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a whole theatre of others. Oh! there be players that I have feen play, and heard others praife, and that highly (not to speak it profanely), that neither having the accent of Chrif tians, nor the gait of Chriftian, Pagan, nor Man, have fo ftrutted and bellowed, that I have thought fome of nature's journeymen had made men, and not made them well; they imitated humanity fo abominably.

"O, reform it altogether. And let thofe that play your clowns, fpeak no more than is fet down for them; for there be of them, that will themfelves laugh, to fet on fome quantity of barren spectators to laugh 100; though in the mean time fome neceffary question of the play be then to be confidered: --that's villainous; and fhews a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it."

CHAP.

CHAP. II.

OF PENMANSHIP.

SECT. I.

RULES FOR THE ATTAINMEnt of the art of WRITING.

THERE is no part of literature acquired with less difficulty than the art of writing. Few people, be their capacities ever fo mean, are incapable of learning this. Hence we see fo many, who, though ignorant of the more early parts of fcience, fuch as English grammar, and even fpelling good English, yet can write a tolerably good hand. This is a glaring fault; for the more correct the permanfhip, the more does it difplay the orthographical and grammatical errors. I therefore advise all those who may have occafion to write much, to make themfelves perfectly acquainted with what has been delivered in the former chapter concerning English grammar. I trust it need not be mentioned, that they should render themfelves perfect in spelling; every one knows the neceffity of this, and the ridicule and contempt which only one or two words wrongly fpelled bring upon the writer.

I fhall proceed to give a few directions, by the help of which an inexperienced perfon may qualify himself in this

art

art; and without which, though perhaps deemed fuperfluous by fome, a work of this kind might poffibly appear deficient.

It is neceflary that the learner be provided with the implements requifite for writing; a good pen, and good free ink; without which it is impoffible to write a fair copy; a round or flat ruler (the round one is ufed for dispatch, and the flat one for furenefs), a leaden plummet, or black lead pencil, to rule the lines, without which the learner will never write ftraight; and some pounce, or gum fandrack powder, to rub the paper with, if it be too thin to bear the ink, and when bold hands are to be written, as large text, German text, of the like; alfo when a word or fentence is fcratched out with the penknife, in which cafe, the place muft first be rubbed fmooth with the haft of the knife, or a piece of clean paper, and then rubbed with the pounce, to enable it to bear the ink. A quarto-fized copy-book is the moft proper, as each page will contain a copy of ten or a dozen lines, which will be fufficient to write at one time,

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Being provided with thefe implements, the learner may proceed to practice. The lines fhould be ruled straight and eyen, and at the fame distance from each other, at the dotted lines, marked No. 1, in the plate. The diftance between every two lines of writing fhould be about twice or three times the diftance which there is between the two pencil lines that belong to the fame line of writing; though this is often more or lefs, according to the caprice of the writer.

The pen must be held in the right hand, between the thumb and the fore and middle fingers. The middle finger must be placed on the back of the pen, oppofite to the upper part of the cut or cradle of the pen, and the fore-finger clofe to it, and both held ftraight. The thumb must be placed against the oppofite fide of the pen, called the belly of the quill, and must be bent a little in the joint. The top of the pen fhould point towards the right fhoulder. The elbow fhould be drawn in towards the body, but not too clofe. The

arm

arm may reft lightly on the edge of the defk, or table, be tween the elbow and the wrist ; but the stomach fhould not press against the desk. The pen must be held very lightly for if it be griped hard, the learner will never acquire an ease and expedition in writing. 19

The learner, having acquired a juft habit of holding the pen, may copy the fmall lettersi, e, o; having his lines ruled according to the dotted lines in the plate. He may next copy the other small letters; taking care to be perfect in each, before he proceeds to the next. Then the capital letters; ruling his copy in fquares, according to the pattern in the plate; and alfo join-hand copies, as foon as he can make the capitals. When the learner can write an indifferent good sound-hand text, he may proceed to the fmall round-band, and running hand; in writing which last, the pen should never be taken off the paper till the word is finished...

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The learner fhould imitate the beft copies. Copper-plate copies are to be preferred to those written by the pen, as being more correct. Those fmall letters which have tops or tems, as b, d, f, h, k, l, f, must all be of the fame height, And those with tails, as f, g, j, p, q, S, 7, must be all of the fame length. A due distance must be observed between the words, and between the letters of the fame word. The capitals must be all of the fame fize. The upright ftrokes, or those that are formed by the upright ftroke of the pen, must be fine or hair strokes; and the downright frokes must be fuller and blacker; but a constant attention to the copy would in a great measure fuperfede the neceffity of most of the foregoing rules, The learner should not fit long at one time, left he grow tired of learning, in which cafe he will not improve; nor be ambitious of writing faft, for five or fix lines, well written, will improve the learner more than fifty lines, written in the fame time, withour attention their correctness.

When the learner has arrived to fome proficiency in writing, it is requifite that he know how to make and mend

his pen. This is fooner to be acquired by an attentive obfervance of those who can make a pen well than by any verbal directions; the following rules, however, may be of fervice. Being provided with a good goofe quill (those called feconds are the best), fcrape the fcurf from it, with the back of the penknife, fcraping the back of the quill most, that the flit may be clear; then cut the quill half through, near the end, on the back part; and cut the other fide of the quill quite through, near half an inch from the end. The quill will now appear forked; next cut away a very short flit in the back notch, where the flit of the pen is to be; and putting the peg of the penknife haft, or the end of another quill, under this flit, and holding the nail of the left thumb pretty hard on the back of the quill, as high as it is intended the flit fhall go, with a quick fudden force rend up the flit: it must be very fudden and quick, that the flit may be clear andiclofe; for if the flit be clear and clofe, that it cannot be feen through, it is done well. Then, by several neceffary cuts, the quill is to be brought into the form of a pen ; and having brought it to a fine point on each side of the flit, it is to be nibbed in this manner; place the infide of the nib on the left thumb nail, holding the pen between the fore and middle fingers of the left hand, and enter the knife at the extremity of the nib, and cut it through a little floping; then, with an almoft downright cut of the knife, cut off the nib; laftly, by other proper cuts, the pen is to be brought nto an handsome form. But the nib is not afterwards to be mended by any cutting or scraping, for that causes a roughnefs, and abfolutely fpoils it. If the nib, therefore, be altered or mended with the knife after it is nibbed, it must be nibbed again, as before directed. And obferve that the breadth of the nib must be equal to the breadth of the downright firokes of the letters.

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