%a]AiNnaftv ^ o %a3AiNa-3V^^ o ^lOSANGEl^^ o ^lllBRARYQ^;^ -^tllBRARYQ^ "^aaAiNnawv^ \^i\m\^ ^^mi\m\^ Or o ^lOSANCEUr^ ^ 5 %a3AiNa3WV ^OFCAilFO/?^ >\,OFCAllFO/?;<^ ^ ^JIIVJ-JO^" • = "^aaAiNnmv ^lUBRARYQr ^lUBRARYQc, ^ ^^^/uZ/y^Z^; OC ■ a, ct/rv. CO I zi/^. 'Ay. fit- . C'f^j fctf* .^3 "^ '^ -- '(/ /^ T t^rt'^ A "r^-^t "/'■ "/" T 1' V Z TH. /K^< ,j«V>%- tH^. ad, -/^ , / // // ^/)c>-(^Co Cy>'n^e>^n-/7iy>t^ .yo^yy^-Z'CcJ c.-~j> ^ -^ (L '^'^ /a 1^ /A. ■A was not built in a day. The phonographer now looks upon this immature production with feelings7somewliat akin to those with which the railway engineer of the present day regards the jjrimitive '' Rocket," or the "Puffing Billy." STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND. 23 y/^«^, t _ .yv, ; ^ -^ C I / I f^ . . x\Ul j.^\y)\y yr- f\j'(^,U \y.{[ j.\^\ / ^^-^■ Bec^nrds Zith^y rujchy^ Srisi-ol The second Plate contains a diagram showing the for- mation of the consonants of the alphabet fi-oin segments of a circle and straight lines traced in various directions]; examples of joinings; and three illustrative specimens of 24 ISAAC PITMAN. the new " Sound-hand " writing, namely, the Lord's Prayer^ Psalm 100, and Swedenbovg's "Rules of Life." In addition to the Plates there are twelve pages of letter- press. The first of these is a brief introduction explana- tory of the general uses of shorthand. Then follows an exposition of the system as set forth in the plates, the author claiming for it at the outset the merit of being " a system of shorthand shorter than any practical system yet published," and calling special attention to the fact that " the words are written exactly as they are pronounced." He frankly admits that previous shorthand authors have to a certain extent adopted the phonetic principle, mainly in regard to the consonants ; but he claims for his new ** Sound-hand " the exclusive credit of providing a sign for each of the twelve vowels given in Walker's notation [ee, eh, ah, au, oh, 66, and their corresponding short sounds, /, e, a, 6, u, 66), and giving them a proper classification. He also points out that even in the consonantal arrange- ments of his predecessors no provision has been made for the two sounds zh, in " measure," and the heavy th, in " breathe," each of which finds a place in his own alphabet. Certain shorthand rules and explanations are then given to the student, together with a few crude suggestions as to methods of abbreviation to be employed for reporting purposes. " Contractions of long words may be made by adjoining one word to another, or by making a comma under." " Another method of saving time is to join little words together." " Theological, parliamentary, and law j)hrascs, may he written by the initial letters of the words joined to each other." Such are the sim])le and not very original devices which are provided for the student who is desirous of using the system for reporting. " These aids," STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND. says the author, " will enable a writer to follow the swift- est speaker in the world that is worth following " — a rather vague qualification, it must be confessed ; but then he adds — showing how little he had then traversed the wide field of abbreviation Avhich he Avas destined to exj)lore — " Should other methods of abbreviation be required by a slow writer they may be found in shorthand treatises." The author, however, even at this period, Avas contemjdat- ing further advances, for he tells us that he is preparing a " Manual of Stenography," including an analytical sketch of the English language and its application to shorthand characters ;" also a scheme of an alphabet according to nature, Avhich shall be published another day if it is worthy of publication, to ascertain which, this card, containing the principles, is thrown out as ^feeler." The shorthand above the diagram in Plate 2, is : — " This alphabet contains sixteen vowel sounds, twenty-live single consonants, and twenty-four double ones ; total sixty-five letters, including every vowel sound in the lan- guage, and every combination of consonants that will commence a syllable, all drawn from this diagram." " The system," says the author, " must stand upon its own legs if it stand at all ; or, to change the figure, it must roll upon its own wheel, and if it sink into oblivion after a reasonable trial of its capabilities, it Avill be because it de- serves no better fate. By the author it is practised and taught daily, without any inconvenience arising from heavy letters ; and after eight years' extensive use of the best system hitherto published, ]Mr Taylor's (sometimes mis- called Harding's, and lately sent forth without any refe- rence to Mr Taylor's name) and an examination of many others, he hesitates not to say, it is as good again as that. 26 ISAAC PITMAN. This observation might certainly be spared for the sake of modesty, and also with regard to those readers who have learned Mr Taylor's and Avill noAV give this a fair trial ; but we know well that, with many persons, stenographic per- severance is a rare virtue ; and the experiment, with its result, is here mentioned for their sakes. Among the author's pupils are more than twenty boys (in his school), about the age of ten years ; and it may confidently be asserted that they could not have learned so easily any other system extant." Mr Pitman concludes by some pious reflections on the world's degeneracy, one illustration of which he sees in the imperfections of English spelling; and by an anticipation of a bright period in store for humanity when " order will be restored," when, among other things, " shorthand will be the common hand," and the Bible, thus printed, " will exist no larger than a watch, and be as constantly used for the discovery and regulation of man's spiritual state with reference to eternity, as the pocket chronometer is for the discovery and regulation of time with reference to the present life." In a note, he estimates that a readable shorthand edition of the Bible could be printed 2j inches square, and three-quarters of an inch thick. Keif to the Shorthand Examples, Plate 2. — la, The plainest practical ijlan of putting pen to paper for tlie production of peerless poems or profound and powerful prose for the Press or for private pursuits ever published. 3//, Tea, tin; pay, pet; father, fat ; daw, dot ; show, shut ; coo, could ; fine, duke, boy, vow. 5cr, Fear thou the Lord in thy youth ; hate and avoid evil ; love and pursue good ; and so walk in the paths of life. ^f\ Anguish, bb, bd, bf; 8«, db, dd, df; 8(/, sp, st, sf , sk, sr, sm ; Dtf, sb, sd, sf, sg; 9(?, rbl, pkr; ^g, ft", mm, prpr; lOt/, least, all, oil ; right, our, raw ; case, us, see ; among, owing ; \\c, sprain, strong, screw; 1 1/', splinter, swing; 12/;, principle, instruct; 12<7, STENOGRAPHIC SOUND-HAND." 27 possible, toaster, whisper; \'-ia, niaxini, sticks; 13r, queen, re- quest ; l3e, exist, languish; I3g, lin; 14a, beyond, statistics, open, alter, altitude ; 14/', mood, tune; I5a, transact, wisdom; childhood, without, forward, professions, contents, incomplete, missionaries ; iGa, thoughts, comes, thou mayest ; 300, 00,000, 300,000, second, third, fourthly ; 17a, comma, semicolon, colon, period, admiration, interrogation, irony, parentheses, brackets, hyphen, quotation marks ; 1 7/, notwithstanding, nevertheless, indispensable, incomprehensible, satisfactorily; l8e, as it is said, there are, kingdom of heaven. His Majesty's ministers, practice of the Court. £67/ to Rules uf Life, Plate 2. 1. To read often and to medi- tate well on the Word of God. 2. To be always content and resigned under the dispensations of Providence. 3. Always to observe a propriety of behavior, and to preserve the conscience clear and void of offence. 4. To obey that which is ordained, to be faithful in the dis- charge of the duties of our employment, and to do everything in our power to make ourselves as universally useful as possible. Always to remember '' The Lord will provide." A year-and-a-half after the ])ublication of "Stenographic Sound-hand," June, 1839, Mr Fitnian, who, as we have seen, was dismissed from the post which he occupied at Wotton-under-Edge, took up his residence in Bath, where he estabhshed a school at No. 5 Nelson Place, which he conducted till 1843. In 1839, the first edition of his little shorthand volume, of w'hich 3,000 copies had been printed, was exhausted. There can be no doubt that its circulation was largely promoted by the fact of its being issued from a respectable and well-known house like that of the great Bible publisher of Paternoster Kow. With such an imprimatur, no one was likely to suspect it of being a mere catch-penny publication. About this time, the agitation for postal reform was at its height, and Isaac Pitman eagerly looked forwartl to 28 ISAAC PITMAN. the establishment of the Penny Post^ not only as a public benefit^ but as a valuable aid in the dissemination of his system. Prior to 1810^ the average postage of a letter was ninepence-halfpenny^ and any enclosure, however small, made the postage double. The amount of paper allowed by the authorities was limited to a single sheet, without reference to its size, and a correspondent who had a great deal of matter to communicate commonly made a point of writing on as large a sheet as could be purchased. Isaac Pitman constantly resorted to this method, and some of his letters written at this period were great curi- osities, from the quantity of writing they contained. He made a calculation that one of them was as long as the Gospel of Matthew. Rowland Hill's well-known pamphlet, " Post Office Reform : its importance and ])racticabi]ity," had taken the public by storm. It was first published in 1837, a few months before the appear- ance of " Stenographic Sound-hand." In this pamphlet he clearly demonstrated that the existing high rate of postage crippled public and private correspondence, and he suggested that a uniform rate of a ])enny should be made for each letter under half-an-ounce, to be collected by means of an affixed postage stamp. Of course, the scheme was vigorously opposed and de- nounced as wild, absurd, and j)reposterous. The Post Office oflicials especially stood aghast ; and the Postmaster- General, Lord Lichfield, declared that of all the visionary schemes he had ever heard, this was the most extravagant. A Select Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to consider the subject. It held sixty-three sittings, heard a vast body of evidence, and finally re])orted in ftivor of a great reduction, and a uniform rate ; not venturing, how- + /rvefiM i Drawn by /P'fman.S./Ve/jon P/ace. BATH. PRICE ONEl PENNY. Mounted on Canvass i liounrJ int RULES for '^/RITWC lUuztrattd b\ EMMPIES^ I ■ V^riU ity sound as pique f^ehj ^> siOht/5//M Forz«inhV,Oi o:)\i<>W V., ori.a50\\^\ or%\\.ai neoociale '^^ W fhru write, ks. as boA_«/" ii.as exi'st "^ oA l e i w /i 5 v/htn cortimencing a sytiotfte. in whictr cas6 rhty never occur exc4f:''n combination nithanot/tervowel. S Kill hi found undir thi doiibiiltriMe wife/yoj- Yorkshire =-V west) wlte'""^^ "i-Esptdally obsirve the proper sound of till, short vowels, every one of whic/i in the common hand is outofl)iace. thus. ueat'~] knit'n ageXedge/ psalm «— s. Sam (Samuel)r- s.raw»<^ rol^l tonefc^runLpoalV' pullV* 3. Prcnounct the trowels as they sound in the a/fihabeticol words and examples placed to them. Pro- nounce every consonant at once b^' means of the small vowel pu I to it. Learn by heart the natural order of the s,-nalevowelsh.single consonants. OS be/o'w. New names are given to some ofrlit single cons? to express rheir true sound, or to keep them in unison. 4. Mark the difference bet wet r> spispr, sti str, schischr. skisUr \ <. f 1 r / ._ ^ at the conimencennent of words also psi rps.tsA.rts, chsirchs, UsA. rks X \ L J / y _. -^ otthe cono\\is\or\ofwords.SeeJoi/7in^ Table 5.0 lointd ro a hook -^/^ small ieftei becomes a dot, as spl V snt ^ Its L Mi^S-c. spr^N IS instead of\rii i forii, 6. Vowels behre conS(fnants are plocrdto the\^ :7/"perpendic-.>larA leaning strolies. as eat'l weie,hrl wef'l eyes') apeXowl ■'^ir^'^g/?!^ above horizontal strokes, as eageri — aim,-«^Anne..^ walker.^— 7 Velvets after cons'^ ao to the right. <».'i.mder a.r iov/*tof.l> high's cov. — O. The vowels places are counted from the be^i n n i n^^ of the cons!s,.^ i their derivativts take the first place. OS she Vldaw r ply\ weeki_noi5e j^jroyalj/ Q,.^, ^ their derivatives lake the szcowA place or middle oi theccns.'as a\\'f eat'l uppei^vache_J oary and A.O & their derivat'v(.%hovi the\\\\ri placeor ^nA.as PaN. loo<^ duel-nowi^. house~i, youth •( 9. When a.oi o are put to cons'.' 1hty may point any tiay. when they standalone for words thev akvays leanlo the right. (J5 whom v 10. A vowel between two cons," fi neither of them the loop s)/i* in placed thus, a f i rst 0^ ser.on d plac;. vcweyait&r thefirsl cons!« teamL ccd'l Tweedl'lTifleT void<. net I boat'*^ A^Wtrd'place vowel yoes hihi e the last cons.Vs rack/ loom^duke La man^^_^ mouth'"^^ shaft ^ 11. The loop* dot s lolfino vowtik when a voivtJ is put close tc'one. it belongs to the cons' connected with if.os pass\i secure i_^ sfckle s — 12. Iflvio vowels come between two cons" give one to each, as poet^ 13. When two vowels be^in o/'end a word, put one closi lithe other at a Utttt dis - //'^ to nee as iota '1. oasis 9 Isaiah")^ Victoria *^#r X^.IVeverjoin a sho?r//> strai ^\ letter (vrhich J. IS always a double or treble cons') to a letter in the sarrte iv reotion, butvinte the single cons" font, or taht off the pen. os%^\ K_or^. noi^ Steam ed'C,<7rf/7ff/' [started I l5.5Hn a/^ern ir.anrfj belcrer.is curved thus A agnations.,'' portion 1 \/miss ionar\ v-w^ »iSi, B\T\J\H\\\TH w 4ci '/yy^ to 13. Ornamental ./ ^» /■ J ■ ^ f \ • -__. " " 1 , ^ ^ \ 3 ■ , » )) - U, I . 'i >. . ^. , |,« .-, I , . L ,(i.rl^)\ f . -^ Hrernryster Row. IS40. IK? >J6. /l/nfO"is on/y iia vow«l,j Vj\oj ves-)5ighl when s is \(«-\repeated cii :;easeJassi- ^^^zesia/jf nfien a nor:/ begins tvif/j a vowel loi- \o\\(;A 6y s.osiiV.L. ''■ I enfls with a vowfl prt ^ '^ ded byi ,is lerKicn.v)' i «htnt\ei you ifwf sumptuous '2 cr I yiMII rules relalini/ T/o tht stiarp consonant [, l.ch.U.f, Ih. s. sh. arc also applicatlt/i) ihurcorrtspond? flats, I) d. J. ^. V, tji. 2 zh. MO. M,When%\\or\ stands iW'Uz. oounl ihc wwtis' places downwards, aj shoo ^' law '''allow. ^' Whrn either hrter is lOined to the loop s only write it dannwards.as issues^ lace ( sale '^ \9.ffaAeiant/ i,\ni\ lyi/l} (7 tick »hert eithtr letter stands alone os or/ rye / ocGi^ti,^ lichen it is succeeded by the loop s cnly.as ahse' oceans ,'- 20. Thektftrs ctin t rch must never stand a lo ne , nor with the loop s only added, because of %\\'' f^ rl 21. Each letttrin tht Alphabet stands for the words put to it. {except the pKornples in short hand). I all others of the same sound, as ' I and ey^.'^c lor ether Hords write all the consomwh that sound/joining them together.) i theprinoi/ial vowels. loce I'oive/s and of tht bottom for vtprds contf second 4 \Y.\xi place vow'tls. In the Alphabet, 'tiesc wards ore divided by a colon. 24. ////middle place coivf /r(o, wa kj 1 1 hen standing a I o n e .yo (7//^8 boHo m of the line, as away ■ ^et„ one > 25. Compound words must be redu- cid to their primitives, and written mar together, as within' without "i dltortettiei' somewhalX yourselves-* '26 Disjoin PiefiK-s i A(tix.'S i7i ntere'st'f Phonugraphy -vj" or \ — for a pi u ra I - 1?//'* odd i. OS SLrbscrlp- rion-jV.^ lensmenls i^» earldoms J\ 27 Com A con are written by a li^ht dor before The next cons.'>tf/'i7' small dot afvet rlip last consTiJJ' starting [Mi: />/i/^/ in^s is a iarde dOt.<7j wofkiCOs — .■ ZV If a word reaches too Tow cr does not join .well, lake off the pen, as constituted n ctiarge^ble y(^ 30 Clioosi the eisf manner of writing ^ ^ °) :^ I ^_- futa// otfier numbers in short- fiand words. OS 70^46^orjoin the dijils.blacJng o line under. as .196 Ls aeeA ISW t 6862 I 34 STOPS. Conrtnct '' Stmcolon : Colon" Pencd..cr lean i i f il inch spaces. Hyphen... Iron;^ i />c/<7/n(j- liOf7^^S all ofhtr slops ic marks as usual, /folic. See fsalm /JJ Acce/ir. decent j! noble v\den_yJL farrv If'prese-it';. present ''NSONANTS.i^ ■ht'„ 'Or^ ■ can Hz. .C!Ove 'ithir. occJ. '/C7d :phij ving. -St. J, •>7io.^ •r (^ 'hw. .Tuent, iver fume, /onlf '.oven, ■hat/^ \ n he" vtdt '/her') .sht sh.l SH.t shn m zM z/t^ J L Jp Jb Jt Jd M •0 .//' ./* uiual. treasury \. occosion^^ LOfiD. also, /le/p.i^y.aWy e/6ow X c/ifficult-y /hi/c/. wor/d f//chK,lo/d\ //?idu/ge^ mt/l< r~ . \wo/f \ aJphabeticalUi_ .^vso/ve ^K. heolt/i. J/h i Jsh r Jzh r /.r r ,/tn .--^ Jn ^_j S( / IS^H ,I,IS^ .rp \ ,rb \ „rt J .rd \ ^tc/i y -n y .fi< — .re/ 5 althiough. olr&ody. ALMtCttTY. foil en ^ ■/ arR. or, our. reco"- s/tarfos ■{ suiur6s\ he ar/, shcrt, n^rc/ heard. church/^ccsre^. cfiaty&s/ work. ^oryU buro, Swdden- .// ~\ arv ^ \.rth ^ ,rth ) ,rsf> J .rzh J cr/- y arrn .^ ,rf> ^ M - ,rnp ^ .mf .mo i m:/ ^ 1 m.t ^ icarf '~"~i leN preserfe^^ earth, fiirth. Hfon'-hy. marsh Z) + [cirr/e^-^ rea/. rule, fbrm^ncernf nd .'I'crnitjg rr'f'me./nay. am multi.ment important, mee^mighf, afnid-st:mad-& m/} \mercy. | H M.''mere:more\ h.r n:l\ %^ leNC •^^ on any: no w/7inco"unco' wonf.intc: neni unto.\n\% anti hand, under freflc/T}^i t change^ journa/Z, norhonor-ob/e /htriglnglf^ languaije distinct. fhi/tk: thank sing/e\ang?^ he himhoc^ her-e (hood. SuMM/l/fyoft/'eS//va£COr/Sr^(SM!j/isis added to .; hooked letter by making it ha If length, as tl f Hd rtltled j'tv^ rvd^idesei^/ed J^ These Tnhk Cons" represent the post tenses of tht ver6s placed totheDoubleCons'^ from which they are derived os carried .- Hole S^^^represents spirit-ual. str"! strong. strength: skr.— scriptur |i THE LORDS INVITATION Matthew /I 28fo5a Writttn in 'full _^ -^ '- ^ ^ M ^ < --' "^v i^=< • ^ "% - -^ :'v L «- ^ ^-. . ^ f 'C V- : 'l ^- .-..-_ « <' ^ "^ ■ 'nyLonquigc may k utriittn in fhonog!»ilh a /titling diffennce in iht sound of Aitnt UtUn. ^frfmh I. -».^'" "' ^y L. L V l^ C .V U "-<•_/""' ~ T <,.,^ can write about (J dozen turse.' from the 3ib/e /eai' no spa:^^ between fhe fmes fv- fhe ccrrections INTRODUCTION OF PENNY POSTAGE. 29 ever, to a-commend a penny post, which it was tliought would, for a time at least, prove a loss to the revenue. The result was that the postage was reduced at first to fourpence, and ultimately, on the 10th of January, 1810, to a penny. The Government offered a prize of .£.200 for the best method of collecting the pence for prepaid letters, and among the many competitors was Isaac Pitman, who, in September, 1839, submitted to the Lords of the Treasury a proposal to collect the postage by means of stamps : " Let plates," he said, " be engraved in small squares of an inch space, the plates being 20 inches by 12 =240 squares, the price of which at \d. o. stamp, when struck off on paper, will be £\.'' He also pointed out the advantage to the public of being able to transmit small sums by means of such stamps. " The stamps," he said, with a prophetic instinct, '' will become equivalent to the current coin of the realm, ai'd remittances of small amounts might be made in them." The manuscript of the second edition of Mr Pitman's shorthand system was ready in the autumn of 1839, but its publication was deferred till the Penny Post came into operation on the 10th January, 1840. It then appeared in the form of the accompanying Penny Plate. Nothing could have been more opportune than the new postal facilities. They were the second tidal wave on which the system had been carried forward. The amount of cor- respondence in " Phonography," as it was now called, even in those early days, was very considerable, and it could not have been conducted under the old prohibitive rates. This was illustrated by a singular incident two years afterwards. In the recently-established Phono- graphic Journal, a request was made by Mr Pitman that 30 ISAAC PITMAN. Mr PitmaJis second Schoolroom at Wotton-uiider-Edge. Mr Pitman's School at WottonVas opened in January, 1836, in a long room ■which the Committee had engaged in Sim lane, called " The Folly." It is now occupied as a cottage. In about a year the growth of the school ren- dered it necessary to remove to the first floor of a disused factory in " The Steep," at the bottom of Long street, represented in the above engraving. The building is now used as a Church Institute. "When Mr Pitman was dismissed by the Committee, he established a private school on the British and Foreign system in a room at the top of Long street. on the last day of the year (1812) his correspondents would send him a letter enclosing a ])enny stamp, as a gratuity to the Bath postman who delivered the editor's letters. Two hundred and sixty-one persons responded to the appeal, and the result was a substantial Christmas- bo.K for him. " PENNY PLATE OF PHONOGRAPHY. 31 Light pamphlets as well as letters could now be sent cheaply through the post ; and ]\Ir Pitman availed himself of the new facilities by sending gratuitously six copies of his Penny Plate to all the schools in Somer- setshire, together with a circular letter calling attention to the advantages of the new system, and requesting the recipient, if unable to devote attention to the art, to hand the copies to someone who would be likely to take an interest in the subject. The author well re- membei-s receiving from his own schoolmaster in Bristol one of the copies which had been thus transmitted ; but as it contained little else than the alphabetic characters, lists of " grammalogues," and a few exercises, all engraved in letters of the tiniest dimensions, it was ill-adapted to the capacities of a lad of thirteen, and it was accordingly laid aside. The sheet embodied certain changes on the first edition, which the author's experience in writing out the entire Bible, and in other practice, had suggested to him. 32 ISAAC PITMAN. CHAPTER III. Besides issuing his shorthand works and conducting an extensive correspondence, Mr Pitman utilized his Mid- summer and Christmas hohdays by making lecturing tours in different parts of the kingdom. The places and dates for lecturing were fixed some time in advance, and the bills were printed at Bath and forwarded by post for dis- tribution. He took with him a supply of books, which he sold to teachers and booksellers, and in his lectures he called public attention to them. His success was very varied. In some places he met with a poor reception ; at others he succeeded in arousing a keen interest in his system. His Christmas holiday, December, 1840, was spent thus : — Leaving Bath early in the morning, he walked to Stroud, the road being covered with snow, carrying a parcel of books weighing about 151b., lectured, and the next morning walked to Oxford, visited most of the Colleges, leaving copies of the Penny Plate and tracts, through High Wycombe and other towns, to London and Bath. In the following Midsummer holiday he started from Bath, and in twenty-three days visited in turn, Devizes, Salisbury, London, Ipswich, Norwich, Yarmouth, Hull, Barton-on-IIumber, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, returning to London by steamer and to Bath by the newly- opened Great AVestern Ilailway. Sunday occurring dur- ing the voyage from Edinburgh to London, Mr Pitman assembled as many of the passengers as wished to attend worship on board, and preached. At Edinburgh he could SPELLING REFORM. 33 only sell a few copies of tlu; system. At Xeweastle he received greater encourageiiient. He had largf and attentive audiences, and made many converts, one of them being Mr T. P. (now Alderman) Barkas, wIk^ himself shortly afterwards became an active proi)ati'aiulist oi" the new faith ; for as such it had now come to be rcu-ardcd ; and a bond of brotherhood was established among its adherents. This was largely due to J\lr Pitman's own indomitable energy, his enthusiastic, yet quiet tempera- ment, and his profound belief in the '' cause " which he had initiated. At that time his highest hope was the popularising of shorthand. In a year or two he became the champion of a double reform, which he advocated with a never-tiring activity. His shorthand scheme was pro- pounded not as a mere professional instrument in the hands of the reporter, or an occasional aid to the student, but as a method of saving a large proportion of the time ordinarily spent in writing. He boldly asserted that his system was applicable to all, or almost all, the purposes to which longhand is applied, and he especially advocated its use for all kinds of correspondence. Enforcing the nuixini that '' to save time is to prolong life,'' he invited all his countrymen to become phonographers, and waxed eloquent on the benefits that would inevitably flow therefrom. Very early in his crusade he proposed that the phonetic principle, a sign for a sound, which he had made the basis of his shorthand, should be also applied to the com- mon reading alphabet, and that words should be spelled as they are pronounced. This, he contendrd, would remove the absurd anomalies of English orthography, immensely facilitate the acquisition of the ability to read, and promote a more accurate and uniform iirotnuiciation 34 ISAAC PITMAN. of English words. It was here that he encountered the gravest opposition. Few persons would object to the application of the phonetic principle to a new set of short- hand symbols ; but the notion of interfering with the sacred pages of the spelling-book, and setting up a new standard of orthograph)^, was repellent to every conservative literary instinct, and sent a shudder through the frame of almost every educated man. It was true that English orthogra- phy had undergone numberless changes since the days of Caxton, that the early printers spelled pretty much as they pleased, and that the existing spelling was a mere haj)- hazard, unsystematic contrivance, for which no reasonable or unprejudiced person had a good word to say : no mat- ter — English spelling, like the English constitution, had grown, had become consolidated, and so far identified with the national literature that it would be little short of van- dalism, or even saciilege, to touch it. Many phonographers even hesitated before giving in their adhesion to a reformed printing alphabet. But the band of reformers multiplied. Mr Pitman kept up a constant correspondence with them, and thus inspired them with some of his own enthusiasm. In 1842 he brought out the first number of the Phono- graphic Journal, which, under a slightly altered title, has been continued to the present day. He was lecturing in Manchester in the winter of 184-1, and happening to be at the office of Messrs Bradshaw and Blacklock (now Henry Blacklock, of Albert square) , he made his first acquaintance with the art of lithogra])hy, and was told that if he would write a page of shorth ^ o \ . ^. / ^ L -I ^;>- ^ <1 '(^ . ^ .1 • ( ^ -^ J . ' ^-^ . r • x'-^ ^ ) ■ 'Lv ~ . '^ -^Ao 3'^ o C "I ' Facsimile of the First Pat^c of the " Plumogrophic Journal.' VISIT TO GLASGOW. 37 Tlie next number of the Journal told of the Glasgow visit. It was a Hying one. Between the 7th and the 20th of January Mr rituian contrived to lecture at the Glasgow University, the Andersonian University, the Grammar School, the Mechanics' Institute, and other places, to form classes, and take the pupils, about 80 in number, through the elements of the system. Many of the college students were among these pupils. The following unsolicited testi- monial was handed to Mr Pitman before he left Glasgow, by two distinguished professors, but was not ])ublished till 1817. (See Phonetic Journal, p. 809.) : — ■■ Glasgow College, 13 Jan. 184.2. " We have examined with great interest Mr Pitman's analysis of the sounds of language which is made the basis of his system of Phonography, and we consider it not only ingenious but also as founded throughout on correct philosophical i^rinciples. His system of Phonography we have not had time to examine, but as it rests on so good a basis, we can have no doubt of its possessing great merit. James Thomson. William Ramsay." Prof, Thomson's two sons, William (now Sir William Thomson) and James (Queen's College, Belfast,) were taught Phonography by Mr Pitman dunng this visit to Glasgow. The subsequent numbers of the Journal, which appeared monthly throughout the year, were chiefly occupied with accounts of the dissemination of Phonography in different parts of the kingdom, with reading exercises for pupils, and with some rather crude suggestions with reference to phonetic j)rinting. The desirability of printing Phono- graphy, if possible, with movable metal typos was very early recognised, and efforts were made to devise a suitable 38 ISAAC PITMAN. fount for the purpose, but in view of the immense number of types that would be needed for any such scheme, it had to be abandoned. In the August number of the Journal there is a singular proposal, apparently the j&rst of its kind, for a series of types not only for the single letters of the phonographic alphabet but for the compound letters. " About 92 consonants would be needed, namely, 46 light letters and the same number of heavy letters for the corres- ponding voiced or flat sounds." In addition to the con- sonants, 23 types would, it is said, be required for the vowels, which were to be represented as written. Other types also are suggested for the aspirate, the pretix "con," and some other letters. Nothing is said about distinguish- ing capitals. It was soon discovered that so large a number of movable types would be impracticable, and in the October number of the Journal there appeared a proposal for an alphabet formed upon the Roman model, containing no double consonants, but giving separate characters for the double vowels of the w and y series. Other sugges- tions, in connection with phonetic printing, nere made in subsequent numbers, but no fount of types was ordered for use. Subscriptions, however, were solicited for the purpose. Among the other contributions in the Journal worthy of notice, was a phonographic representation of a song en- titled " The Witch," in the Dorsetshire dialect, the exact pronunciation being of course exhibited. It is an interest- ing illustration of the value of INIr Pitman's system, even in its early stage of development, in recording dialectical peculiarities. It is noticeable that in the later numbers of the Journal the phonographic characters are larger and clearer than in the early numbers, and Mr Pitman's style of writing for the EAKLY LECTURES, 39 liihographer's stone exhibits a decided improvement. The first number, as ah'eady stated, was printed in Manchester; but there is a Hne at the end of the volume (December) stating that (from February) the work was " written by I. Pitman, Hthographed by J. Ilolway, IJath." In the next year, 1813, Mr Pitman foimd himself able, indeed compelled, to give up his school in Nelson place, liath, and thenceforward he devoted his entire energies to the development and propagation of Phonography and phonetic spelling. By this time other laborers had come into the field, to whose co-operation the progress of the new movement was greatly indebted. His brothers, Joseph and Benjamin, following their elder brother's example, lec- tured throughout the country, sometimes together and sometimes se[)arately. The writer of this Biography, when a youth of 17, joined Joseph Pitman in 1813, and for three years lectured and taught classes with him in many of the principal towns in the kingdom ; and having acquired some facility as a phonographic writer, was able to demonstrate by practical experiments at the lectures and elsewhere, the capabilities of the new system in the hands of an expert penman. Among the other lecturers and teachers who joined the early crusade were Henry and Fred. Pitman, George Withers (who continued to be a phonographic teacher till his death in 188Gj, F. E. Woodward, T. Walker, W. G. Ward (afterwards Mayor of Nottingham , James Clarke (late editor of the Christian World), T. P. Barkas, of Newcastle- on -Tyne, John Haywood and J. Mogford. Some of the classes were very numerous, the pupils being numbered by hiuulrcds. In the north of England, especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire, the subject was taken up with great energy and enthusiasm. 40 ISAAC PITMAN. In Manchester the first phonographic "■ Festival," as it was called, was held in a schoolroom. It was a social tea- gathering of phonographers, at which a number of speeches were delivered by the more ardent disciples. One of these was Mr W. Hepworth Dixon, then a very young man, who gave emphatic testimony in favor of the Pitman system, a knowledge of which he had just acquired. " I cannot say," he remarked, " that I have carried out the system to any great extent, but, from what I have studied of it, I can say its beauty is such that it carries its own recommendation." Later in the year another "Festival" was held in Not- tingham, on which occasion, we are told, " 450 persons sat down to tea, the number being afterwards increased to 600." The demonstration was organized by the pupils of Messrs Joseph and Benn Pitman, who had conducted, large classes in the town. Mr Barkas occupied the chair, and Mr Isaac Pitman had come from Bath to attend the meeting. There was the usual flow of eloquence suitable to the occasion, with quotations from ]Milton and other less distinguished poets. If the glowing periods in which the approaching phonogiaphic millenium was hailed all duly chronicled in the pages of the Phonotyjnc Journal, as the monthly organ was now called) create a smile as they are read nearly half a century latei', it will not be forgotten that most of the orators were young, and spoke with the natural ardor of new discipleship. It is only thus that new movements have a chance of making their way, and sensible people will not be too severe on the effusive oratory and exagge- rated expectations of early jjioncers ; since, as has been well said, it is difficult to get a jjroportionate amount of atten- tion j)aid even to a good cause, unless some persons are found to advocate it with dis[)roportionate energy. BIRMINGHAM FESTIVAL. -41 a\ month or two later another gathering of a similar character was held in liirminghain, in the Assembly Room of Dee's Royal Hotel. It is memorable in phonographic history by the circumstance that Mr Thomas Wright Hill, the father of the Postal reformci", was among the jirincipal speakers. lie went from London to Birmingham with Mr Isaac Pitman, who had been invited to spend a day with him at Tottenham. Mr Hill expressed a warm inte- rest, not so nuich in Phonograj)hy as in Phonotypy; or, as he called it, Phonotypography. Phonetic spelling, he declared, was not so much an innovation as a restoration ; and he attached the greatest value to it as an educational- ist. '^ You will/' he said, " give me credit for being able to form a judgment in this matter when I say that I have been employed in teaching the pronunciation of the Eng- lish language for nearly the whole of the ])resent century." Mr Hill, indeed, had devised a phonetic system of his own, which he had jmblished as a tract. Among the other speakers at the meeting were Dr jMelson, an expert steno- grapher, who occupied the chair, and Mr Isaac Pitman, who, in the course of his sijccch, said tliat in passing through London, he had amused himself by reading the names on miles of sign-boards, and had not seen one which was spelled on strictly i)honetic principles; and further, that he had searched the Gazetteer in vain for the name of a single place whose pronunciation was in entire acccrd with its orthography. The public interest excited by the lectures delivered and the classes formed by the early phonographic pioneei's about this time was very great. The reports in the news- papers called additional attention to the subject, and many men of learning and influence gave the movement their 42 ISAAC PITMAN. liearty support. Thus, in Edinburgh, during the visit of F. Woodward and T. Walker, Hobert Chambers took the chair at one of the lectures, learned Phonography, and wrote an interesting article on the subject for Chambers's Journal (Oct. 5, 1844), which did the movement great service. In Sheffield, when Joseph Pitman and T. A. Reed were lecturing and teaching in the town, the poet, James Montgomery, took the chair at one of their meetings, at which he recited some \erses that he had written on the art,* and gave an account of some phonographic experi- ments which he had witnessed at his own house. Again, in Brighton, during the visit of the same lecturers, Rowland Hill, the Post Office Reformer, presided at a phonographic soiree, and expressed the interest he felt, not only in Phonography as a shorthand system, but in phonetic spel- ling generally. His father, as has been already stated, had taken part the year before in a similar gathering at Birmingham. But perhaps the most important addition to the ranks of the spelling reformers at this period was Mr (now Dr) A. J. Ellis, who is known as one of the most dis- tinguished phoneticians and philologists in England. He had read in the Athenceum a short account of the Birming- ham celebration, and immediately sent for copies of Mr I'itman's publications. To learn Phonography was for him but the work of a few hours, and in the course of a day or two he wrote a letter in the new system to Mr i'itman, which proved to be the commencement of a cor- respondence that continued, almost without intermission, for four years, during which Mr Ellis was a diligent con- tributor to the Phonetic Journal. Some well-known journalists also gave in their adhesion * See Phonoti/pic Juunial, 1844, p. 125. JOHN HARLAND ON PHONOGRAPHY. 43 to the phonographic movement, in tlie interests not simply of the art of shorthand hut of f;cneral education. Fore- most among them was John King, the j)roprietor and editor of the Suffolk Chronicle, who constantly advocated the phonetic cause in his own journal, and started a monthly phonographic magazine. Another friend of the new system was John Ilarland, the famous reporter, and afterwards one of the proprietors of the Manchester Guardian. He wrote a system of his own, and was recognized as a highly skilled professional shorthand writer. He reported Joseph Pitman's lectures in Manchester at great length, and at the close of the rej)orts added the following emphatic testi- mony to the merits of Isaac Pitman's invention : — " We might conclude here, having fultilled our duty in faithfully recording the announcement of an invention of some importance. But justice requires that we should candidly express our opinion of Phonography, inasmuch as through accidental circumstances its author, on a former occasion, had some reason to complain of erroneous statements in a notice of his lecture in our colunuis. Phonography we believe to be the only mode at once philosophical and practical, of writing language by signs accurately representing the sounds or elements of which all language is composed. In these days of general acceleration, its universal use would be a great benefit to the civilized world, how^ever chimerical the anticipations of such an extension may and do appear. It has hitherto received far too little attention from those philosophical inquirers whose dicta have so much weight with the more practical minds of the community. It is, in fact, a vivid picture and transcript of any and every language spoken on the earth ; having as universal an application as the 44 ISAAC PITMAN. notation of musical signs^ with this superiority — that it represents not only sounds like musical notation, but sounds which are the images and signs of ' thoughts that breathe, and words that burn/ These are its chief merits ; but it has others, among which it may be stated, it is now adapted to the purposes of reporting, so as to be equal in point of expedition and legibility to most of the systems of shorthand extant ; and we believe that it con- tains within itself the power of becoming superior to all, with the further improvements and augmentations which a careful revision on the part of its author and his pupils, in the course of a few years, will be able to give to it. We have often letters of inquiry as to the best system of shorthand for young students ; and we take this opportu- nity of saying once for all that, with the advantage of consulting Messrs Pitman by post, on any difficulty that may occur to the learner, and even for the correction of his exercises, etc., there is no system extant that we would sooner recommend to the inquirer. We understand that the next step in the promulgation of this art is to obtain a fount of types, in which to print it, and so introduce Phonotypy as well as Phonography.' ' Among the men of mark who, at this early period, had a good word to say for the new movement, was Mr John Bright, who presided at a lecture given by JNIr Joseph Pit- man in Rochdale, and was greatly struck by the ])ractical demonstrations that were given of the merits of Phonog- raphy. " I am greatly astonished/' he said, " at what I have seen. I think no person can have been at this lec- ture or attended the one that was given this day week, without being convinced that all that has been promised by this science may easily be performed; and that it is so JOHN BRIGHT AND PHONOGKAPHY. 45 exceedingly simple as to be easily learned by everyone of ordinary capacity ; and if it be learned by a very large number of the people, the j)ublic benefits to be derived from it are entirely incalculable. It may l)e said, also, that, to make it very valuable, it is necessary that great multitudes should learn it. Shorthands are of vcvy little use if they are only known to a select few ; for men are not writing always to the same men ; and if ever it is to come into general use, it must be, I think, by very large multitudes learning it ; and I see no reason why, in this town, we should not have a class of four or live hundred, or more. If five hundred knew it well, and used it, many thousands would be forced to learn and practise it from necessity. In this age, when we are talking so much about education — when we ought to be doing so much more than we are — this science appears to me likely to tend to increase the love of reading and writing, and of education generally ; and it seems to have sprung up at a time when, like many other improvements, it was most needed ; and when, in all probability, it will be seized upon with the greatest avidity. I may say for myself, that I am extremely obliged, personally, to the inventor, and to the gentleman who has come among us and given us these lectures ; and hope to be much more so, when I become acquainted with the science. We are extremely indebted to them for the very handsome manner in which they have come forward, in offering to teach, gratuitously, all such as find it difficult to pay; and, unfortunately, there are too many such in these days. I trust there will be no want of those who can pay, to remunerate them for this handsome offer which they have made towards those who cannot pay. 1 shall be glad if this town, which, on many occa- 46 ISAAC PITMAN. sionSj lias stood foi-emost among the towns in Lancashire on some other questions, should not be behind in one so important as this." It may be remarked here that in later years Mr Bright's daughter (now Mrs Clark) learned Phonography, and became her father's amanuensis, often writing from his dictation in the new characters. From some other influential quarters there was, as might have been expected, a good deal of opposition. The Leeds Mercury, whose reporter, like Mr Harland, wrote a system of his own, opposed Phonography when it was introduced into the town, and declared its claims to be inadmissible. IMost, if not all, its reporting is now done by phonog- raphers. The reporter of another newspaper, the Ipswich Journal, also attacked the system with much vehemence and acrimony. Another opponent was the Rev. Edward Bickersteth, who, oddly enough, saw in Phonography an enemy to religion itself. Denouncing, in his work entitled " The Promised Glory," the infidelity of the day, he made the astounding assertion that " Mesmerism, Phrenology, Phonography, Chartism, and Socialism, are the stalking- horses behind which the most Satanic Hes and the most absurd blasphemies are sent forth against the Word of God."* Bernard Barton, the Quaker poet, as he was then called, composed a short poemf ridiculing Phonography^ the Spelling lleform, and the " modern babblers " who were advocating them. But these things only served to call public attention to the subject, and as replies were always forthcoming, the movement was benefited rather than injured by these notes of opposition. * In the second edition of the work, " Phonograpliy " was expunpTc'd from the sentence quoted, t Phonoiypic Journal, 1845, p. 158. VEGETARIANISM. 47 Mr Pitman's labors at Bath were daily increasing-, owing to the constant demand for his works. His printing was for six years done at the office of Keene's Bath Jaurnat. In December, 1845, he decided on having it done under his own immediate superintendence; and with this view, he established a printing-office in his house, 5, Nelson place, and at once began to print his own books. Here he not only compiled the various works published at that time, but often worked ''^at case^' as a compositor, read all his proofs, kept his books, and conducted, single-handed, all the correspondence of the office. During 181 1, he set the pages of phonetic types that appeared in the Phonotyp'ic Journal eveiy month, in Messrs Keene's office. His power of work, which is said to be always characteristic of true genius, was astounding. His regular hours of labor were from six (occasionally from five) in the morning till ten at night. His habits were methodical in the extreme, and his mode of living was strictly temperate, if not abstemious. He rigidly al)staiiied from intoxicants and from flesh diet, and never smoked. He has himself given us an account of his reasons for adopting vegetarianism, in the following letter, which appeared in the Times for 6th February, 1879, in reformed spelling : — Ser, A frend sujests tu me that I ou^lit tii reit a later tu the Times, plasing mei leif-eksperiens in konti'ast with the editorial suming-up on Mr W. Giljson- Ward's vejetarian leter in the Times ov last Tlmrzday. The konkluzhon areivd at iz : — " So Ions a-z no speshal kail iz tu be made on the sti'ength, a piiirli vejetabel deiet may sufeiz." Az uiei leif liaz been wuii ov eksepslional aktiviti, tlie fakt that it liaz been maintaind on a vejetabel deiet ou!?bt tu be known, nou that a diskiishon on deiet haz been admited intu the Times. Mei deietetik eksperiens iz simpli tliis, — Abuv forti yearz ajjo dispepsia woz kariing me tu the grave. Medikal adveizerz 48 ISAAC PITMAN. rekomended animal food three teimz a day iusted ov vnins. and a glas ov wein. On this rejimeu I woz nuthing beterd but i-atlier grew -niirs. I avoided the meat and the wem, gradiuali rekuverd uiei dijestiv pouer. and hav never sins kno^mi, bei eni pain, that I hav a stnmak. Theze f orti yearz hav been spent in kontiniuus labor in konek- shon with the invenshon and i^ropagashon ov mei sistem ov fonetik shorthand and fonetik speling, korespondens, and the editorial diutiz ov mei weekli Jurnal. Though siksti-feiv [66] yearz ov aje, I kontiniu the kustom I hav folowd all through this period, ov being at mei ofis at siks in the morning, sumer and winter. Til I woz fif ti yearz ov aje I never tuk a holiday, or felt that I wonted wun ; and for about twenti yearz in the f erst part ov this period I woz at mei desk foiu'teen ourz a day, from siks in the morning til ten at neit, with two ourz out for mealz. Twenti yearz ago I began tu leav of at siks in the evening. I attribiut mei helth and pouer ov endiurans tu abstinens from flesh meat and alkoholik drinks. I kan kuni tu no uther konkluzhon when I see the efekt ov such ekstended ourz ov labor on uther men who eat meat and drink wein or beer. I hav riten mei leter fonetikali, az iz mei kustom, and shal feel obleijd if it be aloud thus tu apear in the Times. EiZAK Pitman. Fonetik lu.stitiut, Bath, 27 Jtn/iueri, 1S79. The letter was <;ivcn in the Times in full phonetic spelling, with old letters. It has since been considered advisable to advocate, at first, a partially' reformed spelling, as in the above specimen. In a biogra])hical notice of Mr Pitman in the Food Re- funn Magazine for April, 1881, the immediate occasion of Mr Pitman's adoption of a vegetarian diet is mentioned. " Mr Pitman's whole life has shown that when he has made up his mind that a thing is right he follows the idea prom])tly with action, as manifested when, having come to the conclusion that intoxicating drinks were injurious, he knocked the bung out of his beer barrel and poured the VEGETARIANISM. 49 contents into the sewer. Unfortunately those who embrace the principles of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors arc too often blind as to the evils of tlcsh-eating and the fact that it is a provocative to the drink crave. Medical men failing to do good with their medicines, Mr Pitman resolved to take his case in band himself, and, aided by the following incident, resolved to become an abstainer from fish, tlcsh, and fowl. "A number of fowls were kept principally for the sake of their eggs, and occasionally one of them was doomed to the pot or the spit. The boy who did the killing business declined the job when it came to the turn of his jiet fowl to be killed. Requiring obedience to orders, the lad was directed to hold the fowl's head upon the block, and then Mr Pitman aimed a blow at it with the hatchet ; but his unpractised hand only half did the work, and the bird with its partially severed head tiew about the yard. This un- pleasant business of killing 'our poor relations^ set Mr Pitman thinking, and the questions arose, ' Is it right to require another jjcrson to do what I do not like to do niyself ? ' 'Is tlesh meat necessary as an article of food ? ' His answers being in the negative^ he has never eaten flesh-meat since, yet he has had sound health, and believes he could not have done an equal amount of mental and physical work upon a ' mixed diet.' " Although Mr Pitman never takes flesh meat, it should be stated that his dietary includes eggs, milk and butter. Nothwithstandiug Mr Pitman's power of work, he at length found himself unable to cope with the increasing business of the office, and he was compelled to obtain assis- tance, especially in the mechanical department. Training lads to the work, he was able to relieve himself of a good 4 50 ISAAC PITMAN. deal of the routine drudgery which, in his plodding way, he had hitherto taken upon his own shoulders. This ■enabled him to give more time to the preparation of his books, periodicals and tracts. Of the tracts he printed and distributed vast numbers, trusting to these and to his own personal correspondence for making his system known. With all this labor on his hands he found time to correct the shorthand exercises of students. This he did gratu- itously. Indeed, in his Journal for December, 1842, he publicly expressed his willingness to correct the exercises of any persons who had at any time received lessons from himself or his brothers, or who were too poor to send even a small nominal fee. A good deal of this labor of correcting the lessons of learners was afterwards done by other hands. In February, 1843, there appeared in the Phonotypic Journal a sugges- tion made by the author of this work for the establishment of a " Phonographic Corresponding Society,^' to consist of members who desired to correspond with each other in shorthand. The idea was readily taken up in different parts of the kingdom, and, at Mr Pitman's suggestion, it was arranged that one of the functions of the members of the Society should be the gratuitous correction of the lessons of learners through the recently-established Penny Post. The next Journal contained the names of twenty- seven members, including those of Isaac Pitman and his two brothers, Henry and Fred ; and from month to month considerable additions were made to the list. Among the earliest to join the new Socitty were Hcpworth Dixon* * Mr Dixon never ceased to take an interest in Phonography and phonetic spelling. This interest he occasionally manifested in the columns of the Athcnaum, of which he was for many years the editor. THE PHONETIC SOCIETY. 51 who was then the secretary of the Ancoats Lyceum, Manchester ; and Mr A. J. ElHs, the distinguished philolo- gist and phonetician, then residing at Dorking. The names of many other young men and women who after- wards made their mark in literature or some other depart- ment of labor, may also be found in the first yearns list of members. The Society was in later years called the Pho- netic Society, which name it still retains, and now it receives an addition of about 4,500 members yearly, all of whom undertake the gratuitous correction of learners' exercises. In addition to the Phonographic Corresponding Society, numerous local associations of a similar character were formed throughout the country, often as the result of lectures and classes. Of these the records are to be found in the early numbers of the Journal. 52 ISAAC PITMAN. CHAPTER IV. It was not until 1813 that i\lr Pitman seriously set to work with phonetic printing by means of movable types. To accomplish this it was necessary to procure about twenty new letters^ to supply the deficiencies of the common twenty-six letter alphabet. Many experiments were made in order to discover the most suitable forms for the new letters required, and the mode of using them; and Mr Pitman, in this, as in regard to his shorthand, sought and obtained the co-operation of many friends. He also, through his Journal, solicited subscriptions to defray the cost of the founts. It is unnecessary to describe in these pages the many different schemes propounded, whether for a complete new phonetic alphabet, or for an adaptation of the existing alphabet with or without additional letters with diacritic marks. In the Phonotypic Journal of January, 1844, Mr Pitman was able to address his friends in " phonotypy," and " thus offer you the result of the first experiment made with the fount which your liberality has enabled me to provide." In this opening address he freely acknowledged the efforts made by his predecessors in the same direction, the failure of which he attributed to the want of a public desire and demand for a Spelling Keforni such as he had himself been, with some success, endeavoring to create. Henceforward phonographic short- hand and phonetic printing went hand in hand. With singular devotion ]\Ir Pitman, whose j)ersonal expenses were absolutely insignificant, applied a large i)ortion of the DISSEMINATION OF PHONOGRAPHY. 53 profits derived from his works to the promotion of a reformed spelling. The literature of the Spelling lleform did not pay its expenses; and though subscriptions were received from time to time from other persons interested in the movement, they had to be largely supplemented by j\Ir Pitman's own contributions. The extent to which Phonography had become popu- larized may be estimated by the circumstance that the system had reached a sixth edition in 1844 and a seventh in 1815. In the latter year Mr Pitman found time to attend a public phonographic soiree at Ipswich, (held in commemoration of the labors of iMessrs Joseph Pitman and T. A. Keed, who had delivered many lectures and conducted large classes in the town,) and he was also present at the third annual meeting of the Birmingham Phonographic Society. At this meeting he told his hearers that he was sending out from his Bath office 7 cwt. of books per month, and was receiving about ten thousand ])honographic letters a year ; that ten lecturers were con- stantly engaged in teaching his system; and that 1,054 members of the " Phonographic Corresponding Society '^ were more or less actively employed in its private dissem- ination. In this year also ]\Ir Pitman began to print the Bible with phonetic types, but, as might have been ex- pected, the phonetic alphabet received further improvement, and when he had printed as far as the Chronicles, the work was abandoned, and the sheets sent to the grocer. The Pkonotypic Journal was published monthly entirely in the same character ; and the Phonographic Correspondent was lithographed every month in his clear and beautiful style of phonographic penmanship. At the close of the same year a noteworthy incident 54 ISAAC PITMAN. occurred in regard to the practical application of the pho- netic system of shorthand. An anti-corn -law demonstration was held in Bath, and Mr Pitman attended and reported Cobden's speech on the occasion for Keene's Bath Journal, at whose offices the phonetic publications had for some time been printed. Instead of transcribing his notes in longhand in the usual way, he contented himself with rapidly reading them through, and dropping in a vowel here and there for the sake of additional legibility, and then handing them to the newspaper compositors, some of whom had been in the habit of setting-up from his shorthand MS. The speech was duly printed from these revised notes. This feat — for such it really was — was duly chronicled in the Bath Journal of 8th December, 1845, in the following paragraph : — " In connection with the report of the excellent addresses delivered at the great demonstration on Thursday, of the opinions of a very large majority of the citizens of Bath, which will be found in our columns this week, we would call the attention of our readers to a fact indicative of Eeform in other matters as well as in the Corn Laws. By the kindness of Mr Isaac Pitman of this city, whose sys- tems of writing and printing by sound have made such astonishing progress in all parts of the kingdom, we are enabled to give a neai'ly verbatim report of the excellent speech of R. Cobden, esq., which our compositors have set up from Mr Pitman's phonographic notes, there being no necessity for their transcription. AVith all other systems of shorthand writing, not only was there never known such a thing as a reporter passing over to the compositor his notes of a speech an hour and a quarter in delivery, but he is often unable to decipher them himself. All that was necessary in this case, Mr Pitman has assured us, was to TYPE SET FROM SHORTHAND. 55 give the speech one reading the next morning, and fill in a few vowels. We arc convinced that we shall in a few years, by this invaluable system, save all that immense amount of toil which our present reporters liave to undergo in deciphering and transcribing their notes for the press.' ' About this period a portrait of Mr Titman was painted 56 ISAAC PITMAN. by Mr J. B. (now Colonel) Keene^ son of the editor of the Bath Journal, and its present proprietor. He was one of the earliest writers of Phonography. From this painting a steel engraving was produced, of which we give a copy. j\lr Keene also wrote a little poem on Phonography, which was published in the Phonohjpic Journal for 1843, p. 96. The sale of the phonographic publications had now so much increased as to interfere with the Bible-publishing business of Messrs Bagster & Sons; and in 1845 they opened a shop in Queen's Head passage, adjoining No. 15 Paternoster row, for carrying on the phonographic pub- lishing business. In the following year Benn Pitman took charge of this depot, and in 1847 it was transferred to Frederick Pitman, then 19 years of age. In October, 1849, he removed the business to the commodious premises. No. 20, Paternoster row, and thenceforward all the London publishing work passed through his hands. Some risk was expected to attend the experiment of setting up a special establishment apart from ^lessrs Bagsters, with whose house Phonography had been identified for nine years, but the result amply justified the change. Here, as at Queen's Head passage, Mr Fred. Pitman was assisted by his father, ]\Ir Samuel Pitman, who, in his old age, had the satisfaction of witnessing the success of his sons, and giving them the benefit of his co-operation. Those who visited the depot in those days will not forget the shrewd and sagacious sayings and doings of Pitman pere, who was for some years a well-known character in the Row. He learned Phonogra- phy, and could read it with ease, but never wrote it fiuently. During the next two or three years Mr Pitman continued to issue his phonographic and ])honotypic publications, in- cluding ''Paradise Lost" in phoiiotypy, and to urge in every SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. possible way the claims of the Spelling Reform movement. Mis correspondence became more and more extensive, every day bringing him sixty or seventy letters, chieHy in short- hand, most of which were answered by his own hand. He also connnenced a " History of Shorthand " in the Phono- iypic Journal, and continued it through many successive numbers. The phonetic movement continued to spread throughout the country by means of classes, lectures, " festivals," and other demonstrations. Mr Ellis was a frequent and zealous contributor to the phonetic literature of the day, and his scholarship was a great acquisition to the cause. A " Phonetic Council " was also formed, whose members assisted in the formation of the new alphabet, and in giving publicity to the movement. Mr Pitman was constantly experimenting with new types, and doing his best to arrive at a practical alphabet which should effectively represent the sounds of the language. An impetus was given to the movement by a highly apprecia- tive article in the Aihemeum of the 19th December, IS tO, from which some paragraphs may be usefully quoted : — " It is a singular anomaly in the history of intellectual development, that, while every department of positive science and system of philosophy has been prosecuted and agitated in modern Europe, so little earnest and continuous attention has been bestowed upon language — the instru- ment of all science, the medium of all literature, the very basis of civilization. If a correct logic be necessary in inductive reasoning, and a sound method indispensable in the investigation of natural phenomena, a philosophical system of language is still more important, and a more catholic necessity. " The whole tribe of languages admits of a very simple 58 ISAAC PITMAN. and primary classification — namely, hieroglyphic and pho- netic. The first is purely symbolic, and uses signs to ex- press ideas. The second is founded on the alphabetic principle, and uses signs to represent sounds — which recall the ideas to which they are wedded when pronounced or read ofi" the written page. The first is the more obviously natural method, and was probably the first in use : the other is, however, the simpler and more effective instru- ment. Diodorus Siculus informs us that both systems obtained in Egypt ; and that the hieroglyphic was prin- cipally made use of by the caste of priests (as being ex- tremely difficult to acquire,) to conceal their mystic know- ledge and recondite theogony. The less difficult they taught the common people — a fatal mistake, which says little for the sagacity of the Egyptian intellect. The relative value of these different systems of communicating intelligence has not yet been morally and politically appre- ciated. The first is vast, unwieldy, and almost unuseable : the other is plastic and expressive. Quiescence or activity,, respectively, characterizes the nations which have adopted the one or the other. China, with its stationary civiliza- tion and unprogressiv6 literature — Western Europe, with its revolutionary intellect and conquering science — are the true exponents of the forces which lie beneath the two methods. " The Teutonic languages, of course, belong to the great class of alphabetic tongues ; but a departure, n\orc or less, from the normal principle, has taken place in each, and in none more than in English. The last has departed so widely from the purely phonetic character, that out of 70,000 words in its vocabulary, not n\ore than 70 — or 1 in 1 ,000 — are pronounced precisely as ihey are spelled. How SCIENCE OP LANGUAGE. 59 few persons, even of those most i)rat'tiscd in reading and writing, are there who can spell correctly every one of these 70,000 words ! Yet if they were really, as they are ostensibly, phonetically represented, there could arise no doubt. The elements of the pronunciation would combine with the ease and eouiplctencss of chemical affinities. As it is, the vocabulary is a work of memory. Each word must be made a separate subject of study ; and hence, a life be- comes too short for the acquirement of the whole. The same difficulties attend most of the other European tongues. "The phonetization of language is, however, more than a mere possibility ; and the adoption of a science of phonology, at least perfect in theory, and in practice felicitously adapted to the purposes of life, is not the idle dream of the speculative student. 'We have here,' says Sir John Herschel, speaking of an analysis of his own, ' the fewest lettei's with which it is possible to write English. But on the other hand, with the addition of two or three more vowels and as many consonants, mak- ing about forty characters in all, every known language might probably be effectually reduced to writing, so as to preserve an exact correspondence between the writing and pronunciation ; which would be one of the most valuable acquisitions not only to philologists but to mankind; facilitating the intercourse between nations, and laying the foundation of the first step towards a universal language, one of the great desiderata at which mankind ought to aim by common consent.' The works now lying before us [the Fhonotypic Journal and Milton's ' Paradise Lost,' in phonotypes,] are indications of another earnest attempt, which has been for some time in progress, to achieve that reform in the representation of our language to which many 60 ISAAC PITMAN. eminent philologers have marshaled the way. Some account of the views which — by lectures, aucl class-teaching, and a journal of their own, and publications like that of ' Paradise Lost ' — these logical reformers are seeking to enforce, may be worth bringing under the notice of our readers. " At the head of this new movement, is Mr Isaac Pitman, of Bath. His attention was directed, it seems, to the anomalies of our alphabetic system, by the elaboration of a method of shorthand, of which he is the inventor. Without any acquaintance (as he himself states,) with the labors of others in the same field, he had been induced to. reject the Eoman alphabet as inadequate to represent the sounds of our mother tongne ; and adopted as the basis of his short-hand system, the best analysis of vocal sound that he could obtain. jMuch time and labor were expended in perfecting this analysis; but when it was complete, it was at once evident, says Mr Pitman, that a system which so simplified written, would answer the same purpose for printed language. Many experiments were consequently made ; and after three years have been consumed in getting the best forms of type, and improving the subsidiary" details of the system, ' Paradise Lost.' is issued as the first com- plete work from the phonetic press. " The phonological science of Mr Pitman is based upon the assumption that the primary aim of orthography is to express the sounds of words, and not their histories. The etymological relation of a word has no influence upon its pronunciation ; and, therefore, according to the normal alphabetic theory, ought to have none upon the spelling. The pronunciation and the representation should exactly coincide. To effect this, a new alphabet was required — the Roman one being notoriously faulty — containing as SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. 61 many letters as there are simple, indivisible sounds in the language. The detection and classification of these primary sounds were the first processes, and led to the following result. The voice (in so far as the enunciation of English is concerned) has but twenty-one radical elements; — namely, six vowels, two coalescents_, one aspirate, and twelve con- sonants. The six pure vowels, however, have each a shoit sound, which it is considered expedient to represent by a sej)arate letter. Seven of the consonants have also a heavier sound : — Thus F is deepened into V ; T into D, etc. Besides these, it is deemed expedient to use single letters to express four of the frequently recurring diphthongs, [7, oi, ou, 'st bj korckted. If our utempt iz mor revoliujoneri^ or reform- atorij or kompljt, dan >i'derz, so mxtj de mo"r efektiuali wil de roijfulnes ov our IijgliJ spcliij b^ delt wid. Our perl-star in dis Reform baz bjn wbot de koraitiz regard az dsr sekond moto, — " 3e maksim>;m ov advantej wid de minimum ov ()fnj." B^t wj interpret de moto" in a weid, and dt; in a restrikted, sens. It iz indjd krpabel ov eni interpretfjon, from de mjr removal ov de tr>bel- s^m 0, u, g, It, and Ijvii] everi ^der w^rd speld az it iz nou, yp tu de introd>kJou ov Mr Melvil Bel'z alfabet ov niu karakterz. Wj diijk dat de " maksim^m ov advantajc " wil bj found in dc adijon ov az fin niu leterz az posibel tu de alfabet, and de " mininixm ov genj '' in konfeiniij everi o'ld leter tu de yus wbig it jenerali servz in de prezcnt speliij. W| pyrposli avoid pcti alfabetikal djtelz bjr. Wj rejois in de fakt dat de ni;Jon haz awok tu an aknolej- mcnt ov de importans ov ediuki;Jon for ol, and tu a persepjon dat de grct stMubliij blok wliicj barz de w^, iz our ret;ed oriografi. AVben wj komptr de fcnetik teip in wlii(j dis artikel iz printed Avid de fonetik alfabet dat woz emploid at de komensment ov de Reform, wj ar grttful tu de Giver ov ol gud and ol trii,;J, and tu dc niumcris frendz ov de Reform, for de progres dat baz bjn mid in de koz, and dc enteir cfijensi ov dc instrument. 126 ISAAC PITMAN. B>t wheil Avj liav out^^rern de kriid formz in whiq our fcrnetik printirj ferst apjrd, w| hav not outgron de senti- ments eksprest in it. 3e sjm tu bj jven mor apro-priet nou dan di; "wer in 1844. cler iz wyn seutens in do^z tit kwtnt-lukiij ptjez dat stil riijz in our jrz leik s:s^m hevenli ^eim. " N^blii] whotever iz rnor tu bj dezeird, or merr deleitfal, dan de leit ov triii ; for it iz de so-rs ov wizdom. When de meind iz harast wid obskiuriti, distrakted bei douts, renderd torpid or sadend bei ignorans or folsitiz, and trill emerjez az from a dark abis, it jeinz fori instanteniysli^ leik de s^n dispersiij mists and vsporz, or leik de don dispelig de Jtdz ov darknes." 3is ferst number ov a niu sjriz ov de Fnnetik Jsrnal Jal tel its o-n tsl. W| hav proveided de mjnz for isiiiig, wjkli, spesimenz ov Fonografi, leik dccz on p^gez 4, 5 ; a kj tu whic; wil bj found in de presjdii) and sybsekwent pejez. Wj kongratiukt our sypo'rterz on de pozijon tu whiq ds hav rezd fernetik spelig, and wj ernestli solisit reniiid eforts dni de prezent yjr ; and for our prezent njdz, az liberal a sybskripjon az dsr mjnz Avil permit A^Y jenerositi tu besto". At the end of 1874, by the labor of masons and carpen- ters for six monthS;,the new premises, two lodging-houses, Nos. 6 and 7 Kingston buildings, were transformed into a Phonetic Institute. The labor attending the removal of the plant from the high room in Parsonage lane, and making the necessary arrangements for the conduct of the business was very great, and pathetic appeals were made in the pages of the Journal to J\Ir Pitman's correspondents, whose communications were unanswered, to treat him with a little more consideration than they had usually bestowed upon him. Piles of letters and post-cards lay upon his table, and the accumulation was such that he declared that an army of clerks would soon be required to conduct the THE NEW " INSTITUTE. 127 correspondence of the Institute alone. " "We have been compelled/' he said, '' to leave many letters unanswered, and they must remain so until we get fairly to work in the new Institute." The Phonetic Institute, Ki/ijjstofi Buildings. The "hands" emplo3'cd at this time were about 18. In Parsonage lane, only hand presses had been used. On entering the new premises a second-hand " platen " 128 ISAAC PITMAN. machine was bought for .€100. It was capable of printing 600 sheets per hour, a great increase on the capabilities of the hand presses. This machine was driven by a two-horse vertical tubular engine, which was soon replaced by a four- horse horizontal engine. The compositors were placed in the top story, and the binding of the books was done on the 2;round floor, the intervenino; rooms beino; used for stock. The platen machine was erected in the basement. It was removed twice because the neighbors on both sides com- plained of the rumbling noise it made. At the beginning of 1875 the Journal was to have been enlarged to sixteen pages, four in shorthand in metal type, (which had been introduced in 1873,) but some difficulty was experienced with the working of the machinery, and the enlargement did not take place until a later period. Some idea may be gained of the troubles experienced in the printing department by an editorial notice in the Journal of May 8th. " The friends of Phonetic Spelling who see this Journal have sympathized with us in our trials for the past six months with respect to the labor we have undergone, the great expense we have incurred, and the annoyances to which we have been subjected, in our attempt to introduce into the Phonetic Institute a steam- engine and printing machine. These troubles have arisen from two sources, first the difficulty of getting our machine to work at all, through our having been deceived in the purchase of an engine and boiler that eventually proved not worth the cost of erection ; and, secondly, after we had had a new boiler and engine made, the machine was pronounced a ' nuisance ' to our neighbors. We removed it to another part of the building, to pacify the neighbor on one side, and then found that its sound could just be DIFFICULTIES WITH THE JOURNAL. 129 h(;ard by the nciirhbour on the other side, who is much more exacting in iiis demands. Nothing less than ' a pay- ment of £150 cash, and the engine to be entirely stopped between the hours of 12 noon and 1 p.m. each day'; or still more severe terms in our taking off his hands the lease of his house, will satisfy him. 'These are the only terms which can be entertained,' says his solicitor. Of course we do not entertain them, but stopped our machine imme- diately on receipt of his solicitor's letter, and just as this Journal is going to press. The masons have now (1 May) been working two months in laying down the new boiler, removing the machine, and making the necessary altera- tions in the premises, and will finish their work in another day ; and the engineers were employed three weeks after the engine was made; and just as the work is finished we find that all the labor and money is thrown away — for the present. We shall now have to print a Journal of eight pages at a hand-press, as formerly, till something shall turn up, cither here or in some other premises, so that we can employ steam power, and it will not be voted a legal nuisance. We regret to have to say that it is utterly impossible for us to print 10,000 copies of this Journal, contaming sixteen pages, at a hand-press in the time in which it must be produced. If the circulation should suffer in consequence, we must bide our time till we have the means of issuing sixteen pages. But one, or at the utmost two, columns will be given to advertisements, and these will be inserted Times fashion, without ' display.' " In addition to the subscriptions to the Institute and the General Phonetic Fund received during the year 1875, JMr Pitman received from Mr Coltman, of Newcastle-on- Tyne, a sum of .€300 for the printing and issue of a series 130 ISAAC PITMAN. of tracts and leaflets (chiefly reprints of articles that had appeared in the Journal) on the subject of the Spelling Reform. The money was applied in the manner desired by the donor, and some hundreds of thousands of tracts and leaflets were distributed far and wide. " Phonography can support itself/' said Mr Coltman, " but the Spelling Reform needs pecuniary aid." During his long residence in Bath ]\Ir Pitman has rarely taken part in any public movements ; he reserved his energies for what he considers his life-work; but in 1875 he joined Mr J. W. Morris and other citizens, who formed themselves into a committee, in an efi"ortto establish a Free Library for the city. This effort was so far successful that a library was formed and was maintained by a small volun- tary subscription for six years. It contained about nine thousand volumes, of "which two thousand were presented by Mr Pitman. It came, however, to an untimely end. Suitable freehold premises had been purchased by Mr C. W. Mackillop, and these, with all the furniture, and Reading and Reference Libraries, were offered in free gift to the city on the one condition of the Free Libraries Act being adopted by the burgesses. This would have involved a half-penny rate, and the adoption of the Act was nega- tived by a large majority. The failure of this eff"ort, when success seemed so nearly assured, and the consequent dispersion of the valuable col- lections which had been got together with so much judg- ment and diligence, have deterred the most earnest advocates of educational advance from any further attempt at reversing the decision of the majority. The day, however, cannot be far distant when this question will be re-opened. The citizens of Bath will not always be content to lack the THE BATH FREE LIBRARY. 131 advantages which other and smaller towns so highly prize. The efforts in which Mr Pitman took so large a share wil] then be referred to with advantage, showing, as they do, that a library circulation of 20,000 volumes yjer annum can be worked in IJath for a rate of one halfpenny. The citizens who rejected the generous gifts then offered for their acceptance because of this insignificant charge, were, it is generally understood, niuch misled by those interested in the rejection of the Act. The idea prevailed that the halfpenny rate was but the thin edge of the wedge, and that a much larger rate would follow ; while the hope was widely expressed that so noble an Institution would never be closed by those who had carried ou its work so well and so long. The opponents were, unhappily, successful, and the city is poorer thereby in everything but experience. When next the vote is taken, will there be a Mackillop, a Morris, or a Pitman to lead the way ? During the six years of this promising experiment, Mr Pitman collected eight thousand books to be added to the library when it should be accepted by the city, and sup])orted by a rate. On the collapse of the scheme, he sent to the Free Libraries throughout the kingdom, then about 110, a catalogue of the ten thousand volumes, and offered to send them any that they might select, to the number of about a hundred volumes to each library. The books were thus speedily dispersed, and many libraries are now the richer for the niggardliness displayed by the burgesses of Bath. During the following year, 1876, public attention was called in various directions to the necessity of some im- provement in the method of teaching children to read, and to an entire reformation of English orthography. A vigorous article on the subject, from the pen of Professor 132 ISAAC PITMAN. INIax jMiiller, appeared in the April number of the Fort- nightly Review, in which a Spelling Reform was strongly advocated, and great sympathy was expressed with the efforts made by Mr Pitman and his friends. In the course of this article Professor Max Miiller wrote : — " What I like in Mr Pitman's system of spelling is exactly what I know has been found fault with by others, namely, that he does not attempt to refine too much, and to express in writing those endless shades of pronunciation, which may be of the greatest interest to the student of acoustics, or of phonetics, as applied to the study of living dialects, but which, for practical as well as for scientific philological purposes, must be entirely ignored. Writing- was never intended to photograph spoken languages : it was meant to indicate, not to paint, sounds. If Voltaire says, ' L'ecriture c'est la peinture de la voix,' he is right ; but when he goes on to say, ' plus elle est ressemblante, meilleur elle est,' I am not certain that, as in a picture of a landscape, so in a picture of the voice, pre-Raphaelite minuteness may not destroy the very object of the picture. Language deals in broad colors, and writing ought to follow the example of language, which though it allows an endless variety of pronunciation, restricts itself for its own purpose, for the purpose of expressing thought in all its modifications, to a very limited number of typical vovvels and consonants. Out of the large number of sounds, for instance, which have been catalogued from the various English dialects, those only can be recognized as con- stituent elements of the language which in, and by, their difference from each other convey a difference of meaning. Of such pregnant and thought-conveying vowels, English possesses no more than twelve. Whatever the minor shades THE SCHOOL BOARD AND SPELLING REFORM. 133 of vowel sounds in English dialects may be, tliey do not enrich the language, as such ; that is, they do not enable the speaker to convey more minute shades of thought than the twelve typical single vowels." In the London Sch(jol Board a movement in the same direction was inaugurated by Dv Gladstone, l)r Angus, and other spelling reformers. Great dissatisfaction had been ex- ])ressed at the results obtained in Board Schools in regard to the teaching of reading and sj)elling, and attention was directed to the subject at various meetings of the Board. A proposal was made for a memorial to the Government requesting the appointment of a Royal Commission, and a circular was sent to the School Boards throughout the country requesting their opinion as to the propriety of such a step. The majority of the 277 Boards appealed to were against the proposal, but 100 were in its favor — a remarkable evidence of the extent to which the Spelling Reform had gained adherents among the educationalists of the country. Notwithstanding the adverse replies of the majority of the country School Boards, the L(mdon School Board, on the 14th March, 1877, passed a resolu- tion, proposed by Dr Gladstone, for the nomination of a Select Committee to draw up a memorial for the appoint- ment of a Royal Commission. The Committee met in due course, and drew up a memorial, which was adopted at a meeting of the School Boaid on the 25th of July. In this memorial it was recommended that the Govern- ment should be moved to issue a Royal Commission for considering the best method of reforming and simplifying English spelling. It was urged that the results of primary education in England and Wales were far from being satisfactory, and that several of Her Majesty's Inspectors 134 ISAAC PITMAN. had attributed this poor success in a great measure to the difficulties caused by our present unsystematic spelling. Many eminent scholars, many of the leading philologists of England and America, and the National Union of Elementary Teachers had all affirmed the necessity of some change. Italy and some other countries had long had very simple systems of spelling ; and others, such as Holland and Spain, had recently effected great reforms. In Germany the report of a conference on spelling reform, convened by Dr Falk, the Minister of Public Instruction in Prussia, was being circulated. The time, therefore, seemed to have come for inquiry whether something could not be done in the same direction for English speaking children. This memorial was signed by J. H. Gladstone, Chair- man of the Committee, Joseph Angus, and John llodgers. In the same year, 1877, an important Conference was held at the Rooms of the Society of Arts, London, on the 29th May, on the subject of SpelHng Reform, the Rev. A. H. Sayce, Professor of Philology, Oxford, presiding. The primary object of the Conference was to support the request of the London School Board for the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the subject of English Spelling. It was stated by Mr Edward Jones, the hon. secretary, that the idea of such a Commission had been mooted ten years previously by Mr Russell Martineau, at a meeting of the Philological Society, and had been supported by the Rev. J. Rice Byrne, M.A., one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, and that from that time the idea had gained general acceptance with the Society of Arts and other educational institutions. Among the let- ters read at the Conference was one from the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, which api)eared to be a reply to a question CONFERENCi: ON SPELLING REFORM. 135 put by Professor Max JMiiller — " Is there no statesman in England sufficiently proof against ridicule to call the atten- tion of Parliuinent to what is a growing national misfor- tune V " I am not afraid of ridicule/^ said Mr Lowe, " and I have a strong opinion on the spelling question. There are, I am informed, 39 [ 10] sounds in the English language. There are 24 letters. I think that each letter should represent one sound, that 15 [16] new letters should be added, so that there be a letter for every sound, and that every one should write as he speaks." The Bishop of Exeter also wrote expressing sympathy with the move- ment, but suggesting that there should be a minimum of change with no new characters, and only the introduction of a few diacritical marks. Mr Pitman was one of the earUest speakers at the Conference. He said, — " Nothing that can occur this day can possibly afford me more gratification than the letter of ]Mr Lowe, which our Hon. Secretary has just read. I feared there was not a man among the 650 members of the House of Commons that would lead us on to victory; but Mr Lowe is the man; and without meaning any disrespect to Bishop Temple, I must say that ^Mr Lowe's letter, when weighed against the letter of the Bishop of Exeter, makes the hitter kick the beam instantly. You would obscr\'e that there are two distinct opinions expressed in those letters. The Bishop of Exeter says : ' Introduce no new letters, but use diacritic marks :' we should want fifteen marked letters. I will venture to say that the bishop has never written a single page with the diacritic marks which he thinks might do. Mr Lowe, on the other hand, takes the common-sense view of the question, and says that as there arc fifteen sounds without representative signs, they must have them as a 136 ISA^lC PITMAN. matter of course. I shall not say a single word on behalf of any particular alphabet — the question of signs for the sounds is tabooed for the day. All that we have to do to- day is to state our case — to show the reason for the Spelling Reform movement, and back up the London School Board in their application to Government for a Koyal Commission of inquiry ; and I certainly think that our Government will be unable to refuse the application. The topic given me to consider is ' the loss of time caused by the current spelling.' Now that loss of time occurs both in learning to read, and to spell and write. I want to lay before you, in the ten minutes allowed to me, the grounds of the difficulty in the two arts of reading and spelling, and why the spelling is so much more difficult than the reading. " Everybody knows that we have six vowels (including y, — a, e, i, o, u, y, — and these six vowels represent, in the present spelling, twenty-eight sounds. A represents six sounds, four of them in large classes of words ; e repre- sents four sounds, two of them in very large classes of words ; i represents four sounds ; o represents seven sounds, four of them in large classes of words ; and u represents seven sounds. Now, if we add to these the sounds repre- sented, not by single letters, but by two put together, such as double a in my own name, Lsaac ; ao in the word gaol ; eti, ee, ei, ae, au, and so on, we get, with the twenty conso- nants and six vowels, a total of 108 letters, which represent 269 different sounds in the various words of the language; so that there is a choice of about three sounds for every letter, between which the pupil has to choose before he can pronounce a word. I Avill only take one out of the long- list before me as an illustration of this. I will take that SPELLING MORE DlFiaCULT TUAN READING. 137 very common combination ea. The child, in reading, conies to the word head. Well, we will suppose he knows the word to be pronounced hed. Perhaps in the very next line he comes to the same combination of letters, but with a b instead of h, and, of course, he calls it bed, but is cor- rected instantly, ' No, it is bead.' Then he comes upon another word, I-e-a-d, but does not know what to call it, whether leed or led. Then he has to be told that it is sounded leed in one sense and led in another. He must say ' a pound of led,' but ' I leed you.' Now remove the / from the word, and put m instead ; what must he say — med ? no, meed. Now put .st in place of m, and it is changed to sted. Put an r at the commencement of ead; now he has two sounds again for two different words — read, as a verb in the present tense, 7'ead (red) in the past tense. And he must commit all these to memory. Next take the letter ^ as a final sound, and put ea before it — eat; prefix h — that is regular; now instead of h put Mr — threet? no, thret. Now take another termination, th, as in death, a word which he knows very well; remove (/and put wr — reth? no, reeth. Now take a\vay the wr, and put br — breeth ? no, breth. Thus the ])upil is tossed backward and forward with almost every word in the language. Take the termination st, as in beast; put an r after the b — breest ? no brest. H-e-a-r-d, heard (pron. herd) ; take away the h, and put b — berd ? no, beerd. Take the word Jieart ; remove the t, and put d — hard? no ; the Scotch may say, ' I hard such a thing;' but we say, ^ I herd such a thing.' I select only a few examples to show where the difficulty lies. Take the word earth ; put the aspirate before it, and it is not herth, but Jiarth, a fire-})lace. We will suppose the pupil now to meet with the combination ea in a word 138 ISAAC PITMAN. of two syllables, as in real. He then meets with realm, and probably calls it ree-alm. It is the reproach of our language that no man, however educated he may be, is able to pronounce a single word of English on seeing it in a book, if he has never heard it pronounced. I have only to-day become acquainted with the sound of the name of this gentleman, (Mr Croad), whom I have known by cor- respondence for some time. I could write his name but I could not speak it. I called him Mr Crow-ad, just as we sound oa in 3Ioab, thinking it more aristocratic to give him two syllables than one. I now learn that his name is Mr Crode. " The converse of the statement which I have made as to reading and pronunciation is true as to writing — that no person can spell an English Avord, however well he knows the sound, if he has never seen it written. The truth is, we are, as to letters, blind, and as to sounds, deaf. We see the letters Avith the outward eye, but we do not see anything with the inward eye corresponding to them. We hear the sounds of a word with the outward ear, but we do not hear inwardly and associate the real sound of the word with its representation. This one combination, or letter, ea, followed by a consonant in the same syllable, which I have instanced, occurs in 110 of our monosyllables. In how many other words it occurs I cannot say. But the pronunciation of every one of these words, and of every other word in the language, has to be iixed in the memory before the child can read. That is one illustration of the fact that the letters of our alphabet represent 269 sounds which is an average of three to each letter. I have excluded all single anomalous words. Now I must take two minutes for the spelHng question, although my ten minutes are THE SPELLING QUESTION. 139 up. The phase of the question I have previously con- sidered is, the difficulty of reading. The difficulty of spelling is not as three to one, but as seven to one. Thus, there is the sound u in the familiar word beauty, a word which we will suppose the child knows, and he wishes to spell it. Well, he has to choose between seven modes of representation existing in other words bearing the same sound of u. Of coarse, he will begin by trying to spell it with the single letter u, as buty. No. In the next place he may try beuty. " No, you are wrong ; such spelling will not pass." He knows the word dew. " I think I have it now," bewty. " No, it won^t do, try again." View may occur to him, so he tries biewty. " No, try again ; don't give it up." A suit of clothes suggests buity. " No, wrong again." Then the teacher has to tell him b-e-a-u-t-y, beauty ; and that way of spelling the word has to be fixed on the pupil's memory. Such is a very familiar illustration of the difficulty, first of learning to read — that is, in choosing between the diffi^rent sounds which the letters represent in other words — and the diffi- culty of learning to spell, — that is, in choosing between the diflPerent representatives in other words of the very same sound that is required to be expressed. 1 will con- clude b}^ gi\ ing you the mathematical proof of my state- ment, that the difficulty of reading is as 3 to 1 that is, of choosing between three sounds as to which must be employed in interpreting every letter of the alphabet ; and the diffi- culty of spelling is as 7 to 1 as to every sound in the language. I gave you the number of letters : 20 conso- nants, 6 vowels, and 82 additional letters represented by combinations — total, 108 signs. Divide the 108 signs by the 38 sounds of the English language and the quotient 140 ISAAC PITMAN. will be 3 within a fraction. Now for the spelling. The dividend here must be the meanings or pronunciations given to these 108 letters; and we find that they have 269 meanings, which, divided by the 38 real sounds of the language, gives the quotient as 7." Among the other speakers were Mr H. H. Butterfill, the Rev. R. Wells Whitford, Sir Charles Reed, Mr Hale, Dr Richard Morris, the Rev. Castle Clery, Mr Tito Pagliardini, Mr W. Storr, Dr Gladstone, and the Rev, John Curwen. A public meeting was held in the evening, which was addressed by well-known spelling reformers, at which resolutions were passed in favor of an improve- ment in English orthography. These were not the only public proceedings in connec- tion with the Spelling Reform movement, in 1877; for at a meeting of the Social Science Association, held in Lon- don, on the 5th February that year, papers on the subject were read by INIr E. Jones and Mr W. Storr. These pro- ceedings were reported at considerable length in the news- papers of the day, and many leaders and magazine articles were devoted to the subject. Many of the leading news- papers spoke favorably of the movement, and even the Times went so far as to recommend that children should be, at any rate, taught to read and write in the first three standards on " the easy phonetic plan.'' PHONOGRAPHY MAKING HEADWAY. 141 CHAPTER X. It was not until early in the ibllowing year^ 1878, that the Spelling Reform question in connection with Board School teaching was brought before the Government. On the 18th of January, the Lord President of the Council (the Duke of Richmond and Gordon) and Viscount Sandon received a deputation at the Privy Council from the London and many other School Boards, and anotlier from the Society of Arts. The deputations consisted of about a hundred gentlemen from different parts of the country, and representing various educational bodies. Mr Pitman, his brother Frederick, Mr Ellis, Sir Charles Reed, Dr Gladstone, Mr Rathbone, M.P. (representing the School Board), and Mr Richard, M.P. (who expressed the bewilderment of the Welsh people on the subject of English spelling) were among the company present. The various speakers were listened to with great attention, and the Lord President promised, in the stereotyped form, but with great courtesy, that he would lay before the Cabinet the views that had been communicated to him. Nothin"; further came of the matter. No Royal Commission was appointed ; but the subject had been thoroughly venti- lated, and a great deal done to clear the ground for future action in the same direction. In the meantime. Phonography was making headway among educationalists and the general public. The value of shorthand in connnereial life was becoming daily more and more recognized. The Society of Arts in 1876 had 142 ISAAC PITMAN. introduced it in its annual programme of examinations^ held simultaneously at different centres throughout the country, and appointed Mr Frederick Pitman as examiner. No special system was prescribed. The candidates were per- mitted to use any system, but were recommended to learn Phonography. The subject still forms part of the exam- ination for which Certificates are given by the Society, and it is one of the most popular among candidates, book- keeping being the only subject for which there are more annual entries. Phonogi*aphy is also a subject of exam- ination with the Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Insti- tutes and the Yorkshire Union of Institutes. With the candidates for examination by the former, it is the most favorite subject, the entries for examination in 1890 being 708. The presentation of the memorial to the Lord President was soon followed (in 1879) by the formation of the Spelling Reform Association in London, u.nder auspices which seemed to promise a successful result. Mr Pitman, of course joined its ranks, and occasionally assisted in its deliberations. Among the other well known men who allied themselves with the Society were Lord Tennyson, Professor Max Miiller, Professor Sayce, Dr. J. H. Glad- stone, Mr A. J. Ellis, Charles Darwin, Dr. 11. G. Latham, Professor Skcat, Mr Westlakc, Q.C., Dr. Charles Mackay, Professor Candy, M.A., Uev. John llodgers, Dr. Hunter, etc. It is not necessary to write the history of the S])elling llcform Association in connection with the biography of Mr Pitman ; but it cannot be passed o\er. Its career, which promised to Ijc a brilliiuit one, was short and un- satisfactory. During the first year or two of its existence it was the means of drawing a good deal of attention to THE SPELLING REFORM ASSOCIATION. 143 the question of a reformed orthography. It published a number of pamphlets and leaflets, and held a i'cw public meetings at which addresses were delivered by men of great distinction. But its efforts were a good deal frittered away in academic discussions on the minutiae of Phonetics, instead of being directed to more practical work. As in the case of most reforms, great differences of opinion existed as to the precise manner in which phonetic spelling should be carried out ; and notwithstanding the appoint- ment of endless sub-committees with the view of reconciling these differences, no definite line of action was taken ; and, after a few years of fitful and spasmodic effort, the Associa- tion collapsed. Though several attempts were made to galvanize it into renewed activity they were svholly nn- suecessful. Meanwhile i\Ir Pitman was devoting a con- siderable proportion of the increasing profits of his short- hand works to the advocacy of phonetic spelling, and further experiments with new and old types ; gratuitously distributing an immense quantity of literature on the sub- ject from his own press. In 1879 he lost the benefit of the co-operation of Sir Walter Trevelyan, who died at the ripe age of eighty-two, having been President of the Pho- netic Society and an ardent suj)porter of ]Mr Pitman for a period of twenty years. In the following year, 1881, in his Annual Address to the Phonetic Society, Mr Pitman drew attention to the increasing })ublic interest nianii'ested in the reform, and even took enconra2;ement from the adverse criticisms of his opponents, whose very violence he regarded as an indi- cation of the importance of the movement. The Spectator had just published a splenetic article on the subject, in which it declared that Mr IMtman and his followers were l44 ISAAC PITMAN. " guilty of as flat burglary as ever frighted Dogberry," " Nothing/' said the writer, " has ever astonished us more than the fact that the foremost philologist in England^ Professor Max Miiller, should find it in his heart to thrust the segis of his great name and authority in front of this forgetive felony." These and similar absurdities only stimulated Mr Pitman to renewed exertion, in which he found abundant su])port from other quarters. In Scribner and the Century, for example, several articles appeared strongly advocating phonetic spelling ; and a number of American newspapers had adopted the " five rules " (for the omission of silent letters, etc.) recommended by the American Spelling Reform Association and the American Philological Society. The rules were these :— lluLE 1. — Omit a from the digraph ea when pronounced as e short, as in hed, helth, etc. Rule 2. — Omit silent e after a short vowel, as in hav, giv, liv, definit, forbad, etc. Rule 3. — Write / for ^;/i in such words as alfabet, fantom, camfor, filosofi, teleyraf, etc. Rule 4. — When a word ends with a double letter, omit the last, as in shal, wil, clif, etc. Rule 5. — Change ec? final into t when it has the sound of t, as in lasht, imprest, fixf, etc. Mr Pitman, while willing to accept these rules as far as they went, considered them insufficient even as a pre- liminary step, and proposed their expansion in this form : — Rule 1. — Omit a from the digraph en when pronounced as e short, as in lied, helth, etc. Rule 2. — Omit silent e after a short vowel, as in hav, FIVE RULES." 145 giv, liv, definit, forbad, etc. Change done, l.ve, etc., to dun, luv. Also omit silent e after a long vowel that is expressed by a digraj)h ; as, leav, lueav, cheez, hmez. Rule 3. — Write / for ph in such words as alfabet, fantoni, cainfo7\ filusoji, telegraf. Rule 4. — AVlien a word ends with a double consonant, omit the last, as in shal, wil, clif, except in words ending in -all, -oil; as, tall, toll. liuLE 5. — Change ed tinal into t when it has the sound of t, as in lasht, imprest, fixt. Rule 6. — Change ie and ei to ee, when pronounced ee ; as preest priest), seez (seize), greev (grieve), heleev (be- lieve), reseev (receive), 7'eseet (receipt). Change 2)rove, move, remove, bosom, lose, to proov, moov, remoov, boozom, looz ; and correct any other anomalies in the spelling of words containing long vowels that will not lead to a mis- pronunciation ; as, peeple for people. The " rules " have at length, after seven years' experi- ence, and a vast amount of practice, taken the following^ form : — Rule 1. — The letters c, q, x are rejected as useless, and every other consonant is confined to the representation of one sound; as every figure represents one number. Rule 2. — A, e, i, o, u represent the short vowels in pat, pet, pit, pot, put ; and u represents, in addition, the vowel in but, double. The diphthongs in bind, boy, bound, beauty, are written by ei, oi, ou, iu ; and the o])en diph- thong in naive. Kaiser, by ai. (/, iu preference to ei, is allowed to represent the first personal pronoun.) Rule 3. — Th represents the two sounds in breath, breathe, (called, as single letters, ith, thee,) and the re- 146 ISAAC PITMAN. cognized digraphs ch, sh, ng, (called, as single letters, chay, ish, ing,) represent the sounds heard in much, wish, sing. Zh (zheej is introduced for the voiced ish in vision (vizhon). Insert a hyphen in pot-hook, mis-hap, hogs-head, etc. Rule 4. — In monosyllables, and sometimes in poly- syllables, n represents ng before k and g, as think (thingk), anger (ang-ger). Rule 5. — The spelling of the long vowels is not altered, except in cases of gross irregvdarity, such as beau (bo), cocoa (koko), receive (reseev), believe (beleev), because any system of digraphs that might be adopted to represent the long vowels would prejudice the reform. Every letter of the old alphabet is used uniformly, ONLY for the repre- sentation of consonants, short vowels, and diphthongs. No change is at present proposed in the spelling of proper names, whether of persons or places. This depart- ment of orthography, of right, belongs to the owners of the names, and the inhabitants of the places. In the year 1884 Mr Pitman paid a third visit to Edin- burgh, where, to use his own words, he " deposited the first seeds of phonetic reform " in the sunmier of 1841. There was a strong and interesting contrast between the two visits. On the first occasion he was a young man lecturing on what was regarded as almost a new art, and distributing a few copies of the Penny Plate and the Sd. octavo edition of Pho- nograj)hy. Shorthand, even for professional purposes, was hai'dly known in Scotland at that time; but the seed was sown in a congenial soil, and it quickly sprang up, and the plant grew apace. On the occasion of the 1884 visit he was the venerable and honored guest of the Scottish Phonogra- phic Association, the largest society in the kingdom devoted VISIT TO EDINBORGH. 147 to the cultivation and protnotioii of phonetic shoi-thand. It wasopening its twelfth session in the Oddfellows' Ilall, which was crowded to excess in the expectation of hearing an address from the now celebrated inventor of Phonography. The chair was taken by the Lord Provost, Sir George Har- rison, who was deeply moved and gratified by the enthusi- astic reception given to one who had done so much, as he said, " to increase the sum of human knowledge/' Mr Pitman's address was a characteristic one. He avowed himself " terribly in earnest" about the phonetic move- ment, and described it, more suo, as " a holy crusade against ignorance." " Tn this age," he said, "of railways and tramways, and exhibitions, and the Suez canal, and the Mersey and Severn tunnels, and a dozen more good things projected, it cannot be that people will go on writing with the stammering pen of longhand, when they may write with the fluent phonographic peu, with all the rapidity of speech, and with more than the ease of speech." Nor was the spelling question overlooked, " All the efforts of teachers and committees of School Boards are baffled by our barbarous and inconsistent spelling, which ' no fellow ' can master, except some of the teachers, and some writers for the press, editors, proof-readers, and compositors. Only a portion of the writers for the Press are what are called good spellers. There is a chorus of lamentation from the Inspectors that the reading taught in the Board Schools is non-intelligent. The Inspectors say that the children read in a senseless manner. They pronounce the words, but in such a way that a listener cannot understand what is read. The main cause of this is that they have been taught to read and spell mechanically, and by ' cram,' without the use of their reasoning powers. The memory 148 ISAAC PITMAN. alone has been exercised^ and not the judgment/' He then quoted Mr Gladstone's denunciation of English orthography^ and Professor Lounsbury's indictment, — " that, considering the difference of circumstances, there is not amongst the most savage tribes any fetishism more senseless and more stupid than that which, with educated men among us, treats as worthy of respect or reverence the present orthography of the English tongue." In reply to a cordial vote of thanks, Mr Pitman said he had been amazed at the manner in which Phonography had been received by the public in Scotland, and assured his hearers that he should 'return to Bath with the determination for the remainder of his days to work harder than ever. A few weeks after this visit Mr Pitman was plaintiff in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in the case of Pitman v. Hine, an action for the infringe- ment of his copyright in the Phonographic Teaching Books. The case was tried before Mr Justice Mathew, without a jury; Mr Pitman's counsel being Mr Charles, Q.C. (now Mr Justice Charles), and Mr Shortt (instructed by Mr E. B. Titley, of Bath). The defendant's counsel was Mr R. T. Wright. For two days the Court was occupied with the details of the construction of Phonography and its principles of contraction as laid down by Mr Pitman in his books, and as employed by the defendant in the publication which was the subject of the action. The principal witness was, of course, Mr Pitman himself, and his appear- ance in the box excited a good deal of interest and curiosity among the many reporters and shorthand writers always frequenting the Courts, most of whom, though writers of his system, had never seen the inventoi- in the flesh. The INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT. 149 case which he sought to cstabUsh against the defendant was, that in his pubhshed list of '' Contracted Outlines" he had availed himself of the rules contained in the " Teacher," the '' Manual," and the " Reporter's Companion," simply varying the illustrations ; some of his examples, however, being identical. iNlr Pitman gave his evidence very clearly with the assistance of a black-board, which, covered as it was with shorthand symbols, gave the Court the a])pcarance of a large phonographic class. Confirmatory evidence was given by the Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer, by the writer of this memoir, and by Mr T. Hill. The defendant's case was that there was originality, not only in the rules laid down in his book, but in the selection and classifica- tion of tiie examples, independently of Mr Pitman's rules. But he failed to convince the Judge on these points. Mr Justice Mathew followed the explanations with great care and minuteness, and on the morning of the third day of the trial he delivered judgment at great length, declaring that the evidence led to the " irresistible conclusion that the defendant had been copying the plaintiff's book ; and the only reason why he can say he has not done it is, that he has illustrated the plaintiff's system by different words from those that the plaintiff has used." He concluded by saying, " The defendant felt his way very carefully in commencing his publication. He i)ublished first a small pamphlet, which was printed [chromographcd], and against that the ])laintiff protested, but he thought it a small matter, and he probably hesitated (cither from his own good sense, or from the excellent advice he may have had) about com- mencing a Chancery suit in reference to that. The defen- dant, emboldened perhaps by the plaintiff's neglect, at a certain interval afterwards printed [lithographed] what he 150 ISAAC PITMAN. had previously put forward in a different form, and then again the plaintiff protested. In the year 1880, when this publication was brought to his knowledge, he protested against it and pointed out once more that it was an in- fringement of his copyright, but he took no proceedings. Again the defendant made a further experiment, that expanded work No. 2, and the work the subject of the present proceedings. He expanded the ' Contracted Out- lines^ from 600 to 1,000, and then once more the plaintiff protested. He did allow unquestionably nearly a year to go b}', and then, when the defendant had sent him a copy of his book requesting that he would insert an advertise- ment of it in the Journal, of which the plaintiff was the publisher, the plaintiff determined to bring the matter to an end, and a correspondence commenced, which certainly in the first instance exhibited proper feeling on the part of the defendant ; and the plaintiff would be justified in expecting from that correspondence that the matter might be amicably settled. The correspondence went on for a considerable time, until it was clear that the defendant would not admit what the plaintiff considered his rights in the matter, and then these proceedings were commenced. Now it certainly throws a flood of light upon the plaintiff's conduct in the matter, as we have been informed, in the course of the proceedings, that the defendant is defending this action in forma pauperis . It is perfectly evident that a plaintiff would hesitate a long time before he would attack a man who could not pay damages. Subsequently he was driven to take the course he has taken. Now it is said, ' You ought to give thc^ plaintiff damages ; you ought not to give him an injunction.' That would be denying him all remedy, for the defendant is a man who MEETING AT EXETER HALL. 151 cannot pay damages. What is proposed is, that the de- fendant should be suffered to go on to pubHsh this work, which I hold to bean infringeinent of the jjlaintiff's copy- right, the plaintiff being at liberty to sue him from time to time for damages, which he would never recover. If ever there was a case in which the ])owers of the Court ought to be exercised, as asked by the plaintiff, it seems to me that this is that case. I therefore grant the injunc- tion asked for by the plaintiff. I direct the copies of his book now in the defendant's possession either to be given up to the plaintiff, or such an arrangement to be come to between the parties as would preclude the possibility of the work being further published. I further give a formal direction that the plaintiff shall have his costs at any time should the defendant be in a position to pay him." In the latter part of 1885 Mr Pitman drew together a large audience, consisting chiefly of young men, assembled to hear him deliver a lecture in Exeter Hall under the auspices of the Young Glen's Christian Association. It will be remembered that thirty-four years before, the highly conservative authorities at Exeter Hall had hesitated to allow a phonetic meeting, in connection with the first great Exhibition of 1851, to be held within those severely respectable walls, and that some pressure and insistence were needed to convince them that the new crusade was a genuine educational movement, with nothing heretical or otherwise dangerous lurking behind it. Now, not even the rigidly orthodox conductors of the Y.M.C.A. suspected a taint of heresy in Mr Pitman's shorthand programme, and he was cordially invited to give their members u jiublic exposition of his system in the Lower Hall, in which the phonetic gathering of 1851 had assembled. Though a 152 ISAAC PITMAN. spacious liall^ it was found insufficient to accommodate the many hundreds of young luen who had come to listen to the now venerable but still hale and hearty inventor of Phonography. The audience was densely packed, and, on ]Mr Pitman's appearance, it cheered him to the echo. Not quite knowmg the kind of assembly he was addressing — whether it consisted chiefly of phonographers who had come out of curiosity to see him, or of the outside public who desired to be instructed — he called for a show of hands from those who were acquainted with Phonographj^, and discovered, perhaps to his surprise, that the large majority of his hearers were already his disciples. This, as he remarked, enabled him the better and the sooner to get in touch with them, and rendered needless any such minute explanation of the system as he might otherwise have given. He rather dwelt on the principles underlying the construc- tion of his alphabet; and (the traditions of Exeter Hall notwithstanding) he could not refrain from throwing in a small modicum of Swedenborgian philosophy and applying it to his subject. The masculine and feminine element, said by the Swedish seer to pervade all things in nature, he applied to the consonants and vowels respectively ; and in the pairing of the consonants themselves, as shown in the arrangement of the plionographic symbols, he found another illustration of the same all-pervading dualism. The ''reading reform" was also advocated with the lecturer's accustomed earnestness and energy; and some striking illustrations were given of the inadequacy of the common spelling to convey the sounds of the words rej)resented. The year 1886 is rendered noteworthy, in Mr Pitman's history, by several events public and domestic. In the first number of the " Journal " he concluded his Annual .Vddress DEATH OF MR FREDERICK PITMAN. 153 to the members of the Phonetic Society by announcing that he had taken into partnership his two sons (Alfred^ born in 1862, and Ernest, born in 186 1), who for some years had rendered him valuable assistance in various departments of his business; and that thenceforward the title of the liath firm would be " Isaac Pitman and Sons/' Later in the year — Nov. 21st — his youngest brother, Frederick Pitman, who had acted as his publisher in Pater- noster row, died at the early age of fifty-eight. Frederick's early education was undertaken by his brother Isaac (his senior by fifteen years) ; he afterwards went to a school in Bradford, and then returned to his brother, who had settled in Bath. He was there articled to a solicitor, but not taking kindly to the legal profession, he joined his brother Joseph and the author in their early phonographic campaign. A year or two later he entered upon his pub- lishing duties in the little shop in Queen's Head Passage, and, by his good business talents and energy, soon became an important factor in the phonetic propaganda. He was also a contributor to Phonographic literature, editing for many years The Shorthand Magazine and the Phonoyra- phic Lecturer. A skilful note-taker, he often accepted reporting engagements ; and he devoted a great deal of his spare time to teaching Phonography, both privately and in class. He became known, too, as a music j)ub- lisher. The phonographic jjublishing was, at his death, transferred to the present depot at Amen Corner, ^Messrs Isaac Pitman & Sons acting from that date as their own publishers, the business being managed, on tlieir behalf, by Mr Guilbert and Mr Clarence Pitman (sons of Mr Joseph Pitman), who had previously assisted their uncle Frederick at No. 20 in '' The Row." 154 ISAAC PITMAN. CHAPTER XI. The following year, 1887, the Jubilee year of Phono- graphy, was an eventful one in Mr Pitman's personal his- tory as well as in the history of his system — indeed of shorthand generally. In view of the wide diffusion of the system throughout Great Britain, and every other English- speaking country, the occurrence of the jubilee year could hardly be allowed to pass without a public celebration, which took place under the most favorable auspices. It was suggested in the beginning of 188G, if not at a still earlier period, that steps should be taken to commemorate the event by a public gathering of phonographers and the friends of phonetic spelling, in London ; and by the presentation of a suitable testimonial to Mr Pitman as a i-ecognition of his life-long labors. The project was readily taken up, and a committee was formed for its execution. The movement, however, very soon entered upon a wider phase, and became associated with another celebration, that of the Tercentenary of the introduction of modern shorthand by Timothy Bright, in the reign of EUzabetli. The actual date of the publication of Bright's famous book (of which only a single copy is known to exist, that in the BotUeian) was 1588, but a manuscript had been unearthed in the British Museum, by Dr A\'estby-Gibson, showing that Bright was writing his system as early as 1586 ; and, taking the mean of these two dates, the Tercentary of modern shorthand was made to fall in 1887, thus hap})ily JUBILEE OF PHONOGRAPHY. 155 coinciding with the Jubilee of Phonography, and naturally suggesting a joint celebration. At a meeting of the Council of the Shorthand Society (a body representing all systems of shorthand) held on March 3rd, 188G, the following resolution was passed : — That this Council having heard from Mr T. A. Keed a statement as to the proposed Jubilee of Phonography, in 1887, and a public recognition of Mr Pitman's labors, desire to express their entire sympathy with the object, and request Mr Reed to represent them on any committee that may be formed with a view to its pro- motion." And this was followed by another resolution, moved by Dr. Westby-Gibson, and seconded by the writer, " That it is desirable that advantage should be taken of the Phonographic Jubilee of 1887 to hold in London an international gathering of shorthand-writers of all systems, in celebration of the Tercentenary of the origination of modern shorthand by Dr Timothy Bright, 1587." The following " Preliminary Announcement,^' issued in the month of May, will best explain the objects of the Congress, and the methods proposed for their attainment : — THE PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE AND TERCEXTEXARY OF SHORTHAND. (Preliminary Announcement.) It is proposed to hold in the Autumn of 18S7 an International Con- gress of Shorthand Writers of all existing systems, and of persons in- terested in shorthand generally, to celebrate conjointly two events of importance. (1) The Jubilee of the introduction of Mr Isaac Pitman's system of Phonography, marking as it does an era in the development of shorthand on scientific principles. (2) The Tercentenary of Modern Shorthand originated by Dr Timothy Bright about 1587, continued by Peter Bales (l.JDO), John Willis (ICOl'), Edmoud Willis (1(J18), Shelton 156 ISAAC PITMAN. (1620), Cartwright (1642), Rich (1646), Mason (1672^, Gurney (1740), Byrom (1767), Mavor (1780), Taylor (1786), Lewis (1812), and many others in past generations, and finally by Mr Pitman and other English and Continental authors of the present day. It is hoped that the com- bined movement will bring together a large assembly of shorthand writers, professional and otherwise, who will be willing to work fra- ternally and earnestly in the interests of the science-art which has for tbree centuries been a power in the world and a blessing to mankind. 1. The Phonographic Jubilee. The year 1837 will always be regarded as an era in the history of shorthand. Before that date very little had been done to popularize the art ; nearly all the instruction books devoted to it were expensive, and the systems expounded were wanting in many of the features which are essential to a shorthand method applicable at once to the needs of the professional reporter and to the requirements of e very-day life. It is no exaggeration to say that the appearance of the little work, " Steno- graphic Sound-hand," in 1837, inaugurated something like a shorthand revolution. The phonetic basis of the system and the ingenuity of its construction soon attracted adherents not only among the general pub- lic, to whom shorthand was a mystery, but among the writers of other systems, many of whom, at no little sacrifice of time and labor, aban- doned their old methods, and willingly, even eagerly, adopted the new one. The energy and industry with which Mr Pitman threw himself into the work of developing the system, aided by the efforts of a band of enthusiastic disciples, had their natural effect. Successive editions of the system were published, embracing the improvements suggested by the experience of the author and his friends, and before the first decade of its history had expired it had obtained a commanding posi- tion among professional reporters, while among amateur stenographers and the general public it had practically superseded all its competitors. Like so many other inventions, Phonography, as it came to bo called, appeared at a time when it was specially required. The rapid develop- ment of the newspaper press created a demand for shorthand work which had never before existed ; and a still wider and more general field was opened in largo commercial and legal offices, whore the value of skilled phonographers was gradually recognised, to such an extent indeed that their employment is now regarded as a matter of absolute necos.sity. Increased facilities were offered to students for reporting lectures and copying extracts ; and for friendly, social and intellectual PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE. 157 intercourse the new medium of communication was bailed with grati- tude by thousands. It is needless to add anything as to the position which the system now holds in every English-speaking-and-writing community. Not only our own country but the world has been the gainer by the invention, and in view of the jubilee of its introduction, it is not too much to ask its hundreds of thousands of adherents who have derived practical benefit from it to unite in testifying their obli- gations to the inventor and presenting him with some mark of their appreciation of his life-long labors. Every lover of phonetic spelling will readily recognise the services which Mr. Pitman has rendered in that direction through the medium of his system. In no more effective way could the phonetic principle be applied than in a system of shorthand daily and hourly used through- out the country. No longer the dream of the philologist or the education- alist, the principle has received practical embodiment and application in Phonography, and the attention of the public has thus been aroused, to an extent that could hardly have been attained by any other agency, to the defects and inconsistencies of English orthography, and the neces- sity of removing them. It is believed, therefore, that all phonetic reformers will willingly join in some enduring memorial which it is proposed to make in honor of Mr Pitman. 2. International Congress and Tekcentknarv of Modern Shorthand. In this portion of the celebration it is intended to commemorate an event of paramount importance in the history of shorthand — its origi- nation by Dr. Timothy Bright in 1587. the 300th year happily co-inciding with the Jubilee of Phonography. A Congress will be held in London at which papers will be read and discussed dealing with the history, development, and literature of shorthand from Bright's days to Pitman's ; also with matters of a more practical nature bearing upon the present and future uses of shorthand, and the prospects of the art generally. In connection with the Congress it is proposed to hold an Exhibition of shorthand works of every description, including books written and printed in shorthand, stenographic curiosities, and other objects of interest. There will also be opportunities of social intercourse ; and every effort will be made to render the occasion a memorable one in the history of the art. Resolutions have been passed unanimously in favor of the movement by the Councils of the Shorthand Society ; the Short- hand Writers' Association, Westminster ; the London Phonetic Short- 158 ISAAC PITMAN. hand Writers' Association ; and the ^Manchester Shorthand Writers' Association. A Committee has been formed, in a thoroughly cosmo- politan spirit, of gentlemen who are writers of various shorthand sys- tems, but who are all desirous of doing honor to Mr Pitman while seeking to advance the interests of shorthand throughout the world. The co-operation of all persons interested in shorthand is earnestly sought. Whatever funds may be collected will, after paying the expenses of the Celebration, be devoted primarily to some method of recognizing and perpetuating Jlr Pitman's name and services, his own wishes being consulted as to the precise mode of application. It is understood that Mr Pitman would prefer the initiation of some large scheme of useful- ness in the promotion of shorthand study to any mere personal gift to himself, and it will be the endeavor of the committee to give the best effect they can to this disinterested desire on his part. Remittances can be made to the Treasurer, at 37 Cursitor street, Chancery lane, London, E.G. For further information, letters may be addressed to the Chairman at the same address ; or to Dr. Westby-Gibson, 10 Great Coram street, Russell square, London, W.C. THOMAS A. REED (Chairman and Treasurer). JOHN WESTBY-GIBSON (Hon. Sec). A. W. KITSON I ,T • , o . ■ ^ (Jomt Secretaries. ) A. W. REED J ^ ' Mdij, IS8(J. A large and inlluential Committee was formed, aided by local Com- mittees, to carry out the above objects. It was feared by some timid or over-cautious phono- graphers, as well as by certain writers of the earlier systems, that a joint celebration of this character could not be carried out without an amount of friction which would seriously imperil its success. Nor was the apprehension altogether groundless. At an early stage of the deliberations some inij)ortaiit divergences of opinion arose as to the relative claims of |^the two branches of the celebration, and as to the disj)()sal of any funds which might remain after de- fraying the expenses of the Congress. Phonographers, PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE. 159 who constituted by far the largest proportion of the suh- scribers, were naturally desirous that tlieir own system, the most ])opular in the country, s^hould stand in the fore-front of the movement. The majority of the writers of other systems were perfectly willing to concede this reasonable claim^ but others were less compliant, and it was not without some difficulty that a satisfactory modus vivendi was arrived at. The problem was ultimately sol\ ed by the appointment, by the General Committee (a large and influential body, comprising a number of public men who, though not writing shorthand, recognized its value and sympathized with the celebration) of two sub-committees (1) the Jubilee Committee, presided over by the author, and (2) the Tercentenary Committee, whose president was Mr W. II. Gurncy-Salter, the shorthand writer to the Houses of Lords and Commons, and the official representa- tive of the Gurney system. To the first were delegated the arrangements for the Phonographic Jubilee, and to the second the arrangements for the more general part of the programme, dealing with topics of interest to the writers of all systems of shorthand. It was further ar- ranged that after all expenses had been defrayed, two-thirds of the surplus should be handed over to the Jubilee section of the Committee for appropriation as it might deem fit, and the remaining one-third to the Tercentenary section. Every effort was made, and no expense spared, to make the Congress a success, the Committee believing that no better appropriation of the funds could be made, in the interests of Phonography and the art of shorthand generally, than by calling public attention, in Great Britain and other countries, to this gathering of the stenographic clans, and giving it all the eclat which its promoters desired. It was 160 ISAAC PITMAN. decided by the Jubilee Committee at an early stage of the arrangements that its share of the surplus, or whatever portion of it might be required, should be applied to defraying the cost of a marble bust of Mr Isaac Pitman, to be presented during the sittings of the Congress. The execution of the bust was entrusted to the well-known sculptor, Mr Thomas Brock, who succeeded in producing an admirable likeness and a highly valued work of art, which was exhibited at the Academy in the following year. The Congress was held during the week beginning September 6th, at the Geological Museum, Jermyn street, London, which was lent by the Lords of the Council for the occasion. It was a large and, up to that period, a unique assembly, comprising representatives of shorthand systems throughout the world. France and Germany were the principal continental countries from which delegates were sent. The large majority of the English members were, of course, phonographers, but some of the older systems — chiefly Gurney and Taylor — were well repre- sented. Five of the six days were devoted to topics of general stenographic interest, and one day — Wednesday — was appropriated exclusively to the Jubilee of Phonography. At the opening meeting Lord Rosebery, who had accepted the office of president, delivered the inaugural address. It was a brilliant and masterly composition, and eloquently enforced the importance of the cultivation of shorthand not only for professional and literary purposes, but for the ordinary affairs of life. Of any knowledge of the art itself his lordship avowed himself " absolutely innocent and guileless ;'^ but, he humorously added, having read that between the time of Willis and Pitman 201 systems had been published, and 281 since, it was almost a relief to feel ISAAC ^PITMAN. From a Marble Biis/^hy Thomas Brock, Esq., R.A. JUBILEE OF PHONOGRAPHY. 161 that one was utterly ignorant of each and all of tliese me- thods. Dealing with the j)ublie uses of the art, he inquired how^ if by any autocratic power shorthand were to be suspended throughout the world for a week, the universe could possibly get on during that time. " My imagina- tion/^ he said, " does not reach to it.'^ One of the strongest points in his speech was that relating to the use of shorthand in pubHc offices — a use which he had himself, when in office, endeavored to promote. The telegraph, the telephone, the postal card, were nothing, he said, but the signals of distress of an overstrained civilization. " Our first economy should be in the direction of a much greater em])loyment of shorthand in our public offices. In these days of rigid and anxious competition in commercial mat- ters we must make it understood by all growing lads that a knowledge of shorthand is indispensable to a mercantile career, and we must also bring this fact home to all who aspire to secretarial and clerical posts." The following day was devoted to the first Conference, at which a number of papers were read and discussed, Lord Rosebery attending and taking part in the deliberations. The Phonographic celebration occupied the wdiole of Wednesday, and it was perhaps the most important public event in the history of Mr Pitman and his system. There was a Morning Conference, presided over by Dr. J. H. Gladstone, an old phouographer and spelling reformer. Mr Pitman read a short paper on " Tiie Spelling Reform, and How to Get it," and other comuuuiications bearing on the development and dissemination of Phonography were presented. Similar papers were read and discussed at the Afternoon Conference, Mr Pitman's contribution being on '' The Genesis of Phonograj)hy." He gave some 162 ISAAC PITMAN. interesting details (already set forth in these pages) of his early labors in the construction of the Phonographic Alphabet^ but said he had not a scrap of record of the numerous shorthand alphabets which he had invented and used throughout the memorable six months during which the system w^as " on the anvil." The exact date of the publication of his ^' Stenographic Soundhand " he was able to fix by a letter written by himself to Mr Bagster^ on the 14th of November, 1837, and sent with a consignment of 200 copies, out of the 3,000 of which the edition consisted. The parcel was received in London on the next day, and the book was thus published on the 15th of November. The chief feature of the Jubilee celebration was the evening gathering in the Theatre, which was crowded with phonographers from all parts of the country, as well as the writers of other systems at home and abroad, who desired to join in the congratulations to be offered to the venerable guest of the evening. It had every appearance of a plea- sant family gathering, with a few w elcome visitors who had dropped in to offer their felicitations. Mr Pitman was accompanied by Mrs Pitman and his two sons, Alfred and Ernest, his brother Henry, from Manchester, two of his sisters. Miss Rose Pitman and IMrs Webster, and his nephews, Harry, Guilbert, and Clarence, sons of Mr Joseph Pitman. Dr J. H. Gladstone was among the visitors ; and ]Mr Brock, the sculptor, was present throughout the pro- ceedings, and received many a compliment on the success- ful and highly satisfactory completion of his marble bust, W'hich was on the platform ready for the process of un- veiling. For a second time the author, as an old friend and fellow-worker with INIr Pitman, and a rcj)resentative phonographic jn-actitioner, had the honor of being selected JUBILEE OP PHONOGRAPHY. 163 as the medium for the presentation of a memorial of gratitude and esteem from his many disciples throughout the world. After an opening address, in which he endea- vored to set forth Mr Pitman's claims to this j)ublic recog- nition of his services during the long period of fifty years, he made the presentation in the following terms : — " Now, Mr Pitman, I have to discharge what is perhaps the plea- santest duty that has ever devolved upon me, that of asking you to accept for your family from the phonographers of Great Britain and Ireland this marble bust. It will be to them a constant reminder of the regard and aflfection enter- tained towards you by those who have known best how to appreciate your labors ; and it will, at the same time, be an acceptable legacy to posterity. Not that it is needed to secure you a place in the recollection of your countrymen. Your work, far better than even ]\Ir Brock's faithful chisel, will keep alive your memory in the future ; but all the more will those who fill our places in the coming years be grateful to us for having preserved to them the lineaments of a man to whom they are so deeply indebted for the ser- vices he has rendered and the example he has set." The bust was then duly unveiled amid the enthusiastic greetings of the assembly. Then followed congratulatory addresses which had been forwarded from Adelaide and Sydney, and another from the phonographers of Carlisle. Besides these an album of photographic views had been sent from Rome, and an announcement was made that a gold medal was being struck in the United States in com- memoration of the Jubilee. Various telegraphic congratu- lations were also handed in, including one from the vene- rable stenographer (of the Stolze school), Dr Michaelis, of Berlin. In response to these, Mr Pitman, who was, of 164 ISAAC PITMAN. course, greeted with a hearty outburst of cheering, said : "Mr Chairman, and my dear and affectionate friends : There is a passage in the Divine Woi'd that has rested upon my mind for a month or two as one that I could use on the present occasioa. It is a Divine inquiry submitted to us to institute a kind of self-introspection or self-examination. It runs thus : ' Seekest thou great things for thyself ?' If we put that question to our own hearts, I think there are very few of us who can say that we do not. The inquiry is followed by a positive command from the ]\Iaker of the Universe, ' Seek them not.' I have quoted this portion of the Divnie Word for the purpose of saying that, con- sciously, that passage has been my guide from my youth up. To-night instead of feeling that I am a kind of Roman citizen, and that you have placed a civic crown upon my brow, I rather feel in the condition of a criminal arraigned before this Court on the charge of having sought great things for myself. I fancy to myself somehow that our venerable chairman is the judge. If he were but be- wigged, which would well become him, he would be an admirable judge — a very Portia. And my friends upon the front row seem to me to be the jury — the graud jury ; and the seats behind filled with the public, are the audience : and now I stand before you in some sense as a criminal arraigned before the world for having sought great things for myself ; and I must from my heart declare myself ' Not guilty.^ If you, in your clemency, come to the same conclusion, I shall go from this meeting a happy man. And then to turn to this bust, a doubt is suggested to my mind somehow, and I cannot get rid of it. I have some hesitation in deciding which is the man and which is the image. I must really appeal to Mr Brock. (Mr Brock JDBILEE OF PHONOGRAPHY. 165 answered with ;i smile.) I think this (pointing to the bust) must be the man, sueh as he ought to be for purity and beauty, and this (pointing to himself) the imperfect image. I only wonder how my friend Mr Brock could have made such an image from such a subject/' Then, passing from himself to his subject, he narrated, as an illustration of what can be accomplished by writing, and the astonishment it creates among those unaccustomed to it, the familiar story of the Missionary Williams and the chip, which did such excellent service as an introductory paragraph in the addresses of the young phonographic lecturers in the early days of their crusade. '^ My object in life," he added, " has been to make the presentation of thought as simple of execution, and as visible to the eye, as possible. Fifty years are a long time in the life of a man, and I have prosecuted my labors for that length of time, and though I cannot say that we have got in Phono- graphy the best shorthand outline for every word, I do maintain that we are not very far from it. I think that the only thing that remains to be done is, to select any words that are not facile and beautiful in form, easy of execution by the reporter's hand, consider them and put them in the best possible form, and then we shall have completed our work." Then, after an allusion to the many indications of the daily increase in the popularity of Pho- nography, Mr Pitman glanced at the question of the Spelling Reform, and extracted an additional plea for it from the manner in which Lord Rosebery, in his inaugural address, had pronounced the word " tercentenary," accent- ing the ante-penultimate, and making the e long. " His lordship/' he said, " has not noticed a law of orthoepy that runs through the language, namely, that all long 166 ISAAC PITMAN. words that end in ary, ery, ory, are accented on the fourth syllable from the end, or what scholars term the pre-ante- penultimate. If Lord Rosebery's attention were called to that little law, he would speak of the Tercentenary of the introduction of shorthand into England. There are similar variations with other words. Phonetic spelling will direct to the right accent, when the accented syllable contains a long vowel." After this little criticism ou Lord Rosebery's orthoepy, which gave rise to some newspaper correspond- ence as to the proper pronunciation of the word in question, Mr Pitman again assumed the role of a prisoner arraigned at the bar of justice and awaiting the verdict. The chair- man, thus finding himself suddenly invested with judicial functions, submitted the case to the audience as the only jury capable of deciding it. A hearty burst of cheers and laughter followed, which the chairman interpreted to mean a verdict of " Not guilty," adding, according to the cus- tomary formula, that the self-arraigned prisoner '^ left the court without a stain upon his character." This little interlude ended, Mr Pitman said : " Well, my friends, I accept these beautiful gifts, including the bust, with the deepest and most affectionate gratitude of which my nature IS capable. They shall be a stimulus to me to work on in the same line, but, if possible, with increased diligence and faithfulness." Mr Ernest Pitman also, in behalf of the family, returned thanks " for the cordial way in which phonographers had shown their appreciation of his father's labors in the shorthand world." In behalf of the foreign visitors. Dr. I)reinh6f(U' moved a congratulatory resolution, which was seconded by J)r Gladstone, and supported by Mr Crump, Q.C., an old phonographer ; Dr Gantter, a representative of the Gabclsberger system, in Germany ; JUBILEE OF PHONOGRAPHY. 167 Ur Weber, who represented the French stenographers; Mr J. H. Giivney-Salter ; Mr J. C. Moor, of Sunderland; Mr J. B. Lawson, of Edinburgh ; and Professor Bridge, of the " Chatauqua University," who spoke in behalf of the phonogra])hc'rs of America. Thus ended the Jubilee celebration, but not the encom- iums showered on Mr Pitman. He was the principal guest at the luncheon given to the members of the Congress at the Mansion House, by the Lord Mayor, Sir Reginald Hanson, who had previously assisted in promoting the study of Phonography at the City of London School. In proposing the toast of the " International Shorthand Con- gress," the Lord Mayor coupled with it several well-known names, the foremost being that of Mr Pitman, with which, he said he had been familiar from boyhood. There was no difference of opinion, he thought, as to Mi* Pitman being the most eminent living inventor of shorthand in England ; and it had been a matter of pleasure to him to follow the expressions of sympathy and good feeling from those who had studied his system, and had presented him with a testimonial of their esteem. The proceedings of the Congress and the Jubilee celebra- tion were very fully reported in the Times, which devoted several columns to them daily, and in the other London and provincial journals, and a great stimulus was thus given to the cultivation of shorthand (Phonography in par- ticular) for educational, commercial and professional pur- poses. Among many other persons of distinction whose attention was thus specially directed to the subject, may be mentioned Viscount Bury, who was abroad at the time, and who was so much interested in the reports which reached him of the proceedings in Jermyn street that he 168 ISAAC PITMAN. forthwith ordered a set of Mr Pitman's books, and has since become a proficient phonographer. Lord Rosebery did not follow his example ; but he has not ceased to take an interest in the art, which he did so much by his presidency of the Congress to encourage. He took an early opportu- nity, after the Congress was ended, of calling on Mr Pitman and expressing his deep sense of the value of his labors. But the inventor of Phonography had other honors awaiting him. Shortly after the Jubilee celebration he gave an address to some of his co-religionists and fellow- townsmen in Bath, on " The Origin and Progress of the Writing and Spelling Reform." It was on the loth of November, that being the very day on which, fifty years before, the first edition of Phonography was published by Samuel Bagster and Sons. At the close of the address a handsome miniature portrait of Mr Pitman, on ivory, painted by Mrs Harbutt, was presented to him by the chairman, the Rev. John Martin, who said he had been commissioned to assure him that it represented '^ a wealth of affection and personal regard which no words of his could adequately express." Mr Pitman was greatly touched by this gratifying testimony of the kindly sentiments cherished towards him by those to whom he was best known. Chivalrously handing the portrait to his wife, to whom, he said, rightfully belonged the results of whatever Avisdom, or tact, or business capacity he possessed, he ac- knowledged the gilt on her behalf and his own, but regretted the inadequacy of his words to express the gratitude he felt. The portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy of 1888. The American gold medal which was struck to com- memorate the Phonographic Jubilee was not received until February, 1888. It was accompanied by an address, which AMERICAN TRIBUTE. 169 indicated the liig'h L'stiuiate forincd in the United States of Mr Pitman and his hiburs. Writini^ in behalf of the subscribers^ the connnittee say : — But very few of the number who, in America, are now prac- tising? the art which your patient study of the principles that should govern the creation of written lanp^uafje enabled you to present to the world, know the early history of yoiir work- Before your text-books were printed, shorthand writing was looked upon as a mystery, and the man who could, by its use, reproduce the utterances of a speaker, was a phenomenon of dexterity, and was regarded as little less than a nine days' wonder. And there was reason for the belief. Those who have compared the lessened lengths of forms in Phonography with the cumbrous outlines of the systems of Gurney, Taylor, Harding, Byrom, Gould and others, niarvel mucli that with them the requisite skill could be acquired to successfully report words uttered with the rapidity of colloquial speech. ' Steno- graphic Sound Hand,' as given by you to the world a half- century since, was the prophecy and promise of a new revela- tion in the art that was realised in 1848. For Phonograi^hy was a system of shorthand founded on scientific principles and unfolded in systematic arrangement and analogic harmony. It was the first in which the simplest signs were employed; the first in which cognate sounds were represented by cognate signs ; the first in wliich those elementary sounds admitting of classification in groups were represented by groups of analo- gous symVjols; the first in which the attempt was made to give circles, hooks, and loops distinct offices for efficient service in the stenographic art. By it the language was for the first time successfully presented in shorthand on a phonetic basis, and one who could read it could hardly fail to know the spoken words. But the medal which you now have is not a tribute to your inventive genius alone. The evolution of a new idea is but haK the work. It is not alone the inventor who accomplishes gi-eat puri)oses. As much credit is due to him who bi-ings the improvement before the world with strength of purpose to command attention. And when the inventor and adapter com- bines i^ersistence with creative talent to the extent that the 170 ISAAC PITMAN. world recognizes the trutli of liis stateraents and acts upon them, then more than double credit is due. In America, in nearly every commercial house, cori^oration, and public journal, in our commercial and manufacturing centres, in our Courts of law and equity, and in deliberative bodies ; indeed, in every place where much wi-iting is done, the stenographer is a needed adjunct, and his presence was made possible by youi' work. Phonography came to us unheralded to meet a then unvoiced demand. With a status secured it created a further demand for its application in spheres of usefulness for which scarce any had thought it available. With few exceptions, American wi-iters who have presented the system have frankly acknowledged their indebtedness to j'ou as its discoverer and inventor. In so doing they have but followed the lead of the distinguished pioneers, Stephen Pearl Andi-ews and Augustus P. Boyle, who in their text-books pub- lished forty years ago, used these words : " A system of writing, to be perfect, should have one uniform method of representing every sound of the voice that is uttered in speaking, and which is obviously distinct. In the next place it is desirable for i)ractical purposes to obtain the gi'eatest pos- sible brevity, and therefore the characters or letters by which these sounds are represented, should be the simplest in their f oi-m that can be found. And in the third place, in order to fa- cilitate the learning and use of them, they ought to be selected and arranged in strict correspondence with the nature and order of the sounds which they represent ; thus, sounds which are related to each other by similitude of organic formation, should 1)6 represented by signs having in their forms a corresponding resemblance ; in other words, the best system of wi-iting will be (1) true; (2) brief; and (3) analogical. These properties are admirably combined in the system of phonetic shorthand — the production of the genius and labors of Mr Pitman." It only remains for us to wish you health, happiness and prosperity dui-ing the remainder of your career on earth, and that j'our life may be spared as long as existence shall be a pleasure to yourself and add to the happiness of others. We are, respectfully yours, Edward F. Underhill, ^ Eliza B. Burnz, !- Committee. James E. Munson, ^ PRESENTATION AT BATH. 171 In the next year, 1889, Mr Pitman was the reci- pient of another testimonial from his fellow-citizens in Bath. Closely following upon the national recognition of his services, an eflFort was made to commemorate them in his own adopted city. At a meeting held at the Guildhall, under the presidency of the Mayor, Mr H. W. Freeman, he was presented with a replica of Mr Brock's Jubilee bust, accompanied by an appropriate address. " As an old inhabitant of Bath," said Mr Murch, in making the pre- sentation, "representing the friends whose names are inscribed in this book, and indirectly a much larger num- ber, I beg to offer your bust for your acceptance. We have heard of your kind intention respecting it. We are glad to know that it will find a congenial home within those walls v/here we have so often met you. We hope it will be generally thought that the sculptor has shown his accustomed skill and increased his well-known reputation. We believe that to your fellow-citizens, to the young espe- cially, it will be a valuable memorial of one who, through a long and useful life, has gained their sincere respect and set an admirable example of intelligent, benevolent perse- verance. May you still be blessed with health and strength for many years to continue that example, to share the well-earned pleasures of old age with those who are near and dear to you — 'love, obedience, honor, troops of friends,' and to benefit mankind by hastening the time when know- ledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the channels of the deep." In acknowledging the testimonial, Mr Pitman said : — " If I were a Stoic, a neat sentence of thanks might suffice for acknowledging this beautiful gift. But I am not a Stoic. I am indeed deeply moved by the kindness of the friends who have subscribed to this testimonial. I 172 ISAAC PITMAN. am especially indebted to Mr Tyte, who originated the subscription, and to Mr Murch, who completed it. What- ever of honor there may be in this presentation, I refer it not to myself, but render it to the Lord, to whom alone all honor belongs. The Literary Institution has kindly offered to accept the bust, and to place it in the Reading room, and I have much pleasure in asking Mr Murch, as the representative of the Listitution, to accept it. I like to think of English literature under the form of a vast temple, with a portico supported on two pillars, on one of which is inscribed the single word ' Letters,' and on the other ' Numbers.^ The temple is adorned with the statues of the men, English and American, who have made the litera- ture, the science, and the art, that now illumine, beautify, and bless the world. No one is permitted to pass the portico of this temple who is ignorant of letters and num- bers, and their combinations. These little marks, ' a, b, c,' and ' 1, 2, 3/ that seem in themselves to have no more meaning than the marks of birds' feet in the snow, are really the foundation of our civilization. There can be but little trade and commerce, and no literature, without these seemingly insignificant signs. In the use of figures wc are consistent, but in the use of letters we are incon- sistent. Figures always re])resent certain quantities or numbers, but letters are used arbitrarily; and long and weary is the task to find out what they mean.'' Mr Pitman spoke a good word for Spelling Reform, showed the incon- sistencies of our orthography, and demonstrated what Max Milller calls its " unteachable " character. For the sake of the rich, who learn it to a marvelous degree of accuracy, after years of toil ; and for the sake of the poor, who cannot learn it, he wished the Spelling Kcforni all success. PRESENTATION AT THE HOLBORN RESTAURANT. 173 This^ howevei', was not the end of the second series of Jubilee celebrations, for a few weeks later, on the 7th of March, an English gold Jubilee Medal was presented to Mr Pitman at a public dinner, at the Holborn Restaurant, under the presidency of the Hon. Viscount Biu-y, who, as already stated, had recently become a student of Phonography. " Fifty years ago," said his lordship, " Mr Pitman found shorthand in a very chaotic condition ; and a man who, out of such elements, could evolve a system which was brief, rapid, legible, and easily acquired, and which had so quickly taken the foremost place among shorthand methods, must be a remarkable man. But he had done more than that, for by his indomitable energy he had brought his system to such a position that the little seedling which he sowed fifty years ago was now spreading its branches over the civilised world." Again Mr. Pitman was called upon to express his acknowledgments. In the course of his speech he was able to announce that Phono- graphy had been adapted to the Malagasy language, by the Queen^s Private Secretary, who reported the speeches of the House of Representatives in Madagascar, and was hold- ing weekly classes for instruction in shorthand. He also alluded to the adaptation of Phonography to Spanish and Dutch, and was sanguine enough to avow his belief that his system would eventually be adapted to all languages, being founded on principles of universal application. Curiously enough on the very day on which this con- cluding Jubilee gathering, as it may be called, was held, Mr Pitman and his sons were taking possession of a new Phonetic Institute in Rath, the premises near the Abbey being found inadec^uate to meet the increasing necessities of the business. 17 4> ISAAC PITMAN. T/ie New Phonetic Insiituie, Bath. The building is situated near the Great Western Railway and the Midland Railway Goods Stations, and a mile from the centre of the city. It is a one-storeyed building, giving the maximum of light and the firmest foundation. Much of the w^ork of the Phonetic Institute is now taken off Mr Pitman's shoulders, but he still carries on an extensive correspondence, edits his weekly journal, and takes a leading part in the issue of the many publications that pass through his press. On small slips of paper, which are always by his side, he writes in Phonography half a dozen letters while most men would be laboring through one. The author has I'eceived hundreds of such letters from him, (many of them discussing minutely the details of his system,) -which in all probability would never have been written if longhand had l)een the only available channel of communication. The following letter will be of interest as revealing a noteworthy trait in Mr Pitman's character. A SHORTHAND LETTER. 175 S^ -7 ^ y 176 ISAAC PITMAN. Bath, 30th March, 1886. Isaac Pitman to Thomas Allen Reed. Ton have removed the only objection I felt to the vigor- ous prosecution of the Jubilee of Phonography, and its advocacy in the Phonetic Journal, by suggesting that whatever sum be i-aised as a thank-offering should be utilized for the extension of Phonography. This has my hearty approval. I am happy to say I need no addition to the income I derive from the copyright of Phonography. But I think a better ap- propriation of the funds will be f oiind than the institution of prizes for the best and swiftest wi-iters. This would seem to involve the holding of the championship gold medal for the year. Think what labor and anxiety would attend the examination of several hundreds or thousands of specimens of wi-iting, and after a decision had been come to nobody would be a " pin " the better, not even the winners. If it is a defect in my mental constitution to be without " emulation " [or jealousy] one of " the works of the flesh" {Gal. 5. 20), I suppose I must bear it with all contentment, but I confess that I never, as a boy or a man, felt a wish to rival or outstrip another, but only to excel my former self. But we need not now consider this part of the Jubilee. I shall be glad to assist in any way I can, with the Journal at my back. Farewell. The proceedings of the Congress were published in an 8vo volume of 460 pages, entitled, " Transactions of the First International Shorthand Congress, held in London from September .2Gth to October 1st, 1887." An Appendi.x of 48 pages was added giving a Catalogue of 1,451 volumes of shorthand systems, pamphlets and periodicals, etc., on the history, use, and extension of shorthand, in English, French, and German. These volumes were exhibited at St Jameses Hall Restaurant, Piccadilly. The book was speedily out of print. The proceedings of Wednesday have since been published separately. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 177 Mr Pitman is now (1890) in his 78th year. Rising generally between half-past four and five o'clock, he reads as part of his morning devotion, a portion of Swedeiiborg's exposition of the Spiritual Sense of the Scriptures, then walks a mile to his office, and arrives there at six o'clock. He continues his labors, with brief intervals for breakfast, lunch and half - an - hour's siesta, until half- past - five. Sometimes he goes out to an evening meeting or a concert. He takes a great interest in all the public movements of the day, especially such as relate to educational and social advancement, but is too much absorbed in his own special sphere of labor to take any prominent part in their pro- motion. He has often been solicited to join the municipal body ; and a pressing invitation was given to him last year, in order that the Town Council might oflfer him the mayoralty. But he has had no ambition in that direc- tion, and has contented himself with the ])osition of a private citizen. Speaking in 1818, in Nottingham, he said, "I am now 35 years of age. My father, an eldest son, is Gl, and is scarcely past the prime of life ; and his father, who is 81, gives promise of a few more years in this world. And I have further to add that when I was seven years of age I attended my great-grandfather's funeral. I hope, then, that through the Divine mercy, I may reach the age of 80, and in the 15 years of this period yet to come I fully expect to see phonetic printing so far established that a return to unphonetic spelling will be impossible." As far as age is concerned he has nearly realised his expectation, and still possesses an amount of mental and bodily vigor which gives ample promise of its complete fulfilment. If in re- gard to phonetic spelling his anticipations have hardly 178 ISAAC PITMAN. been fulfilled^ lie has lived to see his ideas adopted by the greatest philologists of the age, and may look forward with a well-founded confidence to their general acceptance at no distant period. As a shorthand inventor it would be difficult to imagine a more complete triumph than that which he has achieved, and he still pursues the even tenor of his way. " Mr Pitman's personal character/' says the Echo, " almost unique in its modest bearing and endeavor^ the Franklin-like simplicity of his mode of living, with other cognate traits of character, combine to distinguish him as one of the most remarkable, as he has been one of the most useful, men of his generation." PRESENT POSITION OP PHONOGRAPHY. 179 CHAPTER XII. THE PRESENT POSITION OE PHONOGRAPHY, This inemoir would be incomplete without a brief state- ment of the position at present attained by Mr Pitman's system of Phonography^ and the extent to which it is taught and practised throughout the country. The object for which Isaac Pitman published his little " Stenogra- phic Soundhand/' namely, that every boy in the land should have an opportunity of acquiring the art, has been practically realised. His system of Phonography is to-day universal in English-speaking countries, and such are the changed conditions of society, that not only has every youth a chance of learning shorthand, but he is almost driven by circumstances to learn it. "The invention of Phonography," it has becm said, " deserves to rank, and does rank in the minds of those who know its uses, with the great inventions of the nineteenth century, along with the steam engine, the telegraph, the sewing machine, and the telephone. Not indeed so potent in its influences on the welfare of humanity as some of these, it is yet unquestion- ably one of the greatest mental triumphs which are the principal causes of civilization." To-day, Phonography is virtually doing the shorthand writing and reporting of the English-speaking world, and there is no other steno- graphic system that can approach it in the extent to which it is taught and used. The last few years, dating perhaps from the celebration of the Phonographic Jubilee 13* 180 ISAAC PITMAN. and the International Shorthand Congress, have witnessed the most rapid strides in this direction. Lord Rosebery's opinion as to the absolute necessity of shorthand in the clerical work of the future has been unhesitatingly accepted, and the signs of its acceptance are visible on all hands. Not only is the art extensively taught in the public and private schools of the country, but in evei-y large town, and in many of the smaller ones, colleges and schools have been formed for the express purpose of facilitating its acqui- sition. From the high-class foundation schools, lite Rugby and Malvern, to the humble Board School evening classes, where the teaching is gratuitous, or given at merely nominal fees, there exists a chain of educational institu- tions which practically places a knowledge of Phonography within the reach of everyone who wishes to acquire it. Under the new Education Code of 1890, shorthand forms one of the fifteen " Specific Subjects," any two of which can be taken by the scholars in Standards V., VI., VII., in any of the 20,000 Board Schools of Great Britain. A grant is given of 4s. per head per annum, and the study is spread over a period of three years. In practice the time is not so long, as most of the scholars leave before the completion of the three years. Grants of 2^. per head are also given in Board School evening classes, which are a Continuation scheme of Education for scholars who have left the Board School day classes. The Technical Instruc- tion Act of 1889 provided for instruction in commercial subjects, including shorthand, but very few towns availed themselves of its provisions ; and there was no contribu- tion from the Imperial Treasury in aid of local effort. Now, however, grants arc given in addition to the local sums expended ; and Sheffield, one of the first towns to PHONOGRAPHIC PUBLICATIONS. 181 avail itself of the provisions of the Act, has included Pho- nography as a form of instruction required in that district* Shorthand also Hnds a place as an optional subject in the Oxford and Cambridge Local Examinations, and though no specific system is prescribed, nearly all the candidates are writers of Phonography. The subject, too, is included in the programme of the Society of Arts, and while the writers of all systems are admitted to these examinations, Phono- graphy is specially recommended to the candidates, and the recommendation is almost universally adopted. From the most recently compiled statistics it appears that the number of persons receiving profccsional instruc- tion in Phonography throughout the kingdom in February, 1890, was 37,767, of whom 34,739 were males. These stndents were taught in 1,200 colleges, schools, institu- tions, and private classes, by 875 teachers, 1 1 1 of whom teach in London. The number being taught for the whole of the previous year was 44,7''50. These figures do not include a very large number of persons who receive instruc- tion gratuitously from the members of the Phonetic Society, or from private friends, or are self-taught; and who, if added to the returns, would raise the total to a much higher figure. A better estimate can be gained of the num- ber of persons actually learning the system from the fact that 150,000 copies of the elementary instruction book, the " Phonographic Teacher," are purchased every year. An interesting feature in connection with Isaac Pitman's Phonography is the extent and variety of its literature. The instruction books and shorthand reading books number 84 ; and including all that have been issued from the com- mencement, many of which are now out of print, the total would exceed 150. Among the works printed entirely in 182 ISAAC PITMAN. Phonography may be mentioned the " Biblc/^ litho- graphed four times), " iEsop's Fables/' " Bacon's Essays," " Bladders Self-Culture/' the " New Testament " and the ''Book of Common Prayer" in numerous editions, " Paul Clifford," " Narrative of the Pilgrim's Progress," " Life of Alexander the Great," the " Church Service," the "Ancient Mariner," the poetical works of Cowper, " John Halifax," the " Pickwick Papers," " A Christmas Carol," " Oliver Twist," the " Vicar of Wakefield," " Gray's Elegy," " Tom Brown's Schooldays," the " Legend of Sleepy Hol- low," " Rasselas," " Macaulay's Biographies/' " Paradise Lost," "Waverley," '' Ivanhoe/' " Gulliver's Voyage to Lilliput," " Thankful Blossom " (Bret Harte), and many smaller works. Of the ''Phonographic Teacher," one million three hundred and seventy thousand copies lia\e been issued. Large numbers of these books go to the Colonies and to America, and as Mr Pitman has recently established a branch of his publishing business in New York (3 East Fourteenth Street), the probability is, that an increasing number will find their way across the Atlantic. The periodical literature of the system is also considerable. There are two weekly shorthand magazines, (the Phonetic Journal\\di\\n^ a circulation of 23, 000,) and seven monthlies, the latest addition being a phonographic edition of Tit-Bits, issued by the publishers of that periodical. There are 81 Shorthand Associations in the United Kingdom ; and tluac has recently been established in London the " National Phonographic Society," intended to constitute a large central body to promote the culture of Phonography and to raise the status of its practitioners. With reference to the professional use of shorthand, that is, for reporting puqioses, Phonography is practically PRESENT POSITION OF PHONOGRAPHY. 183 the only system in common use. From a census taken not long since among the principal London and provincial papers and news agencies, it appears that of 607 journalistic writers of shorthand 569 (or 93 per cent.) use Phonogra- phy. In America the system is used by 97 per cent, of the shorthand writers and reporters, and in Australia by 96 per cent. Among shorthand clerks and amanuenses Pitman's is almost the only method employed, and its use is often made a specific condition of employment. The advantage of a uniformity of method among writers engaged in a common service is, of course, as obvious as that of a uniformity of gauge on lines of railway. The system has now been before the public for fifty- three years, and it is probably an under-estimate to say that its practitioners in this country, in America, and in the Colonics, number half a million. It is not, of course, suggested that these are, in the ordinary sense of the term, shorthand writers, but a large proportion of them are earning their living, wholly or in part, by the use of Mr Pitman's invention, a competent knowledge of which is one of the most effectual passports to clerical employment and promo- tion. Many a young barrister, journalist, and litterateur, has been indebted to it, not only as a source of income in his earlier struggles, but as an instrument of training which has largely contributed to his ultimate success. And on these material grounds, scarcely less than on the many others set forth in this volume, the writer claims for his old friend and venerated chief a not inconspicuous position amouK the benefactors of mankind. THE GROWTH OF PHONOGRAPHY. 185 THE GROWTH OF PHONOGRAPHY: Or, a Compendious Summary of Changes and Improvements in Piltnati's Phonography since its Invention to the present time. By James Singleton. The First Edition, 1837, differs from the present edition in the fol- lowing respects, / / \\ V V J J r r A f>; /, v; ch, j ; s, z ; r f r p s/t, zh (Jown) ft, «', li'h. tw. dw. The letters were arranged in «, h^ c order. R had only one sign, the up- ward stroke ; which, when standing alone, was commenced with a tick i^ •| c I vl 1 1 e, (i, ah ; c I '> '') "' ' I "u. The straight letters were hooked initially for / and r as at present ; but the other abhreviatine principles were gradually introduced into the system, as will appear from what follows. Second Edition, 1840, was a Penny Plate, published simultaneously with the introduction of the Penny Post, loth January. In it the alphabet was changed to the present characters, with the exception of .^ r, and (.) or ^ /;. There were no consonant signs for w and j. Compound vowels, | i, \ oi, ^| ow, ^\ u, | wt, and -i| ivou. l\ we,ivaj',waA ; \] wau>, wo, uilo ; ^\ye,yay,yah; \2 yaw,yd,yod. Final hooks for /and r, as, J cord, \ part, j pelt, /Vj> resolve. Initial hooks for / and r added to curved letters, as v_ vl, "^ vr, <=_- ' nl, , \^ //>, were changed to n and fion respectively. The large hook not yet introduced. Loops for 5/ and sh; which had been introduced in the Phonographic journal for May, 1843, page 49 ; by an allegory, reprinted on page 424 of the Phonetic Jotirnal iox 1885. Eighth Edition, 1847, introduction of n hook before the treble con- sonants spr^ str, sir ; as ^\3 inspiratioyi, \j instrii{c)tion, a-^ inscri{^p)tion. Ninth Edition, 1852, new signs ^ r for lu and y ; <^ _y, C ivl, o^ w, <:r~N lum^ c ivfi, (T"^ nii\ <;_• nr. Curved letters made double-length to express the addition of thr, tr or dr. Tenth Edition, 1857, changed in the vowel scale from ;| (?, «, ah, to 'I ^'h <^i ^• / (downward) h. Hook for shon (7th edition I tshon') now made to represent f or V ; and shon represented by a larger hook. Eleventh Edition, 1862, w represented by o^ and ^ ; ^' by cr-^ and ( ; and h by cj and ^ Change in the initial hooks of (^ thl^ ^ thr, ^ fl, "^ fr, now become C and ^ thr, (^ and ^ //;/; ^ and ^ fr, ^ and ^ /. The two signs for thl, light and heavy, and the hooked right-hand curve iox fli have since been abandoned as useless. In, prefix, before the upward and downward h represented thus, ,^^ inhabit, J^ inhumaii. THE GROWTH OF PHONOGRAPHY. 187 Twelfth edition, 1868, C~ «'A /^ I'y ^\ rk, rg. 1869, introduction of the new signs C— kiv, Q_ slw, o^ and £^ ALONE for u\y. 1873, (X wh ; ^\ rc/i, rj. 1S84, further extension of double-length letters, under certain restric- tions, to straight characters. See Phonetic Journal^ 1884, pages 169, 205, 23S. 1887, a large initial circle used for sw ; thus, \ swp, Q iijuk ; and skw expressed by <2_ 1888, the A rcliy rj\ double consonant discontinued. A^ote. — In the Third and Fourth Editions there were no important changes. The editions, or issues, of 10,000 copies at a time, about twice a year, ceased to have distinguishing numbers after 1S68. 4 INDEX. 189 INDEX. American Spelling Reform Associ- ation, " Five Rules " for correct- ing spelling, 144 ; expounded in England, 144; final form of the '•Five Rules," 145 Angus, Dr, a spelling reformer, 133 Armstrong, Sir W., recommends shorthand and abbreviated long- hand, 105 Athemcum. 184G, extract from, 57 Ba^ster Samuel, letter to, 13 Barkas, Mr T. P., 33 Barton, Bernard, the Quaker poet writes versos against Phonogra- phy and the Spelling Reform, 40 Bath, celebration of the Phonogra- phic .Jubilee, 168 Bath Free Library, attempt to establish, 130 Bible in phonotypy, 53, 68 Bible Society, letter to, 13 Bickersteth, Rev. E., 46 Books published in phonetic short- hand, 181 Bright, John, presides at a phono- graphic lecture at Rochdale, and gives a valuable testimonial to Phonography, 44 British Association at Bath, 1864, paper on Phonography accepted, lOo Bunsen, Chevalier, summons a Spelling Reform meeting, 73 Bust of Mr Pitman proseutod to him at the Jubilee of Phonogra- phy, 163 Coltman, Mr, gives .£300 for print- ing tracts on the Spelling Reform, 129 Conference on Spoiling Reform at the Society of Arts, London, 1S77, 134 Copyright of Phonography, esti- mate of its value, 8'J Crabbe, tho poet, 6 " Dairyman's Daughter," short- hand edition of, 100 Dawson, George, becomes president of the Phonetic Society in 1854, 74 Deputation to Government on Spel- ling Reform, 141 Dixon, Hopworth, a member of the Phonetic Society, 50 Duodecimal Notation, 77 Early phonographic lecturers, 39, 42 Edgell Mr, cloth manufacturer, 1, 6, 10 Edinbuigh, Mr Pitman's visits to, 32, 146 Education Code of 1890, 179 Ellis, Dr A. J., hears of Phono- graphy and learns it, 42 English literature in 1800, 4 " Fivo Rules " for correcting spel- ling, 144, 145 Gladstone, Dr J. H., a spelling reformer, 133 Gurney-Salter, W. H., chairman of the Tercentenary Committee of the International Shorthand Con- gress, 159 Harland. John, of the Manchester Guardian, his testimony to Pho- nography, 43 Hill, Rowland, presides at a phono- graphic soire'e, 42 Hill, Thomas Wright, a spelling reformer, 41 International Shorthand Congress and Jubilee of Phonography, etc., 154 Jubilee of Phonography, 1887, 154 190 INDEX. Keene's Bath Journal offices, where the first phonetic printing was done, 47 Kinof, John, editor of the Suffolk Chronicle, 43 Kingston Buildings, the site of the Phonetic Institute, 116 ; view of, 127 Kingston House 10 Leeds Mercury reporter opposes Phonography, 46 Lloyd, J. R , wrote the trans- fers of " John Halifax, Gentle- man,'' and some other books, 113 Lounsbury, Prof., his denunciation of the common spelling, 148 Lowe, Hon Robert, a spelling reformer, 134 Luncheon at the Mansion House, London, in connection with the Phonographic Jubilee, 167 Mas Miiller, a spelling reformer, 80 Mikmak Indians in Xew Bruns- wick taught to read the Bible in their own language, ropre«ented phonetically, 81 Nightingale Mr, Schoolmaster at Trowbridge Grammar School, 2 Octonary Notation for numbering, 77 Pairing of consonants, and of long and short vowels as to their sounds in Phonography, 20 Parsonage lane, Bath, location of the Phonetic Institute, 76, 108, 114 Penny Post established, 10th Jan- uary, 1840, 28 Phonetic Alphabet for printing, 122 Phonetic Institute, a now building proposed, 84, 114 Phonetic Institute removed from Albion place, Upper Bristol road, Bath, to Parsonage lane, 75 Phonetic printing, specimens of, in the First and Second Stages of the Spelling Reform, 123 Phonographic Corresponding So- ciety established, 50 ; afterwards called the Phonetic Society Phonographic Festivals — Birmingham, 41 Manchester, 40 Nottingham, 40 Phonographic Journal, 1842, 34 ; facsimile of first page, 36 " Phonographic Vocabulary," or Shorthand Dictionary, 70 Phonography, first conception of, 19 ; first edition, 21 ; second edition, 29 Phonotypy, first conception of, 33, 38 Pitman, Isaac : — Accident in the Turkish bath, 119 Address at the Spelling Reform Conference, London (1877), 135 American gold jubilee medal, 1G8 Barton-on-Humber, appointed to British School at, 11 Bible read for marginal refer- ences, 12, 14 British and Foreign School, London, entered training col- lege, August, 1831, 11 Business commenced, 6 Bust of, 163 ; replica, 173 Copyright of Phonography, in- fringement of, action at law, Pitman v. Hine, 148 Death of his mother (1857), 3 Desires to teach his elder pupils shorthand ; no cheap instruc- tion book, 19 Duodecimal notation proposed, 77 Food Reform Jo2a-7ial, quotation from, relating why ho com- menced his vegetarian diet, 48 Homo school established, 3 Lecturing tours on Phonogra- phy, 32 Loans raised to carry on the Spelling Reform, 82 jNlarriago, first, 15 Methodist connection, local broach in the, 12 ]\Iusioal studies, 4, 93, 95, 97 Now Church doctrines received; dismissed from his school, 16 Phonographic .lubilee, 154 INDEX. 191 Pitman Isaac : — Portrait presented at Bath cele- bration of Phonographic Jubi- lee, 168 Presentation of £350 and a time- piece, 86 Portrait of (1845), 55; (1887),1G8 Reading, fond of, (> Religiously disposed, 3 Removes from Barton to Wotton- under-Edgo, 11 ; to Bath, 27 School given up, 1843, 39 School left at tho ago of twelve, 2 Shorthand learned, 9 Times, letter to, on vegetarian- ism, 47 Transfer writing, or lithography, 70 Vegetarianism. 47 " Walker's Dictionary," read through twice," S "Wotton-under-Edge, removes to, II Pitman, Samuel, father of Isaac, 1 ; studies astronomy, and becomes an astrologer. 5 ; assists at the London publishing house, 56 Pitman, Jacob, 1, 97 Pitman, Joseph, commences lec- turing on Phonography, and teaching it, 39 Pitman, Ben, commences lecturing on Phonoaraphy throughout England, 39; manager of the London phonographic depOt, 1845, 56 Pitman, Henry, commences to travel and lecture on Phono- graphy, 39 Pitman. Frederick, travels and teaches Phonography, 39 ; under- takes the London publishing business, 56; death, 153 Pos.tman at Baih gets a Christmas box from phonographers, 30 Rand, Rev. S. T., Missionary to the Mikmak Indians, 81 Reed. T. A., his introduction to Phonography, 31 ; suggests tho formation of a Phonographic Corresponding Society, 50 ; ac- companies Joseph Pitman on his lecturing tours, 39 ; presides at a phonetic meeting at tho Y.M.C.A., London (l.Sf;2). for presenting Jlr Pitman with £350, 86 ; presides at tho Phonographic Juliilee, 159, 162 " Reporter's Assistant," prepara- tion of, 112 Rosobery, Lord, president of the International Shorthand Con- gress, 160 Sayco, Rev. A. H., Professor of Philology, a spelling reformer, 134 Sale of phonographic books, 71 " Sancto Spiiitus '' set to music, 95 School Board of London recom- mends the adoption of the pho- netic alphabet in teaching read- ing, 133, 141 Shorthand in England before the publication of Phonography, 1837, 18 Shorthand printing done by metal types, 120; specimens of, 121 Spectator opposes Spelling Reform, 143 Spelling Reform Association, 1879, 142 Spelling Reform Conference, Lon- don, 1877, 134 "Stenographic Sound-hand," 21; the system, 22, 23 Sunday Schools — Church of En- gland, aad Zion Chapel, 6 Temple, Dr, Bishop of Exeter, now of London, a spelling reformer, 135 Tojuple of English literature, 172 Tercentenary of Shorthand, 155 Thomson and Ramsey, Professors, Glasgow College, their recom- mendation of Phonography, 37 Trovelyan, Sir Walter C., offers prizes for the two best essays on Spelling Reform. 79 "Visible Speech " (Mr A. M. Bell's), 111 Wehlon's lief/ister describes ^Ir Pitman's daily work, 97 B, 0. BAKKH 7^r^^ r / UNIYKKSrrY ot CALlFOKI^lA C^ AT LOS ANGELES UCLA-Young Research Library Z53.P68 R2 y lllllllllilill llillllll illllii III i iiili ill ml L 009 586 410 4