Among the more recent systems, that of Dr. Byrom deservedly occupies a very prominent position. He succeeded in forming an alphabet at once simple, precise, and practicable, as well as in rendering the general details of his theory exceedingly clear and intelligible. His system was incomparably superior to any which had preceded it. Although the treatise was completed by the year 1720, it was not published till 1767, after the death of the author, who, as he depended for support principally upon private tuition, obtained an act of par liament for the security of his invention. The doctor, in 1749, printed fifty copies of his work for the use of his particular friends. Since its publication it has been edited by several persons. Mr. Thomas Moli neux, of Macclesfield, published an edition which he entitled An Introduction to Mr. Byrom's Universal English Shorthand,' which was popular for many years ; and some years later, Mr. William Gawtress, of Leeds, published a Practical Introduction to Shorthand' upon the general principles of Byrom, which is one of the cheapest and most useful manuals of shorthand which ever appeared.
The system next deserving of notice is that of Taylor, which made its appearance in 1786, and is entitled An Essay intended to establish a standard for a universal System of Stenography or Shorthand Writing.' This author's system is superior to that of Byrom in several particulars ; but principally in a greater brevity and simplicity of the alphabet, and the facility with which the various characters may be joined to each other ; all points of the utmost value and importance. Some useful practical improvements upon Taylor's system have been made in Mr. Harding's treatise on the art. Dr. Mayor's system, though it obtained considerable popularity, is inferior to that of Taylor, on account of his alphabet requiring a greater number of strokes of the pen, and the characters being more difficult of junction. Since the publication of Dr. Mayor's treatise, many others of various degrees of excellence have been published, but it is needless to enumerate them ; those who desire further information as to the history of the art will find much valuable matter in Mr. Lewis's Historical Account of Shorthand.' The alphabets on the next page will in some measure illustrate a portion of the foregoing remarks as to the improvements which have from time to time taken place.
To shorthand writers we owe full reports of the proceedings of par liament, of public meetings, and of the courts of law. The newspaper press has indeed given a powerful stimulus to the cultivation of the art, by affording a respectable livelihood to a numerous body of in dividuals. In addition to what it has done for the daily and weekly press in particular, shorthand is used for taking down sermons, scientific scientific or other subjects, shorthand may be studied with great advantage. The art, however, is not to be acquired without the lectures, &e. By students of divinity, medicine, law, or others, who may wish to preserve the whole or parts of discourses or lectures on diligent application of many months, and It also requires considerable manual dexterity, though worthless treatises and travelling teachers of stenography occasionally assert the contrary.
We shall now give a brief summary of the principles of stenography, according to the system of Taylor, as improved by Harding.
Of the vowels are represented by points, a period standing for a, e, and i, and a comma for o and u. The single con sonants of the shorthand alphabet amount only to sixteen, c and z being rejected as unnecessary, the former having both a hard and a of sound, similar to k and a, as In the words "command " and " sen tence ;" a is therefore always substituted for a, where the letter has a soft sound, and k where it has a hard sound : f and v, being similar in sound, are both represented by the same character. For the same reason, g and jars represented by one character, as are also k and q. Characters are also assigned to double consonants, such as eh, sh, and th. These double consonants conduce to both perspicuity and ex Pe' Mien• The vowels are distinguished from each other by their position. For instance, should the period be placed over the top of a consonant, it signifies a; if placed against the side, or opposite the centre of the consonant, it becomes e; if placed at the bottom i. The personal pronoun I is represented by a mark similar to the top part of a note of admiration. The comma is o when placed in the same situation as the dot or period for a, and u when in the same situation as the clot for e. Where vowels have been generally omitted, either through the haste of transcribing remarks on any subject, or for expedition in following a speaker, they ought, where such a course is rendered necessary, to be supplied immediately afterwards, while the subject written is fresh in the recollection of the writer. In all words which have neither incipient, terminative, nor long vowels, no middle vowel should be expressed unless some peculiarity may render it expedient or necessary to deviate from this general rule. A word of more than one syllable, having a long vowel in it, must generally have that vowel expressed, because tho long vowel being found in that syllable which is most distinctly heard in pronunciation, affords the greatest help in reading; at the same time, however, when a word of more than one syllable consists of several consonants, oven the long vowel may be frequently omitted. The various characters of the alphabet represent, when placed by themselves, a number of small words. For example, the a or an is written by dot; the and also and by a comma, the former being written above the line, and the latter below. The consonant b represents the word be, by, been ; d, do, did, done ; f, of, of, if; g, God, give, go, good ; h, hare, lie; k, know, known ; 1, Lord, all, will, and so on throughout the alphabet. For the attainment of practical proficiency in the art, it is necessary that the alphabet should be acquired so perfectly as to be written correctly four times in a minute. It is necessary also in this place to explain that d and r, which in the alphabet appear to be precisely the same in form, aro distinguished by the former, when joined to another consonant, being written downwards, and the latter upwards.