter in the schools. Require, also, the name of the writer, with the date, correctly pointed, too, to be placed at the foot of every page in the writingbook. After a practice continued till the principles are mastered in all the relations into which they may be introduced, let the medium hand1 be attempted, with little variation in the style of the letters, excepting in the size. Next the fine hand,15 which is that of the ordinary business of practical life. As nothing acquired by teaching and training can be long retained but by careful practice, a general system of (so to call them) reviews should be adopted; thus: when No. 1 of the series of copies has been well mastered, let it be still practised on the left-hand page of the copy-book, and No. 2 be commenced on the right; this conquered, let No. 3 take the place of No. 2 on the right, and No. 2 fall back to the left-hand page; and thus onward, till No. 13-the large joining hand-be reached. Let the copies be arranged alphabetically, and the whole alphabet be carried through several times before the next grade- the medium hand - is undertaken, and this in like manner till fine hand be introduced; the same order of grading as before still continued large hand on the right, to half-joining (No. 12) on the left; medium on the right to large on the left; and fine on the right to medium on the left. In this manner all that the pupil gains is retained, and the whole system held together as by the links of a chain. The use of the pencil and slate precedes that of the pen; and, generally, the form of the figures used in numbers is learned before writing with a pen is begun. But, if you would have these figures finished with taste and beauty, let them be included in your regular lessons in the copy-books. And, to secure this with certainty, let, say, every eighth page be devoted to figures; and, if you do not "set the copies" in the books yourself, let the books, when new, be marked with an F on one side of every fourth leaf, that the figure copies may not be forgotten. If the pupils in your school who write are few, set the copies for them. They will enjoy it, and strive the more to 14 No. 14; 15 No. 15. But don't imitate your style, and will doubtless improve the faster for it. if the writers are too numerous for this, write the copies, use engraved ones, as well as possible, on slips of paper pasted to card or pasteboard; and require the pupil, when writing, to point the fore finger of the left hand at every letter or figure before attempting to make it himself, and he can hardly fail to write like his teacher. If your own writing should not satisfy you as a model, procure sets of the old Boston slips, even though engraved. We have thus run over all the steps in the order of the lessons; and general and business-like practice is now to follow. Portions of well-selected poetry may occasionally, at this stage, take the place of the single-line copies, intermitting with mercantile forms, such as Receipts, Bills of Parcels, Notes of Hand in variety, Bills of Exchange, Accounts Current, Invoices, &c., in general use, every step in which will tend to qualify the boy for what he will have occasion to know and to use, on emerging from the school-room and entering on the career of manhood. If convenient, it would be well to have some instruction and practice with the pen in the various kinds of printing; at least, as far as the large and small letters in Roman and Italic are concerned; * and would often be found of important use on leaving school. In sitting to write, the left side of the body should be partially turned toward the table, desk, or form, touching it gently, but not pressing it, while the right arm should be drawn nearly to the other side of the body. The pen should be held with some degree of freedom under and between the nail of the thumb and that of the second finger, while the fore finger falls upon the pen to steady it and aid in guiding its motion; the first and second fingers to be kept as nearly straight as practicable; the thumb to be bent. The third and fourth. fingers should rest, partially bent, under the others, for their support, yet permitting the latter to play easily over them; and the top of the pen should incline toward the shoulder, thus bringing the nib to press squarely on the paper. With beginners it is essential to insist on a uniform observance of this manner of holding the pen. It is deemed by persons of experience, teachers and non-teachers, to be the true method, approving itself to taste as well as to utility. But if pupils, when first falling under your care, have already, by the indulgence of years in bad habits of holding the pen, rendered the task of correcting them nearly *This was done in the schools half a century ago, with the addition of German Text and Old English. hopeless, especially if they have acquired a good handwriting, it is better to allow them to continue holding it in the way that has become to them the easiest and most successful, lest an attempt to improve it should impair the quality of their writing. We have sometimes found persons holding the pen in the most ungraceful and awkward fashion, and yet writing elegantly, who, on being required to adopt the legitimate mode, have degenerated into a stiff and graceless style. I have, thus far, spoken only of writing in copy-books; but the addition of lessons and practice on the black-board would prove a very effective auxiliary. As far as your school arrangements will admit of it, teach in classes. Standing in front of the board, write the model in large, fair characters, and require as many pupils as the board will accommodate to imitate it. Others may use their slates for the purpose. Call upon the members of the class to criticize each other's work, and add your own summing up, with reasons for your statements. Guard particularly against the most common faults, such as joining the in the wrong place, or not joining it at all; [it should invariably be joined on the right-hand side, so that when changed into an a, d, g, or 7, the point of connection may not be год visible;] making the lower turn of the m, n, &c., much broader and thicker than the upper; the loop of the y, J, &c.,-which is rarely symmetrical with beginners, too long, or too short, too full, or too narrow, and often having the double curve of the instead of the single one of the; separating the parts of the n, h, p, &c., in stead of carrying the hair stroke from the first shade to the second, &c.; making the stem of the p, q, &c., either sharp at one end, and square at the other, or both of them sharp, they should be perfectly square; taking the pen from the paper, between two letters connected by a hair-stroke, as in an, &c. Constant vigilance, and continual correction of errors, are indispensable to the formation of a good hand. To know how to execute well, then, is the first grand requisite in the teacher; the next, to furnish good models; and the third, to have a quick eye to detect faults, and a persistent determination for their correction. These conditions existing, and the principle carried out, your pupils will write well, with a reasonable amount and duration of practice. This course is recommended for those who have the privilege of attending school during the years usually devoted to school education. For those whose school-days are few, who are to be withdrawn to assist in domestic or other employment, or for some cause that cannot be overruled by the teacher or the school-directors, -a briefer method must be adopted; a method that has little to recommend it, but which is better than nothing in the way of learning this valuable art. It consists in writing, from the start, simple and single words, on a slate, and requiring the pupil to imitate them, without the gradual steps indicated above; copying the same words over many times, as well as possible, and advancing, according to his skill, to more and more difficult words, until he is able to form them into sentences, and read them himself. He will then be prepared, to some extent, to write on paper; and may at once begin upon joining, in a book prepared for the purpose. It will not be expected that pupils will, with so imperfect a mode of training, become elegant penmen; nor even, excepting in some few rare instances, attain to a style above mediocrity; but they will acquire, under a faithful teacher, who believes in the importance of a means, though an imperfect one, of communicating thought, an inestimable prize; and no one, if his stay at school should be limited to a single year, or even less, should fail of the opportunity of turning this little to the best account. And, in order that time should not be lost, the fact should be ascertained, on the boy's entering school, whether he is intended to continue for a long period or a short one, that the course of instruction best suited to the circumstances may be adopted for him. For want of such information in advance, boys, in our cities particularly, often leave school destitute of a sufficient amount of instruction to enable them to write their names. To secure the best results for the members of your school, will, I doubt not, be your earnest aim. And, whether their stay with you be longer or shorter, you should strive to imbue them with a resolution to excel. Your own efforts will produce little fruit without their coöperation. Good writing comes not from careless habits, but from a laborious, constant, painstaking, earnest imitation of suitable models. Such models being furnished, perhaps the whole matter might be embraced in the simple words of the trite copy-slip, "Imitate the copy," |