Short hand

There is a Notion prevails among many People, to yͤ prejudice of all kinds of Short-hand; which is this. That when a Person sets down a Memorandum in his pocket Book in Short-hand, it is lost, in caſe of Death or any other accident, to yͤ rest of yͤ World, though it may contain things of great Consequence to other People. [...] I affirm, [...] that if any Person makes use of my long Short hand, which he will certainly do, in caſe he deſigns that what he writes should be read by another Person, it will be as legible to any one acquainted with this Art, as if it was writ in Round Hand.

All ſhort Hands are ſubject to Ambiguity; for there being but 8 Marks to repreſent 24 Letters, and thoſe 8 being uſed for 8 of them in the Short Hand Alphabets, the other Letters muſt be deſcribed by Characters compounded of theſe 8.

A is denoted by a dot at the top of the Short-hand line; [...] The vowel a, in Short-hand, is used for the article a, or ah; [...]

[...] I was soon convinced, that our articles a an the should also be omitted: especially as the two former are comparatively infrequent, and the latter a perpetual incumbrance in other Short-hands.

In writing shorthand words are always to be spelled as they are sounded, and without any regard to orthography.

A good Short-hand must be easy, swift, and legible.

Now, if you are wise, and would shorthand acquire, / Just throw your old text-books straight into the fire. / Then take up Light-Line—in the matter of speed, / There's nothing can beat it—of this take good heed. / 'Tis most easy to learn, to read and in fine— / No shorthand can equal GREGG'S MODERN LIGHT-LINE.

The origin of shorthand writing has been variously attributed to the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. It is not unlikely that some form of stenography, or method of (comparatively) rapid writing by means of signs or characters briefer than those of the script ordinarily in use, was developed independently among the penmen or scribes of many early nations. [...] But the natural eagerness of stenographers to claim great antiquity for their art has sometimes tempted them to cite as references to shorthand passages which do not necessarily bear any such meaning.