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I. IS
SIR i;
J.I J
HARVARD COLLEGE
LIBRARY
TBANSFERKED
FBOM TBB
GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
/y/=?fc;,/,''
1/ \J(A-kiii
CONTENTS.
Chap. I. vSir Isaac Pitman; His Life and Labors Page 5
2. Isaac Pitman's Youthful Days
3. The Father and Mother of the Pitman Family . .
" 4. Melissa, the First-born
5. The Start in Life as Schoolmaster
•' 6. Correction of the Comprehensive Bible . .
" 7. First Glimpses of the New and True
'• 8. As Inventor
9. Phonographic Evolution
10. Early Promulgation of Phonography in England .
11. Isaac Pitman's Physical and Mental Traits . . .
12. Happj' is the Man Whose Joy in Life is His
Daily Work
13. Spending vs. Wrecking Life on a Thought. . . .
14. The Unsophisticated
15. Marriage vs. A Mission
•' 16. Altruistic Labors
17. Phonographic Jubilee
18. His Copyright
19. Dr. Alexander John Ellis
" 20. Alphabetic Reform
" 21. Unsettled Points in Pronunciation
" 22. The Inventor's "Poverty"
" 23. Bell's Visible Speech
24. Decimal vs. Duodecimal Systems
25. His Last Attempt at Improvement
t(
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ct
1 1
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35
41
45
53
63
75
87
95
lOI
105
117
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129
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155
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175
i8r
187
191
' c
J
IN my observation of mea in different conditions of life, I have
not known another whose unremitting, long-continued and
unselfish labors in furtherance of any educational, scientific,
religious or social project, would parallel those of my brother
Isaac Pitman. I have never known another who devoted the
physical and mental energies of more than sixty years of life to
the development of one idea. Such devotion, in a limited field of
thought, might seem more deserving of censure than praise, . But
when it is borne in mind that it has taken more than six thousand
years to give the world so useful, yet so imperfect, a scheme
of alphabetic representation as the present script and typic Roman
alphabets, and that the aim of Isaac Pitman was to correct and
complete, in stenographic writing, longhand script, and printing,
this great instrument of civilization, it may be conceded, what is
self-evident to every phonetician and intelligent phonographer,
that the development and practical application of the phonetic
principle to the arts of writing and printing could only have
attained their present comparative excellence and wide-spread
6 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
acceptance in so brief a period by the entire devotion of one
earnest mind, and the collaboration of tens of thousands ;of
enthusiastic helpers. The project to which Isaac Pitman's life
was devoted was so far-reaching in its aims and use, was one in-
volving the discussion of so many thousand questions of detail,
in which mind, eye, hand and habit were all concerned, and upon
which every intelligent person might have a distinct opinion ;
was one in which so many subtle, technical diflSculties were in-
volved — of which only experts, after years of study, would be
qualified to give an unprejudiced judgment, — that it cannot be
regarded other than singularly fortunate that one so fitted by
study and habit should be found willing and able to give his life
to the solution of the problem.
That Isaac Pitman and his thousands of adherents, in the old
and new world, have accomplishee so much in the extension and
use of a philosophic system of writing, is due to the admitted
usefulness of the art, and to the intelligence and enthusiasm with
which its admirers have labored. That they have, collectively,
accomplished so little in inducing the English-speaking race to
accept a more reasonable and philosophic script and typic repre-
sentation of the language, is due to the fact that a new scheme
antagonizes the settled thought and habits of people, and to the
equally important fact that the reform deals with the representa-
tion of human speech, which is, by each individual, necessarily
regarded from a different standpoint; while the practical repre-
sentation of this varying speech will be received with varying de-
grees of respect and acceptation by each of the different organisms
to which it appeals. What is more diflScult of scientific analysis
than human speech? What could be more evasive than an in-
vestigation of the nature, and the classification and nomenclature
of the labial, dental and guttural explodents, checks, hisses, buzz-
es, hums and trills that, with vowels as connecting links, make
our rapidly-moving vocal organism the means of expressii
thought and feeling? And greatly is the difl5culty increas<
when the attempt is made to picture to the eye each of these
debatable sounds, in stenographic, in ordinary script, and in typic
form, by the best available signs. It is not surprising, therefore,
though it is to be regretted, that what Isaac Pitman esteemed the
more important part of his life's labor, should have passea into
history as "a failure." Justin McCarty, in his "History of Our
INTRODUCTORY. 7
Own Times," says, *'On January 22, 1897, there died a man who
had occupied his whole quiet, noble life with two theories, one of
which was a complete success, and the other, up to this time, an
absolute failure. All his life long he workee- at the realization
of his two theories, in the full belief that he was thereby doing
some good for the human race. He remained faithful to his pur-
pose through his life. His aim was to lighten the load of the
heavily laden. Sir Isaac Pitman's system of^^Shprthand was a
complete success. His principle of phonetic spelling has not ad-
vanced one single step since he first tried to set it in movement."
Our historian, who is a member of the British Parliament, is
probably more familiar with matters of state than with educa-
tional history. Great reforms, especially those involving some
radical change in the habits of a people, are necessarily of slow,
almost imperceptible growth. But shall we claim that Christian-
ity is a failure, because, up to this time, greed and selfishness,
rather than the love of the neighbor, is too often the rule of civil-
ized life? It is an oversight to speak of the( Phonetic reform for
which Isaac Pitman labored as eqibracing "two theories." Pho-
netic truth is one, whether applied to a stenographic, a common
script, or a typic representation of the language. A theory that
has, during the past half century, won over an army of advocates,
that has been accepted and tested, in a thousand instances, in
private life and in public schools, and shown to be the easiest and
speediest means of reading English, both in Phonetic and
Romanic type ; that has been pleaded for by statesmen, philolo-
gists, philanthropists and educators, individually and in public
conventions ; a theory that has entered into and modified every
English and American primary reading and spelling book, and
that has been accepted and used, with varying modifications, in
every important English dictionar}'^ publish€«-of late years, can-
not, in fairness, be called an entire failure.
But the prime factor on which success or failure is to be
predicated, is not so much the acceptance, as the relative com-
pleteness of the scheme, which Isaac Pitman formulated to
achieve a^^Hting and Printing Reform. And no verdict on this
question can be just that does not take into account the five dis-
tinct phases of intellectual and practical work on which my
brother's life was spent. They were, (i) the attainment of a cor-
rect analysis of English Speech; (2) the invention of a brief.
8 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
philosophic and practical Shorthand ; (3) providing a convenient
and facile phonetic ^^iript i^phabet; (4) providing a full and
complete Phonotypic Alphabet ; (5) the attainment, for tempo-
rary use, of an acceptable ^mended ^Spelling, by means of the
present Roman types.
The success of the first and second phases of thev^pionetic
(R)eform is not questioned; and the speedy and wide success of a
convenient and philosophic SJiorthand is probably less due to the
completeness of the scheme than to the general want that was felt
by the intellectual and business world for some reliable, brief sys-
tem which would relieve the writer from the slow and tedious
longhand in common use. The success or failure of the third and
fourth phases of the proposed reform, is a question that should de-
pend upon the completeness and efi&ciency of the means ofifered to
meet the ends desired, and any decision here is valueless that does
not come from one who has made a special study of the necessary
requirements and difficulties which the question involves. The
fifth phase of the reform is the problem which is being slowly
worked out in England, but with somewhat greater earnestness
in this country, and the adoption of an Amended ^Si>elling will,
in time, lead to the acceptance of Isaac Pitman's dream, a full
and complete phonetic representation of the language,-^Stenog-
raphic, Script, and 'Jy pic. To what extent this has been attained,
the causes of its acceptance or rejection, the modification of my
brother's belief as to the best means of attaining the ultimate
adoption of a strictly phonotypic standard, — these are some of the
incidents told in these pages. Difficult and complex was the
problem which Isaac Pitman accepted as his life's work, and, a
wise decision in the settlement of details was not always reachee:
It may seem unbrotherly to say, but if phonetic history is to be
impartially recorded, it must be set down that Isaac Pitman's earn-
est nature led him to hasty conclusions in important matters of
detail ; he adopted changes and imaginary improvements, both in
Phonography and Phonotypy, when patience, study and further
tests would have shown their inexpediency and disadvantage ; and
thus, he often impeded the spread of the arts he so earnestly
sought to establish, and the time, labor and argument incidental
to many of his changes were doubled in his effi^rts to unmake
them.
Probably no man that ever lived could be safely taken by
INTRODUCTORY. 9
another as a model; certainly not Isaac Pitman. Yet he was the
most transparent, unsophisticated, generous, serious, methodical,
industrious and pure-minded soul I ever knew. He was self-cen-
tered, but his mental vision was so straightforward that it w^as
often confined to a very narrow angle. No one was ever en-
dowed with that supernatural vision which enabled him, from one
standpoint, to look quite round a given problem. If the average
man of intelligence has a mental as well as a physical range of
vision of one hundred and thirty-five degrees, my brother's men-
tal angle would often be an acute one of about one-half of this.
Thus early is this judgment hazarded, in a loving way, to make
intelligible some passages told of his unique career. Isaac Pitman's
main characteristic was his persevering, unswer\''ing, methodical
industry. Such was his concentration of thought and energy for
his special mission and its incidental labors, that everything else
in life was willingly sacrificed; he thus accomplisheia-in his life's
span more literary work than any other man I know of. Jules
Verne, it is said, boasts having written as many books as he had
lived years — more than seventy. Isaac Pitman wrote, compiled,
or made more than two hundred and fifty books and booklets,
ranging all the way from Bibles, l^ictionaries, and yearly volumes
Qr(piionographic and (Phonetic Journals, to (^^nuals, leaders and
^^mers. My brother made many of his books after the fashion
of the work of the old monastic scribes, befone the invention of
printing, in that he wrote — that is, lithographw — the page which
was to meet the reader's eye. In all this work there was never a
thought of personal merit, possible honor, or pecuniary gain. As
he was his own publisher, so was he his own proof-reader, and
authors who see only "revised" proofs of their writing and in the
customary characters, know little of the perplexities of the aver-
age "first proofs" of a new style, and would, as a rule, be quite
unequal to the task of righting their varied typic wrongs. Mj-
brother's correspondence was immense : the discussion of theoret-
ical points, phonographic and phonetic experiments, letters of
encouragement to phonographers, and letters accompanying par-
cels of books, tracts, and documents, occupied, it is safe to say,
nearly one-half of his customary sixteen hours of daily duty.
f
■^ ^
ISAAC PITMAN was the third _■! __■__!_ -lidren born to
Samuel and Mariah Pitman, at Trowbridge, Wiltshire. The
family consisted of seven boys and four girls. The sixth
child, Abraham, who gave evidence of unusual mechanical and
inventive ingenuity, died at the age of fifteen ; all the rest lived
to arrive at maturity, and nine of the ten, — Rosella, alone, remain-
ing unmarried, — became the parents of families.
Isaac in his youth was of a diligent and studious habit. He
was of a sensitive nature, inclined to be thoughtful, regarding
life and its duties as matters of grave concern. He was impulsive
only in rendering services to others. His elder brother, Jacob, in
speaking of their youthful days, said: "Isaac never had any
of that rollicking nonsense about bim peculiar to most of us boys,
nor do I remember his ever stopping on his way firom school to
play, but home directly he went, either to his books or to his
work." Isaac received his early training in the grammar school
of his native town, and left when he bad just passed his thir-
teenth year, having acquired only the elements of a common, but
good, English education. He was taken from school mainly in
consequence of his yielding, during school hours, to fainting
spells, supposed at the time to be due to physical weakness, but
which were occasioned, most likely, by the poisoned atmosphere
of a too-crowded school-room, for the fainting spells ceased on his
leaving school. From seventy-five to eighty boys were stowed
away in a room none too large for a dozen. If, as is said, a
healthy person vitiates three hundred cubic feet of air every
12 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
twenty-four hours, these grammar boys were b^ing poisoned
most of the time thej' spent in school. The play-ground of the
school, moreover, was the church graveyard, crowded with head-
stones and imposing * 'table" monuments, round which tears
enough had once been shed, but which now were play-houses,
over which the boys chased each other in wildest glee. I have a
vivid recollection of the old grammar school, and the graveyard,
which lay between it and the beautiful Gothic church. The
school-room was quaintly arranged with gallery-like desks, reach-
ed by four steps, which ran down the longer sides of the room,
leaving the center free for recitation classes and the flogging of
the boys. The room was also used for the church Sunday-school,
of which my father was, on alternate Sundays, superintendent,
and in which Isaac and his brothers, when they were old enough,
were Sunday-school teachers. At the age of seven I was im-
pressed into service, and, perched on a high stool, I taught boys
who were about twice my height their a-b-c*s. I have pleasant
memories of this grammar school-room, from the fact that on
Sunday mornings, before church service, our venerable rector,
who was the poet, George Crabbe, usually came through the
school on his way to the church vestry, and he rarely passed
without stopping to greet me with a few friendly words, and a
gentle pat on the head, in recognition, I suppose, of my youthful
zeal as a Sunday-school teacher. The poet died in 1832. I fol-
lowed him to his grave in the parish church, of which, for many
years, he had been the rector, and in w^hich each one of our
eleven, one after the other, had been baptized, and, lying in the
arms of the poet, had received his benediction. It is a curious
reminiscence that I should have had this juvenile acquaintance
with the poet, and again and again taken the hand that had,
before Byron was born or Walter Scott was known, penned lam-
poons on Washington, while he was engaged in the struggle for
American independence !
Isaac Pitman, at an early age, evinced a strong love for
books and music. His first instrument was the flute, on which
he and his elder brother acquired enough proficiency to be able
to lead the singing of the children at the Baptist Sunday-school,
of which my father was the founder. It is an evidence of father's
activity and love of usefulness that he should, while superintend-
ent of the church Sunday-school, have succeeded in establishing
ISAAC PITMAN'S YOUTHFUL DAYS. 13
a Sunday-school in connection with Zion Chapel, the Baptist,
dissenting place of worship, which my mother attended. Of this
Sunday-school my father, on alternate Sundays, was also the
superintendent. The four elder Pitman boys, I being the young-
est, were teachers on alternate Sundays, in both the church and
the Baptist Sunday-school. Our girls were teachers only in the
latter.
Isaac, as a youth, though of modest and retiring disposition,
was far from lacking courage, even daring. When he was about
sixteen I occasionally accompanied him to bathe, with one or two
companions. On these occasions he would sometimes dive from
a bridge which was at least ten to twelve feet above the water, a
feat which none of his companions, as far as I remember, ever
ventured upon. He frequently bathed, and always before break-
fast, when the air and water were much too cold for others to
think of taking a dip. I recall another illustration of what at the
time, seemed great daring, though now it appears to have been a
conclusion drawn from my own ignorance. It occurred when
Isaac was about twenty. He had returned from the Burrough
Road College, London, and in speaking of the great annual meet-
ing of the Burrough Road Society, held in Exeter Hall, usually
presided over by some nobleman, he said he would not hesitate
to read the annual report before the meeting, consisting of three
or four thousand intelligent people, which usually assembled on
these great occasions. This seemed to me, at the time, about as
daring as offering to lead an army to besiege a city, but Isaac
spoke without any thought of boasting, for he had paid special
attention to precisely those matters which, mastered, make a good
reader, — namely, correct pronunciation, distinct articulation, and
other essentials of effective delivery.
On leaving school Isaac was installed as Clerk in the count-
ing-house of the large cloth manufactory of Mr. James Edgell, of
which my father was the general manager for twenty years. It
was a quiet boast of my father that during this time he had made
a large fortune for his master, and had had his own salary raised
eleven times, and once only from his own asking. After Isaac
had been a year in service he begged piteously, I have heard
father say, to be allowed to go back to school. Father did not
think it best to consent, but advised his boy to stick to his desk
and devote his leisure to books and study. Leisure ! The poor
14 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
lad went to work at six o'clock in the morning, as father did, con-
tinuing until six in the evening ; yet Isaac found time for system-
atic study. He rose at four o'clock, and he and his brother Jacob
devoted every moment to their books and study till they left
home for their daily duty ; and each evening gave them one or
two additional hours for study. Father always took the greatest
interest in the intellectual progress of his children, showing a
wise discretion in giving them occupation which secured progress,
at the same time keeping them from idleness and its mischievous
results. At two periods in the family history father engaged a
lady teacher to give us evening instruction. In the latter period,
in which alone I participated, we supplemented our day school
exercises with private instruction five evenings in the week. In
Isaac's time it was only twice a week. The teacher was a Miss
New, the daughter of the only bookseller in the place. She was
a lady of sweet disposition and good general culture. This lady
also gave to the four elder children instruction on the piano.
The instrument on which they practised was a triangular harpsi-
chord ; after two years of practise, when the young people had
acquired some skill in fingering, it gave place to a genuine piano,
a Broadwood of five and a half octaves. This was considered a
great event, and the enjoyment which Isaac derived from the use
of this instrument seems to have led him to regard it as a special
gift from Heaven. In proof of his gratitude, he saved his pocket
money till it amounted to five shillings— a large sum to him — ^and
then having procured a silver crown, a coin somewhat larger than
the American dollar, he quietly dropped it into the contribution
box of Zion Chapel, a thank-offering which Heaven, if so pleased,
might accept as evidence of his gratitude. This incident was un-
known to any member of the family till years afterwards, when
Isaac himself told it in one of his merry moods.
From thirteen to nineteen Isaac Pitman was a self-instructed
student. The bookseller at Trowbridge had a lending library, said
to be one of the first established in the country ; to this father
subscribed, and Isaac greedily availed himself of the privilege it
afforded. While music was his pleasure and enjoyment, good
literature had a great attraction for him, and Milton, Addison,
Pope, Steele, Johnson and Cowper were favorites, whose writings
were not merely read, but critically studied, and considerable por-
tions of them, both of prose and poetry, were committed to mem-
ISAAC PITMAN'S YOUTHFUL DAYS. 15
or}. During his clerking days, when he was about sixteen, he be-
gan the study of Taylor's system of Shorthand, a cheap edition of
which was published, at three shillings and sixpence, by Harding,
a Birmingham teacher of Shorthand. Previous to this the lowest
price at which a work on shorthand was published was half a
guinea — ten shillings and sixpence. Isaac Pitman made use of
the art for private memoranda and for making extracts from works
he read — thus preserving the extract and partly memorizing the
matter, till in two years he could write about eighty words a
minute.
It was at this early period of his life that Isaac Pitman's atten-
tion was called to the disparity between the printed and spoken
language. In reading he frequently met with words, the mean-
ing of which he understood, but never having heard them in con-
versation, he was doubtful as to their correct pronunciation, and
the only recourse was reference to the pronouncing dictionary.
This occurred so often that he resolved to read carefully through
Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary, and copy out every word whose
pronunciation or spelling was unfamiliar to him. When the task
was completed, he found that he had a list of about two thousand
words, which he copied with the proper diacritical markings, and
these he committed to memory, both as to pronunciation and
spelling. Two years later, when he was a school teacher, he re-
peated this somewhat notable task. He made a patient and some-
what thorough study of grammar, committing to memory rules
and exceptions, lists of regular and irregular verbs, and the man-
ifold particulars which need to be observed before language can
be used in a grammatical, clear and definite verbal expression,
and thus he attained a style of writing which, through life, char-
acterized all that Isaac Pitman wrote.
Isaac, in my youthful days, exercised an influence over the
rest of the family that no other of my brothers or sisters did. We
played no pranks on him, but had a certain respect for his word,
and regard for his authority, not unlike that we felt for father's.
I distinctly recall that when I was about eight years of age I did
something of which Isaac disapproved. I saw I was to receive
a reprimand or something worse, so off" I ran, without counting
the cost, for Isaac pursued and, catching me, said, with perfect
calmness, "I will punish you for doing wrong, and then I will
punish you for running away," and so he did, by giving me some
1 6 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
vigorous thumps. It would be unfair to my brother's memory
if I did not say that, later, when he became a school-teacher, he
avoided corporal punishment on principle, as far as possible, and
when he had eighty boys in his charge, and I was his assistant,
the punishment must have been slight, for I have no distinct
recollection of a single flogging.
The seriously active and self-denying nature of Isaac Pitman
naturally fitted him to become a Wesley an Methodist. He could
not feed on the dry husks of Church-of-Englandism of that day,
nor would his reason permit him to accept the chilling faith of
his mother's unthinkable Calvinism, and so, when about eighteen,
he became an earnest and devoted Methodist. Wesleyan Method-
ism, seventy years ago, retained much of the simplicity of life,
dress and manners of Wesley and his immediate followers, and
their Methodism was an active propagandism, Christian zeal, and
devotedness to spiritual things like that which characterized the
life and labor of that beautiful soul, its founder. Those were days
before Methodism became respectable; when Methodist chapels
were barn-like structures ; when its adherents were, for the most
part, gathered from the people, and not from the classes ; when
Methodism was regarded not merely as a heresy, but an apostasy
from the church, and, perhaps, the least respectable and most
disliked form of dissent. One, like my brother, who would be
claimed as a Church-of-England youth, would be ostracized by a
defection to Methodism. It needed the heroism of high resolve
to avow himself a Wesleyan in those early days of Methodism.
Church-of-England toryism of that period met all forms of prog-
ress, whether religious, political or educational, in a spirit of bitter
hostility. What intolerance we have outgrown, even within the
memory of the living! The views and feelings of the majority of
the English clergy of that day are reflected in a passage worth re-
calling, which refers to the proposed repeal, by the British Par-
liament, of those unjust, cruel and obnoxious restrictions, social,
civil, and political, to which Catholics, Quakers and some other
Dissenters were then subject, known in history as the Corporation
and Test Acts. "If the present ecclesiastical constitution must
fall, far better is it to consign ourselves to the high-toned toryism
of popery, than to crouch to the abject republicanism and the low-
born canaille of dissent." This occurs in the "Lives of the Bishops
of Bath and Wells," by the Rev. S.Hyde Casson,M. A.,F.S.A..
ISAAC PITMAN'S YOUTHFUL DAYS. 17
1829, and Methodism is the special heresy aimed at! From to-
day's stand-point, it seems amazing that a cultured English
clergyman should thus commit himself to record with respect to
a branch of the Christian church, which, in this country at least,
has grown as "respectable" as Kpiscopalianism, quite as wealthy,
and, socially and politically, more powerful. How utterly the
conservative spirit of that day misread the growth of human
progress; how completely they failed to divine that in little
more than half a century, these despised Wesleyan seceders would
worship in their own Gothic churches, and aid their devotional
services by vested choirs whose performance would equal those
heard only in their own cathedrals. This spirit of opposition to
needed progress was afterwards encountered by the subject of
this memoir, when he proposed to smooth the path of learning
for the young by the reform of English spelling. Methodism
suited the active temperament of Isaac Pitman, if for no other
reason, than that it gave him something worth doing on the
Sunday, for he was barely twenty when he began to preach, and
to meet this duty meant considerable thought and preparation,
and often a walk of many miles into the country before reaching
the scene of his appointment.
THK intellectual and moral rigidity of Isaac FitmaD's
character came from his father, who was, in family mat-
ters, a disciplinarian. He was strict, indeed severe, but
never harsh in the treatment of his children. We were taught
to obey, and we did so from habit, influenced doubtless by know-
ing the penalty of disobedience. Father's requests, disagreeable
though they might seem, were complied with promptly and with-
out an audible murmur or clouded brow. We were probably not
so prompt as the Wesley children, of whom John Wesley said
that if he and Charles were writing, they would stop in the mid-
dle of a character to obey a command from either mother or
father. If the Wesley children were not bom to obedience, the
mother, before they could walk, "broke their wills and reduced
them to subjection." Our mother's commands were not always
obeyed with like promptitude. Her request might be met with
little objections, but a repeated "Please do it" was instantly
obeyed, for well we knew that disobedience would be reported to
father, and that would only add to the gravity of the offense.
John Ruskin says the best and truest blessings of his life came
from his being taught perfect obedience, and the meaning of
peace in thought, aim, and word. "I never had heard my father's
or mother's voice once raised in any question with each other,
nor seen an angry or even slightly hurt or offended glance in the
20 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
eyes of either;" and "I obeyed word or lifted finger of father
or mother, simply as a ship her helm." I think few will read
the passages John Raskin wrote of his childhood without con-
cluding that the exacting discipline of his mother would have
harmed and hardened a less gentle nature. We, surely, were
equally blest, for an angry or even hasty word or a passionate
glance of the eye of either of my parents would have been as
unlooked for and startling to me as the lifting of the roof or the
upheaving of the foundations of the house.
The Pitman boys were disciplined by whipping, — six or
eight strokes on the back, with coat removed, were given with a
strap, "which broke no bones." We were called up to father's
desk, no flinching was allowed, and the chastisement always
wound up with an affirmative response to the question, "Will
you promise not to repeat this?" We cried aloud, but were
careful not to make too boisterous a demonstration, knowing
that would only bring an extra stroke or two. The girls were
never whipped, and I do not think the boys were subjected to
corporal punishment after they were thirteen or fourteen years
of age. Father never punished a child in anger, and a passion-
ate or hasty blow was a thing unknown. Our chastisement was
inflicted from a parental sense of duty, and was administered
with such judicial impartiality that generally I felt, by the time
the tears were dry, that the penalty about balanced the crime.
This was a period when the old style of corporal punishment
was in vogue, when the chastisement of boys in public and
private schools was, from today's standpoint, brutal in its severity
and frequency. I remember being one of nearly two hundred
boys in a school where, on one occasion, every boy was whipped
for the prank of an undiscovered culprit. We were ranked in
single file, and, as the master came up, the right hand of each
possible culprit was extended, palm uppermost, and a sharp blow
was struck with a cane. Some boys would screw up their nerves
to bear it with a suppressed grin, but to a sensitive nature and
skin the pain was horrible, and the hand would smart for hours
after the punishment. If a boy, in his terror, withdrew his hand,
as many did, he was given a double stroke. It was noticeable
in our family that as it increased, the punishments grew less
frequent, and the younger boys knew less of the severe discipline
that fell to the lot of the elders. There was a legend in the fam-
THE FATHER AND MOTHER. 21
ily, among the children, that Isaac was never whipped, meaning
that he never needed it. Only grave offenses were punished —
grave from the child's standpoint — ordinary ones were condoned
with a reprimand or caution not to offend a second time. The
last whipping for which I was "called up to the desk," was, I
remember, for enticing my younger sister into a quagmire, in
which my clothes w^ere much bespattered, and my sister was
smirched to her knees. The experience I have gained in the
seventy years since I received my last whipping, leaves me in
doubt as to the efficacy of corporal punishment, and I think that
equally good results in our case might, in the long run, have
followed a milder course. Who can tell? There seems to be no
unvarying rule for the management of children, so unlike in
physical and mental organization, and especially in the won-
drously changed social conditions of today, save that of never-
ending lovingkindness, tempered with infinite patience. It is
noteworthy that none of father's nine children, who have reared
families with differing degrees of success, have followed his some-
what severe rule.
In my early days, the English family had not outgrown the
feudal system. Children were made to feel they were but serfs
and thralls with *'no rights,'* only duty and service to those
whom Providence had set over them. When I think of the easy
familiarity with which my children treat me, I recall with amaze-
ment that in my young days, on each return from school, on
entering the room in which my mother sat, standing near the
door, I made my customary bow of salutation, repeating, with
becoming gravity, "Your servant, ma'am," or "Your servant,,
mother."
A bit of English history is associated with one of the latest
of my punishments. One summer evening father and mother
had left the house to attend the weekly service at the chapel. It
so happened that on the afternoon of that day I violated some
rule, and for the offense was promptly sent to bed immediately
after tea. A few minutes after my parents were out of sight, the
London stage-coach came in, stopping at an inn opposite our
house. Something unusual had happened. The London stage-
coach was decorated with flags and evergreens, and the guard
blew his horn with unusual vigor while driving into the town.
A crowd instantly collected around the stage-coach to learn the
THE FATHER AND MOTHER. 21
exciting news that the Reform Bill had past ! A few minutes
only seemed necessary to bring out the town band. A proces-
sion was formed, and the townspeople marched and shouted as
only victorious patriots can. I joined the procession and made
one of the shouters. Jubilant as a ten-year-old boy may be, I
was prudent enough to be back in bed when my parents
returned. The Reform Bill, bitterly opposed by the nobility and
all the rich, conservative classes, after years of struggle was
finally past (1832), and a revolution averted ! The Reform Bill
abolished the "rotten burroughs." In my native county, Wilts,
old Sarum, with its thirteen voters, sent two members to parlia-
ment, while large, populous towns like Birmingham, SheflBeld,
Leeds, and, I believe, Manchester, had no representation.
I had grown to manhood, and left home, before the thought
ever distinctly occurred to me that my father was other than an
ordinary personage. I knew that he was intelligent, that he was
very generally looked up to, and his advice in township matters
not infrequently sought. I knew he had executive ability to
manage a large cloth manufactory, and was equal to the adjust-
ment of the many conflicting human interests that grew out of
such a charge. I knew that, he had been an earnest educational
pioneer. Determined on some form of popular education, he had
secured subscriptions and had seen a large school house built —
the first, I believe, in the west of England — for the instruction
of the children of the working classes. Such schools were con-
ducted on the **Bell and Lancaster" systems. They were unsec-
tarian, and were frowned upon by the supporters of the estab-
lished church. It was years afterwards, in my native town,
before church people followed in the * 'revolutionary" road, and
built their first parochial school. I knew, too, that my father
had been the moving spirit in the establishment of the first
Infant School in our town, on the Pestalotsian system, and further
that he had aided the temperance movement years before the
teetotal crusade. I knew he had established a library for his
work-people, and stocked a room with a few hundred readable
books, and that he frequently sat there and read of an evening to
encourage a few among the working people who could read, to
spend their evenings in like manner. I knew, too, that his influ-
ence and example had prevented our home from being occasion-
ally turned Jto a domestic bedlam. In my Uncle X*s family the
24 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
children frequently quarreled and scolded at meal and at other
times, after the proverbial fashion of '*cats and dogs." I knew
that in Uncle L's family, though, the children were as well
instructed as we were ; they thought less of books and studies
than of business and getting rich by availing themselves of the
labor of others.
It was thus only after I left home and was brought in con-
tact with other men that I realized how much father differed from
the majority. He was freer from illusions than most men. He
did not imagine that his opinion and criticism were essential on
all points and occasions ; he was therefore a man of few words,
but what he did say seemed reasonable and pertinent, and better
said than left unsaid. He was wholly free from the illusion of
attaching importance to creeds and dogmas. He knew that the
views of men relating to life, here and hereafter, had been matters
of growth and change from time immemorial, and that it was no
part of wisdom to assume certainty about things concerning
which the wisest and best of men radically differed. He was not
only tolerant of other people's views on politics, religion and
morals, but they seemed to interest him chiefly as indications by
which to measure the worth and credibilty of men. He always
seemed more willing to listen than to talk, and he had Sir Walter
Scott's instinct of getting out of people what they knew that was
of interest or importance. In politics he was a Liberal, though his
master, whom he served till mid manhood, was a stanch Tory.
The political representative who seemed concerned for the public
welfare rather than upholdmg class interests, always commanded
his vote and earnest support. The removal of ignorance, by the
dissemination of knowledge, father regarded as the important
work of his life, and efforts in this direction occupied all the time
he could spare from the somewhat exacting duties of his cloth-
manufacturing business. He enjoyed good health. I never
remember him ailing in any particular; indeed, for father to have
complained of head, heart or stomach-ache, would have seemed
so much of a novelty as to be akin to a joke. He never coddled
himself with any form of table luxuries ; he ate simple food, and
was compensated by enjoying it to the latest days of his life. He
was essentially a man of action, but wholly free from a hurried,
or bustling habit. He was always occupied, and I never remem-
ber seeing him deliberately seat himself to rest. When the day's
THE FATHER AND MOTHER. 25
duties were over he took his arm chair by the fire, but never
without a book, which he would close up on his thumb, if any-
thing of interest made an occasion for talk with mother or the
children. In these days of changing fashion in dress it is worth
recalling that father, all his life, retained the habit of his youth
and wore knee-breeches. **Full dress," when he left the house
or counting-house for town calls, church, or meeting, consisted
simply of donning gaitors to cover his stockings. Black broad-
cloth constituted his uniform clothing. Recreations? He had
none. His business took him to London, — one hundred miles
distance, by stage-coach, — about twice a year for a stay of three
to five days. When I was about twelve years of age I enjoyed the
great treat of being taken to London on one of these journeys.
Father was my guide for a week, and a visit to the National
Gallery, the Cathedrals, the Tower of London, the Sloan Museum,
and a few other of the rarer sights of the great metropolis, — when
I saw fine pictures, fine statuary, fine buildings, fine missal illu-
mination, and a forest of shipping for the first time, — were sensory
visions, that have remained so vivid that they made a sort of
mental nuclei, round which seem to cluster all that has since
reached my brain through the sense of sight.
Yet father's education in his boyhood was limited in the
extreme. I have frequently heard him say — I think more as
a boast than a confession — that he received but one week's
regular schooling in his life. He must have been a youth of
unusual aptitude and diligence; for by the time I was old enough
to judge, he was considered a well-informed man. He had made
a special study of astronomy, sp that he could calculate eclipses;
and, after the fashion of the period, he became absorbed in
astrology. Our Family Bible contained the carefully-drawn
horoscopes of every member of the family, all the work of
father's brain and hand. In after years, to his credit be it said,
he lost all faith in the influence of the planetary system on
human destinies.
My mother was calm, sweet, and placid at all times. I
never saw her angry, and I have heard that she had never been
known to utter an unkind or reproachful word of any person,
present or absent. She had strength and firmness of character,
combined with perfect conscientiousness. Her smile was exceed-
ingly sweet ; but she was never known to laugh. Her features
26 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
were regular, comely, and pleasant, rather than beautiful. Her
face, even late in life, showed a skin of clearest texture, and of
a pinkish hue like that of healthy childhood. Her general cul-
ture was limited. Her reading, in the little time left from
family cares, seemed confined to the Bible and Calvinistic lit-
erature. She was by nature and training of a devotional tem-
perament; and the extreme Calvinistic doctrines, under the
influence of which she was born and bred, could not but tend
to give life and its after-prospect a necessarily serious and gloomy
aspect. I suppose, dear heart, her inmost assurances were that
all her own children might be of the elect. My mother's nose
was of perfect Grecian type, save that it was perceptibly flat-
tened at the tip. Isaac had father's slightly bridged nose, with
mother's tip. On one occasion, when Isaac returned home after
a year's absence, my mother hastened to meet him; but the hall-
way chanced to be in darkness. In the embrace, my mother,
to relieve her mind of any uncertainty, felt for the tip of his
nose. "Yes," said she, "it is Isaac; I could not be mistaken."
The conduct of the girls of the family was greatly influenced
by mother's serious and religous feeling. I never heard a word
of small talk at any meal, relating to dress or fashion, or any
trivial personal matter. As a rule, the children under fourteen
were expected to be silent, and those under twelve stood while
eating. None of the girls were allowed to indulge in such
worldly adornment as curls or puffs, or to wear ribbons in their
hair. No jewelry of any kind was ever worn by any member
of the family. The only exception to this was in the use of a
small, round-headed gold pin that fastened mother's muslin
neckerchief. None of the children were taught to dance. Play-
ing cards were never seen in the family circle. Probably every
member of the family grew to adult age without having handled
a card, or knowing the name of any one in the pack. Omens,
lucky and unlucky days and things, were not recognized in the
family, and were never mentioned save to laugh at them. After
Isaac left home and became a school teacher, Wesleyan Methodist,
and a preacher, his letters, which were frequent and long and
beautifully written, must have greatly influenced mother and
father; for then daily family prayers were, for the first time,
established and regularly observed. A chapter from the Bible
was read, each of us taking a verse. This was followed by an
THE FATHER AND MOTHER. 27
extemporary prayer from mother ; and how pleading, pathetic
and devotional it was ! What else could come from a pure and
lovely soul who had been taught to believe herself the "chief
among sinners" and who could hope to escape eternal torture
only by the free grace and abundant mercy of a terrible God ?
My mother's life was, on the whole, singularly free from any
abiding sorrow. Neither her husband, his affairs, her household,
nor her children brought her, as far as I remember, a single real
trouble. Yet her gloomy faith made what should have been a
sunlit existence unduly grave and somber. In a retrospect one
cannot but wish she had possessed the reasoning suspicion of
the pious Scotch mother, whose boy having been "cut off in
his sins," and, from the orthodox standpoint, doomed to pay the
eternal penalty of the non-elect, was prayed for by his stricken
parent : "Oh, Lord, if Ye had been a mither. Ye nae wad hae
done it."
S/Jf /SAAC PfTMAN-S UFE AND LAliORS.
Kingston House was selected by the ajij.iointed Coi
British Architects to be reproduced at the late Paris Exhibiliou, as
the best available type of a fiue English Home. "The reproduction
at the British Pavilion of the Paris Kxhibition of Kingston House,
Brad ford-on -A von, lias naturally attracted fresh attention to that
fine specimen of British architecture of the period when the strong
castle having become obsolete, the lordly mansion took its place.
One of the most interesting associations of Kingston House is that
for many years it was the home of the Pitman faniil3-." Mr. Frederick
Harrison writes : "The British Pavilion, though one of the least con-
spicuous, is the best and most truly artistic in the whole Street of
Nations,— the only one, indeed, that a man of taste can view without
a smile or groan." — Ijmdtin Press.
THERE were two in our family whose characteristics were
of so serious, self-denying and earnest a type, that their
individuality must have stood out in marked relief
among the young people with whom they associated. Melissa
was the first-born, and between her and Isaac, who was four
years younger, there was a spiritual kinship that probably,
though unconsciously, influenced my brother's entire life. She
was the first of the femily to break away from the cruel logic
of Calvinistic orthodoxy in which the family had been schooled,
and she was the first to suffer persecution, and pay the pioneer's
price for taking an advanced step in the religious evolutionary
march. Melissa was a teacher in the Sunday-school, and a reg-
ular attendant on the Calvinistic preaching of the family min-
ister, when she was spiritually aroused by the teachings of a new
sect that invaded our town, professing to preach and practise the
doctrines of the earliest Christians. They were called Ir\-ing-
ites, and from 1825 to 1835 attracted much attention in England,
the sect spreading rapidly through the large towns, though the
congregations were never large. My sister attached herself with
entire devotion to this revived primitive church. Though her
life was full of d;iities, she was never absent from their daily
morning and evening services, the first beginning at six o'clock
in the morning. These people professed to follow the rule and
practise of the primitive Christians, and called themselves the_
Catholic Apostolic Church. They set duty before dogma, and
insisted on daily life and conduct that should square witli an
educated Christian conscience. I do not remember that they
advocated a community of goods, but they consistently revived
..ue early Christian practise of paying a tithe of their income to
the church.
29
30 S//^ ISAAC P/TMAJV'S LIFE AND LABORS.
The religious community from which my sister seceded were
greatly moved, and considered it their duty to be shocked and
scandalized at her conduct. Our preacher was a remarkable man.
In bodily proportions and positiveness he was a veritable Dr.
Johnson, and he must have excelled the learned Doctor in
strength of lung. He was a man of very limited culture, but was
profoundly religious, gloomy, and dogmatic. He had a stentorian
voice that did not lack a certain rude melody and persuasiveness
when he became aroused, as was his wont, in the latter part of
his sermons. Then his voice rose and rolled in such tumultuous
waves that he greatly impressed those who were within the
tabernacle, and I have heard my father say that he had distinctly
heard the preacher's voice through the open windows a quarter
of a mile from the pulpit. Our minister did not like the defec-
tion of a member of one of his leading families, and he thundered
his invectives and metaphorically shook his pastoral crook at
stray lambs, and the whole congregation knew that it was my
gentle sister who had strayed from the shepherd's care.
The Irvingites, as a sect, seem to have disappeared from
the religious world. The founder was Edward Irving, a Scotch
minister, who had been assistant to Dr. Chalmers in Glasgow,
but it was not until he settled in London that he became a
celebrity. He was a man of remarkable intellect and extraor-
dinary oratorical powers. That he was the loved and admired
friend of Thomas Carlyle, and had been the teacher of Jane
Welsh, who became Carlyle*s loving wife, are facts which indicate
that he was a man cast in no ordinary mold. Irving was tall,
grave and solemn. Earnestness and deep religious fervor per-
vaded his delivery. His aspect was commanding and his coun-
tenance was marked by a dark and melancholy beauty. The
tones of his voice were remarkably deep, melodious, sympathetic
and of unusual power. Irving's oratory must have been of no
ordinary kind to call forth a reference to it from Canning, in the
House of Commons, mention of which is made in the sketch of
Irving*s life, given in the last addition of the Encyclopedia
Britannica. Such was the powerful influence of his preaching
that it gave rise to a class of extraordinary manifestations, which,
by his followers, were believed to be of supernatural origin.
Men and women in the congregation, the latter more especially,
would shriek out strange, weird, unintelligible utterances, that
MELISSA, THE FIRST BORN, 31
were deemed prophecies by Irving's followers. These utter-
ances, which were called ''unknown tongues," have since been
generally regarded as hysterical, psychic manifestations, due to
the preacher's religious fervor, his hypnotic and extraordinary
oratorical powers. This, evidently, was the view of them taken
by Irving's more intelligent cotemporaries, and certainly by
Mrs. Carlyle, with whom, before her marriage, Irving was once
deeply in love. She is reported to have said, "Had I married
Irving, there would have been no unknown tongues."
Irving is credited with first using the expression, "The
fatherhood of God," and he preached a faith in accord with the
thought. The phrase caught the religious world and had much
to do in lessening the terrors of the older religious belief. The
great preacher seemed gifted with prophetic fore-light. He did
not accept the social disquietude and antagonisms of life as
other than passing conditions, from which St. James' Christianity
would deliver, first the church, and ultimately the world. Years
afterwards some writer of note used the equally expressive phrase,
"The brotherhood of man," two short terms that express a
modern phrase of belief and hope, and which have tended to
humanize the religious and social thought of today. The evo-
lutionary idea, however, might be credited to the progress of
human thought that grew out of the American revolution, for
more than a hundred years ago, Thomas Paine used the all-
embracing expression, "The brotherhood of the human race," to
typify an ideal, universal fraternity, in contradistinction to the
then prevailing rule of Kings and the submission of Subjects.
Edward Irving, like John Wesley, was highly susceptible
to aesthetic emotions. On one occasion he accompanied some
aristocratic ladies of his congregation on a tour through one of
the poor districts of London, in search of children to attend their
school. In one wretched apology for a home, they found a child
of exceptional interest and beauty, with large blue eyes, and
long, wavy golden hair. Now it was a rule of the school that
every child should have its hair cut short. Irving's eyes and
heart were moved by the child's beauty, and he is said to have
feelingly joined the mother in her pleadings to spare the child's
golden adornment; but the high-born dames had no heart to
be softened by their appeal ; the iron rule was not to be broken.
Only a soul of unusual worth, possessing in no ordinary
32 SfR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AXD LABORS.
measure the gifts of intellect, imagination and expression, would
attract the friendship and excite the admiration of men so unlike
as Chalmers, Coleridge, Carlyle, Wordsworth, Wilkie, Sir Wm.
Hamilton and Canning. Irving throughout his brilliant but
brief career, was equally remarkable for his child-like simplicit}'
and mental and spiritual gifts, as for his amazing credulity. In
keeping with his unsophisticated nature was an incident which
occurred at one of his London, suburban, open-air preachings.
During his discourse, when a standing throng of thousands hung
breathless on his words, an alarm was created by the cries of a
mother, whose child had strayed from her side and was lost in the
vast assembly. But soon the child was raised aloft in the throng,
and the excitement of the mother was calmed as Irving cried
aloud, "Give me the child." The preacher took it as it was
passed over the heads of the crowd, and it instantly nestled on
his breast in perfect peace. He continued his discourse, but
now his theme was changed to the Saviour's loving regard for
the young, and with the child tenderly held in his arms, he
concluded an exhortation of such winning and commanding
eloquence that all who heard it would probably retain a vivid
impression of it through life. Irving*s teachings did much to
mold the ethical and spiritual character of my sister, and she,
in turn, influenced and strengthened the moral and spiritual
fiber of her sympathetic brother Isaac.
How it came about I do not know, but it so happened that
a leading family at Trowbridge, who were the disciples of the
"new lights," were a family of wealth and intelligence. They
must have been attracted by my sister's devotional earnestness,
and she became so much of a favorite that she was invited to
accompany them to London on a religious pilgrimage to see
and hear the celebrated divine. They were the guests of Mr.
and Lady Drummond, an aristocratic family of intelligence,
wealth, and the highest social standing, all of which had been
dedicated to the service of the newly-arisen prophet. Seeing
and hearing the great leader made a profound impression on
Melissa, and added, were it possible, a tenfold zeal to her devo-
tion to primitive Christianity. She became more severe and
Quaker-like in the fashion of her dress, eschewing all colors but
black or the somberest gray. I recall an instance of her ascetic
rigidness. A mirror which hung over the mantel of her sitting-
-UEL/SSA, THE FIRST BORN. 33
room she had removed, that she might not be tempted to cast
a, glance at her reflected image on passing it. She conducted a
private school for girls and instructed pupils on the piano She
was active, but serene, intelligent, self-sacrificing, and devotional.
She was not a bigot, but was always anxious for further light.
In the course of a few years she became, through Isaac's influ-
ence, a reader and receiver of the doctrines of Swedenborg, and
so continued to the day of her death.
IT was an important event in Isaac Pitman's career, and,
though unforeseen at the time, proved to be the turning
point in the destinies of the Pitman family, when Isaac, at
nineteen, left home for the Borough Road Training College,
London, father having decided to make him a school teacher.
This was at a period when the necessity of some general system
of education for the people first began to arrest attention in Eng-
land, and before school -teaching was a recognized profession.
Great was the surprise of our relatives and friends at father's odd
determination, but he had resolved that had he a hundred chil-
dren, to use his own words, he would not bring up one of them
to his own business, with its cares, perplexities, competition and
possible misfortunes. In subsequent years, five others of the
family — Jacob and Joseph, of the boys, and Rosella, Jane and
Mary, of the girls, were received and trained in this college and
afterwards appointed to schools in different parts of England.
So thorough was the satisfaction which Isaac gave at the train-
ing college, and so encouraging were the reports he himself sent
home, that Jacob, who had served seven years' apprenticeship to
a carpenter and builder, concluded that school teaching might be
the more profitable use of his life, and when father personally
applied at the college for the admission of another of his sons,
the Director, the able and admirable Henry Dunn, answered
with a compliment which father was fond of repeating, "Yes,
35
36 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
you may send me as many more of your children as you can
spare."
The Borough Road College, in which Isaac Pitman was now
installed, was the great central parent school, in which young
men and women who were sufficiently educated were received
to be trained in the working details of the Bell and Lancaster
system of popular instruction. The college consisted of separate
departments for male and female teachers, and each department
had a double function, the training of teachers and the instruc-
tion of the young. The teachers w-ere domiciled at the institu-
tion, which included two large schools for boys and gitls, in each
of which four or five hundred children, from seven to fourteen
years of age, received an elementary education. It is a novelt} ,
from today's pedagogic standpoint, to recall a visit I made to this
institution more than half a century ago, when I witnessed its
semi-military and somewhat despotic training and discipline. In
the great parent school I found nearly five hundred boys assem-
bled in one large square room, the floor of which, rising at a
slight angle, theater fashion, had its center filled with parallel
lines of desks and seats, facing the front, leaving a space of nine
or ten feet at the sides for recitation classes. A somewhat high
and imposing platform, on which the teacher was seated, occu-
pied the Tower end of the room. The youngest children were
seated nearest the platform and were graded towards the upprr
end according to age and general proficiency. The system of
instruction of Bell and Lancaster is monitorial, methodical, and
semi-military in its operations. All movements of the children,
such as turning and showing slates for the inspection of the
monitor; all changes, such as leaving the seats for the recitation
classes, are directed by a brief word of command, given by the
monitor of the day. At a given command the children would,
simultaneously, cease writing, and at another command they hung
their slates on a screw fastened in the desk in front of each boy.
At another command they turned in their seats, facing to the
left, resting the right hand on their own desks and the left on the
edge of the desk immediately behind them ; at another command
they jumped out and stood, facing the direction in which they
were to march, each boy standing erect, eyes to the front, with
hands clasped behind him. They remained in this position till
their line was ready to march to the semi-circular rings which
THE START IN LIFE AS SCHOOLMASTER. 37
marked their ^respective classes in the aisles. The marching was
commenced by the first boy of the lowest row and the first boy
of the uppermost row starting simultaneously for their classes.
As the last boy of the first row left his desk, the first boy of the
second row followed, and so on until the seats were emptied and
the aisles filled, when the monitors took their places in the center
of each class, with pointer in hand, to direct attention to the sus-
pended chart or board, on which was pasted the lesson of the
day. Books were used only by the advanced classes. At the
time referred to, I think the only book used was the Bible, possi-
bly the New Testament only; all the instruction in grammar,
arithmetic, geography, history and geometry — the only branches,
with writing, then taught — were contained in clearly-printed
charts and tables. The Bell and Lancaster system, as before
intimated, is essentially monitorial, but in the London training
school the monitors were the young men and women who, in
actual service, gained the knowledge they aimed to acquire.
Visitors to these schools, who knew by experience the terrific
noise of an average grammar school of that period, with its fifty
to seventy boys, conning their lessons aloud, — the babel-like con-
fusion being a necessary condition of memorizing their lessons,
as I have again and again heard them avow, — were much
impressed on seeing a large concourse of children seated in per-
fect order, and pursuing their exercises in almost absolute
silence. Quietude in a large assembly of children is impressive,
if only from the fact that, where children are gathered in num-
bers, we naturally expect a certain amount of noise, varying,
according to circumstances, from a whisper to a noisy riot. In
this case the quietude was emphasized by the monitor of the day,
who, standing aloft at the bottom of the room, slate in hand,
would occasionally break the silence by calling out, in a subdued
tone, and writing down the name of any restless culprit who
turned his head, whispered to his neighbor, or sneezed or coughed
with undue energy. One novel effect of the discipline of the
school I recall. I was one of a group of visitors, and, standing
on the platform, we looked at a sea of brown heads bent over
their slates and working away at their exercises in studious quiet-
ness. The time had arrived for the reading, by the master, of the
morning lesson from the Scriptures. The monitor, having stop-
ped the writing, directed the slates to be hung, stood facing the
3S S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
school, with his right hand uplifted, but closed. At the word of
command, "Heads!" all eyes were fastened on the monitor's hand.
Suddenly opening it, in an upward direction, every boy, whose
head a moment before was perhaps somewhat lowered, for effect,
was jerked up and back, so that the visitor saw something akin
to a flash of light as the bright sea of juvenile faces was suddenly
brought into view. In this position of rapt attention, with the
head thrown somewhat too far back for comfort, I thought, the
lesson was read, and not a movement or unnecessary wink was
seen in that disciplined army during the reading.
The Bell and Lancaster system, the first British popular
educational experiment, met the requirements of that period in
perhaps the only practicable way. In the absence of any munic-
ipal or state support, the schools had to be conducted on the most
economic principle. The schools were not wholly free ; to make
them so would have offended British independence. Each pupil
paid two pence per week, and the remainder of the necessary
revenue was made up by private subscriptions of the well-to-do
classes. Inefficient as the scheme might be considered from the
present American standpoint, with its free graded and high
schools, it furnished an illustration of the success of one educa-
tional factor which, in the future, may, with advantage, be
ingrafted on the American school system, namely, the monitorial
scheme, which has something more than economy to recommend
it. Utilizing some of the time and knowledge of the more
advanced pupils in giving instruction to the less advanced, would
be discipline of exceeding value, and such aid would lessen the
strain and nervous tension to which the average teacher of today
is subjected by taking exclusive charge of a class of forty or fifty
children.
Isaac Pitman spent five months at the London training
college ; he was then appointed to a school at Barton-on-Humber,
in Lincolnshire, a town of four thousand people, lying on the
flat, muddy banks of the estuary, separated by two or three
miles of tidal mud and water from the flourishing seaport of
Hull. The school of which he took charge was founded on
Long's charity; it was attended by one hundred boys, and the
salary of the teacher was ^^70 per annum ; afterwards, when his
efficiency was discovered, it was increased to ;^8o.
Now, for the first time in his life, being his own master,
THE START IN LIFE AS SCHOOLMASTER, 39
Isaac Pitman was left free to follow the bent of an unusually
conscientious and devotional nature, and he gave himself up,
with enthusiam, to a life of systematic duty and self-denial.
Seven hours were devoted to the school, seven hours to sleep,
and the remaining ten were consecrated to study, devotional
reading, self-discipline, and, according to his light, to the service
of the Master. He parted his hair in the middle, at a time when
it was seen only on women and in the pictures of Puritans and
Saints. He abandoned music because he could make, as he
conceived, a better use of the time, and fasted on Friday of each
week. At one time he touched no food during the entire day,
a somewhat absurd asceticism, seeing he was no professional
saint, or anchorite, but a hard working schoolmaster. Finding
it lessened his energy and impaired his usefulness, he aban-
doned such extreme abstemiousness and henceforward limited
himself to the omission of one or two meals. His Friday fast-
ing was no make-believe substitute of fish for flesh, but a fast in
fact as in name. He wrote and distributed temperance tracts,
lectured on the evils of intemperance, and tried his utmost to
wean the sea-faring folk of the little town from the use of rum.
He preached and conducted class-meetings, and was accounted
the most zealous of the Methodist flock. His friends, who knew
him best, said that in zeal and self-denial he out-Wesleyed
Wesley. His sense of duty made him intensely earnest, and his
innate conscientiousness saved him from being the least bit of
a hypocrite. During his four years' residence at Barton he read
through the Scriptures published by the British and Foreign
Bible Society, and corrected the errors in the parallel references,
and for the second time he carefully read through Walker's
Pronouncing Dictionary, making, as before, a list of words about
which he felt a doubt either as to spelling or pronunciation.
To his satisfaction the list proved less numerous than at the
first reading. His correction of the references in the Scriptures
of the Bible Societ)^ led to the colossal undertaking' of cor-
recting the errors found in the five hundred thousand parallel
passages of Bagster's Comprehensive Bible. His mastery of
Walker's Dictionary, and especially of the principles of the
language prefixed to that work, unquestionably led the way to
the invention of Phonography.
It was with great surprise that we received tidings of
40 S/jR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
Isaac's marriage, while he was at Barton, to the widow of Mr.
George Holgate, a lady of nearly twice his age. Mr. Holgate
was the leading lawyer of the place and a man of culture and
high social standing. His wife was of good birth, of fair educa-
tion, and possessed of a certain suavity of manners which at
that period, more than now, distinguished the gentry from the
trading classes. She possessed a life interest in a fortune of
$25,000, which, during her life, yielded a sufficient income to
meet the expenses of the household. A year after the marriage
Isaac brought her to our Trowbridge home, and I well remember
that we were all impressed with her lady-like speech, general
bearing, and polished manners, as compared with the average
deportment of our more Puritanical social stratum; but those
older than I seemed to think there was little unity of feeling,
either on the mental or spiritual plane, between Isaac and his
chosen partner.
• ^ -. V- >■ ■ ' -, - . '
tumm
ISAAC PITMAN'S correction of the Bagster Comprehensive
Bible, which just preceded the invention of Phonography,
was probably one of the most laborious of literary labors
ever voluntarily undertaken and faithfully executed, purely from
"the love of use," to use his own favorite expression, and was
quite characteristic of his studious, energetic, and unselfish nature.
His custom had been, in his morning and evening reading of the
Bible, to refer to every marginal parallel passage, and to scan
critically the accompanying notes. In these studies he had dis-
covered in the Bible he used, published by the British Bible
Society, popularly supposed to be free from a single typographic
error, numerous misprints and errors in the marginal references.
These identical errors he found were, for the most part, repeated
in the commentaries of Scott, Henry, and Adam Clarke, and, to
his still greater surprise, he found many of them copied in Bag-
ster's Comprehensive Bible. Isaac's corrections of the errors in
the Bible Society's octav^ edition were sent to the Society's head-
quarters, in London, but were never acknowledged, though the
corrections were availed of in subsequent editions. My brother
then wrote to Mr. Samuel Bagster, senior member of the well-
known Bagster's Bible publishing house, stating his discovery
that many errors in the Bible Society's edition of the Scriptures
were repealed in the Comprehensive, and added (Barton-on-Hum-
ber, October 15, 1835), "I have made it my custom, for two or
three years, in my morning and evening reading of the Scrip-
tures, to refer to every parallel place, and in some measure
appreciate the value of the plan. If you would like to place a copy
of your Bible under my care, to be considered your property, I
42 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
would make a constant and careful use of it, and give you the
benefit of the corrections or mistakes that I may discover on
reading it through."
Bagster's Comprehensive Bible, the standard work of Bible
students, comprises the authorized version of the Scriptures and
a compilation of the references and parallel passages from all
preceding Bible commentators, arranged on each page in double
columns of notes and parallel references. The compilation being
made from the latest editions, their correctness was assumed, as
it was considered too herculean a task to verify their individual
accuracy.
Mr. Bagster acknowledged Isaac's letter with marked court-
esy, saying that he contemplated issuing a new edition of the
Comprehensive Bible, and would be glad if he could secure a
revision of the entire annotations. A copy of the Comprehen-
sive was dispatched to my brother by the first stage-coach, and in
a few days, at his suggestion, another copy, divided into seven
parts, stitched in paper covers, with untrimmed margins. In
these parts, which lay conveniently on the table during examina-
tion, the errors that were discovered were written, and as each
part was completed it was returned to the London publisher.
During the next three years almost every moment of Isaac's long
days, not devoted to the school or required for special duties, was
spent in the examination and revision of the four thousand notes^
the five hundred thousand parallel passages, the extended chron-
ological tables, and the tables of weights, measures, and coins.
Many an hour did Henry and I sit at the same table, morning and
evening, quietly reading, or scanning our lessons, while Isaac
was "at work on his Bible."
For the purpose of speedy reference and examination, my
brother used a copy of Bagster's small, thin octavo polyglot Bible,
in which he had arranged a series of narrow paper strips, pasted
in at the back of the book, and projecting half an inch from the
front margin. These strips, arranged one under the other, were
inserted from the top front down towards the back, at the bot-
tom of the book. On each strip was written the book, chapter,
and verse at which that particular opening of two pages began
and ended. Such was the facility with which Isaac could refer to
any passage in the Old or New Testament, that an uninterrupted
glide of the thumb and fingers would enable him to turn the
CORRECTION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE. 43
leaves of the already open polyglot, which lay upon the open
pages of the Comprehensive, and place his index finger on any
required verse. He would, after a quick glance, seize the strip
which was nearest the required passage with his thumb and sec-
ond finger, thus opening the book and turning the pages to the
left. If the required passage was not found at the opening, the
remaining fingers would slide one, two, or more to the right hand
pages, until the required chapter and verse were in view, the
forefinger still continuing its quick glide until it rested on the
passage of which he was in search.
The corrections and additions made in the entire work were
numbered by the thousand. Mr. Bagster generously ofi*ered to
pay any sum Isaac might designate for his services, but he would
accept nothing. Generous, enthusiastic soul, he considered the
study and discipline which the examination had given him a
sufficient reward ! Mr. Bagster, during the remainder of his life,
had a sincere respect for my brother, and when the corrected
edition of the Comprehensive was issued from the press, a special
copy, with extra margin, superbly bound, with silver plate
inscription and inclosed in a beautiful casket, was sent the inde-
fatigable corrector.
On beginning the revision of the Comprehensive Bible, Isaac
calculated that by giving daily a certain number of hours, seven
days in the week, — which, with his methodical life, he could
confidently venture to promise himself to do, — he could com-
plete the revision in three years. The work, undertaken in the
latter part of October, 1835, was finished in August, 1838, a month
or two earlier than he had assigned for its completion. He gave
at least five thousand hours of the closest mental and physical
application to this revision. It was religiously perused every
day in the week and every week in the year. A holiday, as far
as I remember, was never taken, and if an occasional interrup-
tion occurred by the stress of an unexpected duty, the lost time
was made up by extra work on the following days. On its com-
pletion he would not lessen the satisfaction he had derived from
his work by accepting any pecuniary reward. I remember his
saying to a friend, who expressed great surprise that he had
received no payment for his long-continued service, "I ofiered
to do the work freely, and, of course, I would not now accept
anything for it ; it has been great satisfaction and a benefit to
44 S/R ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
me; but now, when I want to give my whole attention to my
phonetic Shorthand, I am only too grateful that it is completed."
I can vividly recall my school days at this period, when I
lived in my brother's family at Wotton-uiider-Edge, and though
now sixty-five years ago, well do I remember how exceedingly
hard his Bible revision became towards its close, for it was at
this period that the phonographic idea had taken lodgment in
Isaac's brain, and we talked of nothing else on our way to and
from school, and in our occasional morning walks, and intense
was the joy of my brother at the completion of his long task
and the opportunity it afforded him to give his time and
thoughts, as well as his heart, to new ideas in the field of
experiment and usefulness then opening up to him.
AFTER four years' residence and school teaching at Barton,
Isaac Pitman removed to Wottou -under- Edge, in Glou-
cestershire. His brother Jacob had married, and settled
in that beautiful county of hills and dales. Jacob's wife had
been a governess in a ladies' seminary, and was, in many ways,
qualified to carry out her ambition to establish and conduct a
young ladies' boarding school of her own. It happened that
an uncle of the lady owned a very charming homestead at North
Nibley, Gloucestershire, containing several acres of lawn, gar-
den, orchard and meadow, which he offered to lease to the young
couple, at a nominal rent, on condition of their settling near
him. The offer was gladly accepted, and Jacob and his wife
were able to carry out their ideal program. The recollection of
their rural paradise, and the many Saturday holidays my
brother Henry and I spent there during our school-tlays with
Isaac, with a three-mile walk over country roads that had no
single foot of level ground, are among the joyous remembrances
I recall of my boyhood. The wish to be near his brother, and
the desire to escape the severe and piercing climate of Barton.
with its northern sea breeze, which was giving I.saac frequent
coughs and colds, together with the offer of a school at Wotton-
under-Edge, three miles from Nibley, were sufficient reasons for
Isaac's removal to the more congenial clime and lovely scenic
features of that portion of Gloucestershire.
46 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
Isaac had not been settled at Wotton-under-Edge more than
a year, when an incident occurred which changed his reHgious
views, and, probably, the entire religious aspect of his life. On
a stage-coach he had for a traveling companion, Mr. J. K. Bragge,
of Clifton. This gentleman, on discovering that his companion
was much inclined to gravity and studious reflection, and more
engrossed by a book than by the scenery through which they were
passing, inquired, at an opportune moment, if he had ever read
any of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Isaac knew only
the name, but admitted that he had imbibed certain prejudices
against the mystic writer from what Wesley had written of him.
The conversation during the ride of several hours was sufficient
to interest my brother in the new doctrines. A package of
Swedenborg's works, formidable quartos, original editions, I
remember, was in a few days forwarded to my brother by his
friendly acquaintance, and a correspondence of great length
ensued, with the final result that Isaac became an ardent receiver
of the doctrines and teachings of the Swedish seer. In a letter
from Isaac Pitman, inserted in the "Intellectual Repository,"
1837, he thus states his convictions : "I consider the view I have
of the spiritual world, of the internal sense of God's holy word,
and of the person of the Lord and Saviour ('The Almighty,'
Rev. I, 8, etc.), with which I have become acquainted through
the writings of the New Church, as similiar to that arising from
a curtain being raised, and I am now able to see, as it were, an
ocean of light."
The change in Isaac's religious views occasioned much
comment, misapprehension and harsh judgment in the Methodist
community to which he was attached, and in which, as at Barton,
he had been an earnest worker, itinerant preacher, and class
leader. Isaac's enlightenment and spiritual growth, as he
regarded it, was, by his religious friends, interpreted as spiritual
backsliding, and he was disciplined accordingly. He was cited
to appear before the trustees of the church to answer the charge
of heresy. The presiding elder of the district was an active
little man, named Barbour. The name recurs to me at this
moment, seemingly for the first time since the event, which took
place more than sixty-five years ago. I was present on one of
the three evenings devoted to the religious investigation. After
the evening wrangle was over, I remember asking my brother, in
FIRST GLIMPSES OF THE NEW AND TRUE. 47
my simplicity, "What makes Mr. Barbour so cross?" "Mr. Bar-
bour is not angry," my brother replied, with a smile, "he is only
very earnest to make it appear that he is in the right and that I
am in the wrong, but I think I am fortunate in seeing things
differently." The elders of the church, finding that Isaac could
not be reclaimed, suspended his work in the church and ultimately
expelled him. Some of the more narrow-minded of the congre-
gation, who were our former friends, made us feel that heresy
was not respectable, but an offense to be met with snubs and
slights; Isaac did not seem to feel it in that way, but his wife,
Henry and I were often made uncomfortable by the rebuffs and
insinuations of our former friends ; but these little persecutions
were, perhaps, more than offset by the cordial sympathy of new
friends among the liberal-minded people of the town and neigh-
borhood. The family henceforward, during Isaac's stay at
Wotton-under-Edge, attended the Episcopal church, the rector
of which, Mr. Perkins, a genial and scholarly gentleman, though
feeling no attraction for Isaac's religious views, showed much
respect and kindly feeling for him because of the rancorous
persecution he had endured. The religious ferment did not stop
with the church. The trustees of Isaac's school took up the
matter, and decided that they could not longer regard him as a
fitting instructor of the public school. This decision proved for-
tunate for my brother, who, had he possessed a grain of worldly
shrewdness, would, before this, have "expelled" himself and
opened a private school for the children of the middle and pro-
fessional class, which he now proceeded to do, for there was
great need in the town for such a school. The only one in the
place was the Free Grammar School, in which twentj^ youths,
sons of the trades-people, clad in university caps and flowing
black gowns of the finest West-of-England cloth, renewed
annually, were instructed in the classics, and little else. This
school was an example of England's endowed institutions for
the education of a limited number of boys, where the income
from the original gift had so much increased by the growth of
population and commerce, that the trustees were troubled to
devise means for its expenditure. To expand the school by
increasing the number of its beneficiaries, would be the sugges-
tion of ordinary common sense, but from the British, conserva-
tive point of view this would have been revolutionary and
48 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
unconstitutional ! Isaac's school proved a success from the start,
and yielded a larger income than the position he had been forced
to resign.
Before my brother had decided to what Christian ministra-
tion he would temporarily attach himself, he chanced to be
present at the Congregational church in the town, which was
founded nearly a century ago, by Roland Hill, a dissenting
minister of celebrity, who was remarkable for his eloquence and
eccentricities, rather than for devotional fervor or erudition.
On the occasion referred to, the minister made religious heresy
a leading feature of his discourse, and said that among the
unpardonable heresies — of course from his Congregational point
of view — were denial of the Trinity and the Atonement, and
added, that if he himself held such unscriptural views as he had
described (and somewhat misrepresented), he should expect to
be hunted out of the town like a mad dog! Here was an instance
of the stricken deer, religiously viewed, seeking sanctuary, and
the ecclesiastical hunter availing himself of the chance to inflict
an additional wound!
Another step in Isaac's development took place while living
at Wotton-under-Edge. He became a vegetarian, not for
religious, but humanitarian and physiological reasons. After
his acceptance of the New Church doctrines, he gradually out-
grew his extreme ascetic notions. He no longer fasted nor
recommended it, and, judging by his countenance, a certain pious
gravity which before marked his features, — probably an expres-
sion due to the mists and clouds of his religious belief, — gave
way to placidity and not unfrequent gleams of facial sunshine.
He had become acquainted with a singular family, living a few
miles from Wotton-under-Edge, consisting of two maiden sisters,
somewhat past middle life. They were people of intelligence and
wealth, and their country seat, Ebworth Park, was of great
extent and beauty. They lived quiet, useful and charitable
lives, and were noted among the country people for the simplicity
of their manners and their mystic faith; but their crowning
oddity was, **they would not eat meat!" That people rich
enough to buy flesh meat would not eat it, was deemed unac-
countable in rational folk, and probably was the only mysticism
about these sweet and remarkable people. It must have been
shortly after Isaac's first acquaintance with this family that an
FIRST GLIMPSES OF THE NEW AND TRUE. 49
incident occurred which led to his instantaneous conversion to
vegetarianism. A live chicken had . been sent to the house,
which was to be served for dinner. The housekeeper, an old
and valued servant of the family, who had been brought by
Mrs. Pitman all the way from their Lincolnshire home, would
have "nothing to do with killing fowls; no indeed!" She was
an example of the old style of domestic servant, always yielding
most faithful and willing obedience in the line of recognized
duty, but sturdily independent outside of that limit. An appeal
was then made to Isaac to undertake the duty, on which he and
I descended to the area, a small stone-paved yard, on a level
with the basement kitchen. Isaac, hatchet in hand, laid the
victim's head on the block, and a cruel blow struck off what
Isaac regarded as the seat of life in the bird; but as the chicken's
brains are not all in the skull, the headless bird, escaping from
his grasp, fluttered excitedly all round the area. This was so
unexpected and shocking a sight that the bird had to be caught
and a little more of its head chopped off. To a nature as sensi-
tive as Isaac's, this experience was sufficient to make him
instantly resolve that, henceforth, he would neither sacrifice life
nor partake of the body when sacrificed — a resolution adhered to
for the remaining sixty years of his life.
Of the rigid abstemiousness and fasting which distinguished
Isaac's life at Barton, I know only from the talk of the family, and
from our home practice of a Friday's fast, which Isaac, while at
Barton, induced father and mother to adopt, and in which we
children, I fear, unwillingly participated. But at Wotton-under-
Edge we knew nothing of it. We ate each day three meals of
savory food, more varied and delicately prepared than we boys
had been accustomed to at home, but after the chicken incident
neither Isaac, Henry nor I ate anything for which life had to be
sacrificed. Mrs. Pitman and Hannah, our housekeeper, contin-
ued to eat meat, and to take their tea and coffee. Isaac, Henry,
and I, for breakfast and tea, the last meal of the day, drank only
sweetened hot water and milk. Isaac, I believe, was considerably
past sixty years of age before he indulged in tea or coffee. It
was with a surprised smile I received the news, when he was
between sixty and seventy, that his custom was, at early rising, to
prepare a cup of coffee over a spirit lamp in his bedroom, and
partake of it before commencing his day's work.
50 5//? ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
Isaac Pitman's reception of the New Church doctrines
(1836-7), his expulsion from the Methodist church, and his coinci-
dent expulsion from the mastership of the public school, were
the factors that, primarily, led to his future specific career. The
establishment of his private school, attended, as before intimated,
by the children of a higher social and intellectual grade than
those he had previously taught, led to his teaching Shorthand to
a class of his more advanced boys. My brother probably never
thought of teaching the art to the children who attended the pub-
lic school, but he no sooner began instructing pupils to whom
Shorthand might be useful, than he gladly availed himself of the
opportunity of including it among the regular branches of study.
The introduction of the art into the school, and my brother's
earnest desire to see Shorthand more generally practised, induced
him to prepare a small treatise, explanatory of Taylor's system,
which both he and I used, sufficient for self-instruction, and which
he thought might be sold at the low price of threepence. When
the manuscript was completed, he sent it to Mr. Samuel Bagster,
asking if he could arrange for its London publication. Nothing
could more clearly show the respect in which my brother was
held by this gentleman, the head of one of the leading and most
exclusive publishing houses of London, than his instant and
friendly compliance, accompanied by the suggestion that the little
work should bear the imprint of their establishment. Mr. Bagster,
however, with a publisher's instinct, submitted the manuscript to
a professional reporter, who, after examining it, shrewdly wrote,
"The system Mr. Pitman has sent is already in the market. If
he will compile a new system, I think he will be more likely to
succeed in his object to popularize Shorthand." Teaching the art
to a class of boys had proved an effectual eye-opener to the imper-
fections and shortcomings of what was then regarded as the best
system of Shorthand known, and no sooner had Isaac received the
practical advice which accompanied the returned manuscript,
than he resolutely set to work to improve on Taylor. And now
came the opportunity to use his knowledge of what were the act-
ual elements of the language, which he had gained by his diligent
study of Walker's Dictionary. Previous authors of Shorthand
said, "Write by sound, drop silent and useless letters;" but the
Roman alphabet, on which all the old systems were based, did not
afford the means of so doing, in that there were many sounds in
FIRST GLIMPSES OF THE NEW AND TRUE.
51
the language for which no Shorthand signs were provided. Isaac's
first improvement was to pair the consonants ^ ^, / aT,/ z/, etc.,
representing the pair by like signs, but using a light stroke for
the first or whispered sound, and a slightly heavier or shaded
stroke for the corresponding vocal sound. Signs were also pro-
vided for sh as in Jish, zh as in measure^ th as in bathe^ as distinct
from t% in bath ; also for ng in hang, as distinct from that in hinge
etc.; for none of which sounds had signs been provided in pre-
vious Shorthand schemes. A new, extended, and sequential
scheme of vowels took the place of the old and imperfect a, <?, /, 0,
u arrangement of the Roman alphabet; that is, the new system
did what any consistent alphabet must do — provided signs for all
the vowels of the language as shown in the following table :
ee as in meet;
a as in mate;
ah as in father;
au as in naught;
as in note;
i as in mit;
e as in m.et;
a as in fat;
as in not;
u as in nut;
00 as in food; -I 00 as in foot.
In addition to these simple vowels, signs were provided for the
diphthongs, i as in fight, oi as in boy, ow as in cow, and u as in
beauty as distinct from that in but.
How ludicrous, from the phonographer's standpoint, seems the
rule laid down in the old systems of Shorthand, "Write by sound,"
when the glaring insufficiency of their alphabets is compared
with the scheme which Isaac Pitman first suggested in his little
treatise which was ushered into the world under the title of
"Stenographic Soundhand.'* But the strange hesitancy with
which the phonetic principle was at first accepted by the author,
and his failure to appreciate the importance of a completed vowel
scale, and especially the pairing of the consonants, is curiously
shown by the fact that in his first published scheme the conso-
nants of his enlarged and systematic alphabet were not presented
phonetically, but alphabetically, in Romanic disorder, b, d, f g, etc.,
thus making concession to custom and general ignorance, and in
a gfreat measure concealing the philosophical order he had dis-
covered and, naturally, would have been proud to display.
ISAAC PITMAN'S first attempt to improve and popularize
Shorthand, and to realize his wish to bring it within the
reach of every schoolboy, was the publication of his "Steno-
graphic Soundhand" in 1837, the price of which was fourpence.
Before that time, with the exception of a pirated edition of Tay
lor's system, which was sold for three shillings and sixpence,
there had been no leading system of Shorthand issued in Eng-
land at less than half a guinea or nearly three dollars. Isaac's
booklet consisted of two pages of engraving and twelve pages of
letter press. Three thousand copies were printed, but it scarcely
paid its expenses, for most copies were given away. It was a very
unpretentious effort at book-making. The twelve explanatory
pages, without even a title page, were placed inside the double-
page engraving and stitched in a dull blue "bonnet-board" cover,
on the outside of which a white label was pasted containing
the title :
STENOGRAPHIC SOUNDHAND,
By Isaac Pitman,
SAMUEL BAGSTER,
At his Warehouse for Bibles, Testaments, Prayer Books,
Lexicons, etc., in Ancient and Modern Languages,
Also Sold by the Author, Wotton -under- Edge,
and by all booksellers.
Priee, fourpence.
This literary bantling, in its uncouth dress, the stitching and
label-pasting of which were done by us boys in his school, was so
utterly unlike anything else sold in the aristocratic establishment
of Samuel Bagster, that no wonder many stories were told, by
inquirers for the little book, of the undisguised contempt with
53
54 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
which the clerks in the store treated the literary waif. But these
scornful young men probably did not know that Isaac Pitman had
earned respectful consideration from their firm, by years of gra-
tuitous labor, in correcting their fine and costly Comprehensive
Bible, the special publication, which, more than any other, gave
character and prestige to their establishment ; still less did they
imagine that this despised little scraplet was the forerunner of a
great national benefaction ; that they might even live to see the
time when millions of Phonographic instruction books would
have been sold and studied; that the art would spread and be
used wherever the English language was spoken; that tens of
thousands of intelligent people would make a daily use of it, and
tens of thousands more -would earn their living by its daily prac-
tise ; that in the distant future the Queen of the realm would
recognize its utility, and confer the honor of Knighthood on its
inventor; still less could they imagine that the time would ever
come when this attempt to improve Shorthand would become so
interwoven into the daily commercial, literary, legal, and political
work of the world that, were it, by any possibility, withheld from
use, even for a single day, the progress of civilization would be
grievously hindered.
After nearly three years of constant experimenting, in which
he habitually conferred with me, and teaching the system to
about twenty of the more advanced boys in his academy at Wot-
ton-under-Edge, where I was his assistant, and afterwards at Bath,
to which city Isaac removed in the summer of 1839, the new,
enlarged, and more complete system was published, under the
title of Phonography. The scheme was first presented on an elab-
orately engraved steel plate, the price of which was one penny.
But the enthusiasm of the author did not stop here. The mar-
gin of the engraved sheet contained the offer : "Any person may
receive lessons from the author, by post, gratuitously. Each les-
son must be enclosed in a paid letter. The pupil can write about
a dozen verses from the Bible, leaving spaces between the lines
for the corrections." The self-sacrificing spirit of Isaac Pitman's
career as author, teacher, editor, lithographic-transfer writer, typic
experimenter, printer, and publisher, — and, in justice to his varied
labors and industry, it should be borne in mind that the aptitude
necessary to insure success in each phase of his phonetic labors
was distinct, one from the other, — is probably without parallel,
AS INVENTOR. 55
in literary or inventive history. In an analysis of my brother's
controlling motive, it is difl&cult to determine whether altruism,
enthusiasm, the assumption of a special mission, or the natural
impulse of an inventive mind, was the leading incentive in carry-
ing him through his sixty years of unremitting labor, thirty years
of which were spent under the benumbing influences of restricted
means, akin to actual poverty.
The improved Phonography was ushered into existence in
January, 1840, as twin sister to England's new Penny Postal
Law. The agitation for cheap postage throughout Great Britain
began soon after the publication of Stenographic Soundhand. It
was in 1837 that Roland Hill's pamphlet appeared, urging the
practicability and advantages of a uniform penny rate of postage
throughout Great Britain, on letters under half an ounce. The
abiding hope and faith that this beneficent project wguld be suc-
cessful determined the form of publication for the new and
improved scheme of Phonography, and though its publication
was delayed some months, waiting for the passage of the postal
law, when the act was passed and the author was able to send his
whole system, together with explanatory and recommendatory
notices, to any part of the Kingdom for one penny, he availed
himself of its privileges with the greatest industry. One of his
first efforts to bring his new scheme into notice was sending six
copies of his plate to every school teacher in Gloucestershire and
Somersetshire, begging the recipient to accept one and distribute
the remaining copies to such as would be likely to be interested
in the study of Shorthand.
The present generation, who have grown accustomed to the
privilege and necessity of cheap postage, and who can now send
a letter of double the weight of the English limit, and ten times
the distance possible in the British Isles, for a *'penny," will be
interested by the reminder that, little more than half a century
ago, the average postage on a single letter was nearly twenty
cents. A "single" letter had to be written on one sheet, without
regard to its size, but any inclosure, however trifling, doubled the
postage. Envelopes were unknown. I very distinctly remem-
ber that the letters of my brother Isaac, that reached home from
Barton-on-Humber, were uniformly written, with great minute-
ness and care, on the largest sized sheets of folded foolscap paper,
and it is on record that one of his letters to a friend, on a contro-
56 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
versial subject, contained more words than the entire Gospel of
Matthew. When cheap postage was first agitated, so Utopian did
the project appear to Lord Lichfield, then Postmaster-General,
that he declared "that of all visionary schemes he had ever
heard, this was the most extravagant." The Duke of Wellington
scouted the proposed reduction of postal charges as '^undesirable
and absurd." To effectually carry out the new postal scheme,
the government offered a prize, of two hundred pounds for the
best method of collecting the pence for the prepaid letters. My
brother was one of the competitors, and his practical mind sug-
gested the very device that experience has shown to be best.
His proposition ran : "Let plates be engraved in small squares of
an inch space, the plates being twenty inches by twelve, making
240 squares, the price oif which, at one penny a stamp when
struck off op paper, will be one pound. The stamps will become
equivalent to the current coin of the realm, and remittances of
small amounts might be made in them." He fiirther recom-
mended, — and this was the unlucky stroke of economy that
proved his undoing, — that the stamps be used for sealing the let-
ters or envelope. The inconvenience of cancelling the stamp,
when afl&xed at the back of the letter, gave the much coveted
prize to another competitor, who repeated Isaac's idea, but with the
suggestion that the stamps be affixed on the face of the letter, at
the upper right hand corner, as is the convenient practise of today.
An added and personal interest is attached to the beneficent
labors of the great postal reformer, Sir Roland Hill, from the fact
that his father, Thomas Wright Hill, who had been the head of a
large private academy at Tottenham, in which his son Roland had
been his assistant, was an ardent friend of the Phonetic reform.
At the termination of a four months' course of teaching by my
brother Joseph and myself, in Birmingham, in 1844, a public pho-
nographic festival was held, at which Thomas Wright Hill pre-
sided, and made an admirable address, in which, speaking as a life-
long educator, he strongly urged the necessity and importance
of a reform of English spelling, regarding it less as an innovation
than a restoration, which would prove of immense educational
value. Isaac Pitman was present at the festive gathering, and
publicly congratulated his brothers on the result of their labors in
Birmingham, where, by four months' instruction, many hundreds
of intelligent people had become enthusiastic phonographers.
AS INVENTOR. 57
The phonetic system of writing, developed mainly through
the labors of Isaac Pitman, may be regarded both as a discovery
and an invention. While no claim can be made that he was the
discoverer of the true principles of alphabetic representation, or
was sole contriver of the first philosophic scheme of brief writing,
it is, however, quite fair to claim that his sixty years of assiduous
labor brought system and order out of the previously existing
chaos ; and that he originated and pioneered the movement that
gave to the English-speaking race its first practical scheme of
philosophic Shorthand ; and that he labored with more untiring
devotion to pave the wa}^ for the introduction of a rational, typic
orthography than any who had preceded him. Phonetics as a
science, and Phonetic Shorthand and Phonotypy as arts, had only
an embryotic existence prior to the labors of Isaac Pitman. A
volume might be filled with a narrative of attempts to construct
Stenographic systems of writing, which, judged by the knowledge
and requirements of today, would be a record of deficiencies and
inconsistencies that would be interesting chiefly as showing their
shortcomings and crudities. These schemes had their use in
preparing the way for Phonography, but they were, without
exception, so insufficient as schemes of alphabetic writing, and
so inadequate and complex as a means of verbatim reporting,
that only those of exceptional endowment, great perseverance
and extraordinary memory could so far master their difficulties and
shortcomings as to make practical use of any of them. Another
record might show the attempts that have been made towards a
true alphabetic standard as applied to the printed language.
This would be a narrative of imperfect investigations, incorrect
conclusions, and a strange disregard of the demands of the
scholar and the practical requirements ot the typemaker, the
printer, and the reader. These attempts at alphabetic reform
were however of great value, but they were suggestions rather
than completed schemes, and as substitutes for the existing
method were far too imperfect to be generally accepted and too
unphilosophic to survive.
Isaac Pitman was the first to devise a practical scheme of
writing based upon a natural classification of the elementary
sounds of language, using for their representation the briefest
geometric signs that were in natural correspondence with the
sounds they were employed to represent. His scheme was the
58 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
first that was philosophic, facile, and brief. He was the first to
recognize and harmonize the natural laws of language, and of
graphic forms best adapted for their visual representation ; that
is, in recognizing the correspondence between classes and groups
of sounds, and the geometric signs that, naturally, would most
appropriately represent them on paper. He was first to recog-
nize that the organs of speech were products of nature, and
could not be changed, and that geometric lines were entities
that could not be altered or increased, but that human language
was artificial, being a product of civilization ; therefore there was
a point at which a strictly philosophic correspondence between
signs and sounds must yield to expediency — that is, to the neces-
sities of the English language in particular. How appropriately
and admirably this necessity is met, is known to every phonog-
rapher. Like sounds are represented by like signs, as far as
practicable; the briefest signs are used to represent the most
frequent sounds, and less facile signs are used for the representa-
tion of rarer sounds. Phonography is unlike and superior to
any previous system of Shorthand, in that it was the first to
recognize and respect the linguistic and grammatical construction
of the language, by providing not only for its single, but for its
double and treble consonants, and its groups of sounds, used in
its frequently-recurring consonantal combinations, all of which are
provided for, according to their relative frequency, by a scheme
of easily-written appendages, — consisting of circles, hooks, and
loops, — so that two, three, four, and even ten and eleven, con-
sonants can be expressed with distinctness by a single inflection
of the pen. Systems of Shorthand, previous to Phonography,
provided only a set of signs adapted to the consonants of the
Roman alphabet, and with that they stopped, and any systematic
scheme of initial and final appendages to meet the requirements
of the language, such as is so admirably worked out in Phonog-
raphy, was quite unknown. To stop short with an alphabet that
provided little beyond substitutes for the consonants of the
alphabet, was found adequate to the representation of but a frac-
tion of the simpler words of the language. Difficult and oft-
recurring words were provided for by symbolic or arbitrary
marks or contractions, which had to be constantly augmented by
the reporter to meet the deficiencies of his stenographic scheme
The notes of a reporter would, of course, be illegible to all save to
AS INVENTOR, 59
the writer himself, and the transcription of his notes by another,
as is now so frequently done, was a convenience unknown prior
to the invention of Phonography.
The geometric forms that are available as signs for sounds,
consist only of a right line and a curve, the latter struck in an
e volute and an involute direction, and to be entirely legible
they can be used in only a very limited number of directions,
namely, as a horizontal, a vertical, and an oblique line to the right
and left, midway between an upright and a horizontal line. But
the inventor of Phonography found that, in actual practise, a
stroke a full eighth of an inch in length, — the normal or standard
size, — could, without danger of illegibility, be made half-length
and also double-length, when used to represent an added sound
or sounds with which the primary sound naturally and custom-
arily combined. The available stenographic material furnished
by a right and a curved line was thus invested with a three-fold
power. It was also found that the signs had a two-fold value
when made light, and when shaded, that is, slightly thickened.
This fact was availed of by the inventor to distinguish the two
classes of consonant sounds, the light strokes being used to
represent whispered consonants, and the shaded signs to indicate
their corresponding voiced sounds. The two classes of signs,
right lines and curves, were employed with nice discrimination,
in that the inventor used straight lines to represent the explosive
sounds, as/, /, ch, k, etc., and when shaded, their corresponding
vocals, b, d, j\ g, etc.;
\\ II //
P^ td eh J k g
The curves were employed with equal uniformity to repre-
sent the continuant sounds;
VV (( )) J J
f r thtK s X sli^h
With these sounds the regular pairing of consonants, as
whispers and vocals, stops ; and coincidentally a regular pairing
of available signs is exhausted ; this, therefore, is the point at
which philosophic order yields to expediency, and to the special
requirements of English speech. Z, r, m, 71, and ngy have no
6o SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
corresponding whispered sounds in English, but being of fre-
quent occurence, are represented by the facile and convenient
signs ;
r -^ ^ ^ ^
It ni 71 n£
The coalescents, w and y^ are sounds ranking midway
between vowels and consonants, being more obstructed than
vowels and less so than consonants. Being vocal sounds they
are represented by the shaded signs ;
'^ r /
The aspirate //, an unobstructed, audible whisper, is heard
in English speech preceding any and all of the vowels, as well
as the coalescents w and y. Its actual sound depends on the
vowel it precedes, for it is an audible breathing through the
position of the vocal organs assumed to pronounce the vowel
or coalescent that follows it. Though less of a sound than a
vowel, it needs a stroke or consonantal representation, as it is
frequently used both preceded and followed by one or more
vowels, (as in Ohio), and no other simpler or more convenient
sign remains than h ^ .
A brief and philosophic Stenography, as to its consonants,
is thus based on the employment of
1. Straight and Curved Lines,
2. Light and Shaded,
3. Of Three Lengths,
4. Written in Three Positions, with respect to the
base line, struck in Horizontal, Vertical, and
two Oblique directions.
These signs are derived from the Square and Circle, shown
in the following diagrams, which give all the geometrical signs
that are practical for brief, legible, and facile writing.
The middle lines in the diagrams show the relative length
AS INVENTOR. 61
of the phonographic letters, the double and half-lengths being
used to represent added sounds.
The following diagram shows that each simple character
may have an initial and a final hook; each character also admits,
as an appendage, an initial and final circle, loop, and an enlarged
hook. Each sign has a three-fold value according to its length,
and a three-fold value as to its position with reference to the
base line of writing.
It will be thus seen that the elementary sounds of language
being discovered, classified, and named, the problem was the
most practicable adaptation of signs for their representation,
having reference to the nature of the sounds and their relative
frequency in speech. These were the problems that Isaac
Pitman and his array of coadjutors, the wide world over, helped
to work out in sixty years of experimenting.
The tables following this chapter are illustrations of the'ZAa.^ia^
three stages of phonographic evolution; showing the "Steno-
graphic Sound-Hand" of 1837; the fuller, but incomplete, and,
from to-day's standpoint, the mistaken development of "Phonog-
raphy" of 1840, and the fully developed "Phonography" of today.
Those who are familiar with the history of Shorthand, from
the days of Elizabeth, will see in Isaac Pitman's first scheme a
gp^eat improvement upon previous systems of brief writing,
while those whose judgment of what a philosophic Shorthand
should be is based upon a knowledge of the comparatively
perfect Phonography of today, will be amazed and amused at the
crudity of the author's first erabryotic attempt.
62 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
It is a curious incident in Stenographic history, that the
exact order of Isaac Pitman's simple- vowel scheme, and to a
great extent the pairing of the consonants, was anticipated in
one system of Shorthand, namely, that by Holdsworth and
Aldridge, joint authors of "Natural Shorthand," published in
1766. Isaac Pitman was unaware of the existence of this system,
and did not become acquainted with it till many years after he
had re-discovered the natural order as well as the best represen-
tation of the sounds of speech, as presented in Phonography.
We have special reason for referring to this interesting system,
because we ourselves did scant justice to the authors in our
"History of Shorthand" (1857). At that time we had not seen a
copy of the rare and beautifully-engraved original work, and
wrote from information received second-hand. It was the first
brief system of writing in which the phonetic principle and a
full alphabet were recognized; but as a practical Shorthand, it
was an entire failure, in consequence of the ill-adaptation of signs
to represent the sounds of the language, and its failure to pro-
vide for the double and treble consonants, and the frequently
recurring initial and terminal sounds peculiar to English speech,
all of which are so fully and conveniently represented in the
Phonographic scheme.
AN intelligent person, on commencing the study of Phonog-
raphy, is likely to experience a lively sense of admira-
tion on discovering how seemingly perfect is its adapta-
tion of the simplest signs to the representation of sounds, how
admirable and facile are its abbreviating appendages of hooks,
circles, and loops, and how eminently reasonable seems to be
the use to which every stroke is applied. It may be said that
geometrical Hnes, such as are employed in Phonography, have
no actual relation to the sounds of speech, any more than they
have to storms or clouds. Storms and clouds may, indeed, be
suggestively indicated by lines; but sounds are things that
can neither he seen nor felt, and we recognize their momentary
existence only when they reach the brain through the ear.
When, however, we realize the possibility of using dots, lines,
and curves, which, by correlative agreement, may be made to
stand for and recall certain sounds, we find ourselves in posses-
sion of a means by which spoken words may be represented to
the eye, and by which they can be perpetuated and transmitted
from one person to another, even when widely separated by
time or space. Words, formulated as thoughts, may, it is true,
be pictorially represented. This was the primitive method
adopted by all semi-civilized peoples, and is, in reality, the only
direct mode of visualizing thought. We might, for example,
picture the thought conveyed in the words, "The Highland
shepherd, on the bleak hills, is watching his flock," and a pic-
torial representation might record the thought; but the picture
would not convey this or any precise form of words; and there
are innumerable thoughts and facts which may be expressed in
63
64 S//? ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
words, that could not be pictorially or symbolically represented;
hence, the importance and necessity of some means of recording
facts, ideas, and emotions by picturing the words employed for
their vocal expression.
Writing, in the present stage of civilization, is as necessary
and important as speech. To answer the needs of the present
time it must be legible and brief. Now reason shows and
experience proves that the best possible forms for a facile and
legible representation of consonant sounds are short right lines
and slightly bent curves. These are the best, because they are
the briefest to write and the most readily distinguished when
written, and it is impossible to conceive of any other forms
that would as well answer the required conditions. And it is a
fortunate coincidence that there are just as many of these signs,
when made light and shaded, as are needed to represent the
consonant sounds of our language. The unobstructed voiced
sounds, known as vowels, form a separate and distinct class of
sounds. In the Roman alphabet not one-half of those heard in
English speech are provided for by the letters a, e, i, o, u. There
are at least twelve vowels or unobstructed sounds in English
that must be represented, and they are found to admit of a
natural arrangement, as orderly in their sequence as are the
musical sounds of the major scale of music. These sounds are
heard both long and short, a distinction easily recognized on
pronouncing the words caught, cot; fool, full; etc. These unob-
structed vocals admit of prolongation, as when words are made
emphatic. The negative no is doubly emphasized by lengthen-
ing the vowel. Othello's self-condemnation, "Fool, fool, fool!"
would be robbed of its appealing force if the vowel were not
prolonged. The vowels are the sounds that make, with proper
tone, force, and modulation, the music, melody, and effectiveness
of speech, and are in this respect wholly unlike the contacts,
explosive, hissing, buzzing, or trilling emissions of breath pro-
ducing the consonants, and which so distinctly modify and
emphasize the vowels they precede or follow. The essential
difference between these two classes of sounds is indicated in
Phonography by a representation equally distinct and charac-
teristic, the consonants being represented by straight lines and
curves, the vowels by detached dots and dashes, that are made
light for short vowels, and shaded to indicate the longer sounds.
PHONOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION, 65
When attention is directed to human speech, what, on first
thought, could seem so difl&cult of analysis, more undefinable
and complex, or less subject to rule or law, than the rapid
motion of the lips, teeth, and tongue, as they check, variously
modify, prolong, or shorten the audibly expired breath, which,
either whispered or vocalized — that is, with or without a vibra-
tion of the vocal cords — makes speech? If it had not been
done, how futile would seem any attempt to reduce to their
elements the gliding, complex stream of articulated and vocal-
ized breath that is heard even in deliberate conversation ! The
classification and nomenclature of sounds of widely differing
quality would seem a like impossible task. No wonder, then,
that we find, even among those who have given years of special
thought to the subject, essential differences of opinion as to
what are the actual elements that are heard in certain classes of
words, while intelligent people, who have not made a special
study of the subject, have very confused ideas ©f the sounds
they use in speech, and when they are asked to name the sounds
heard in some simple word, say, for example, the word t/ii7ik,
they seem incapable of realizing what are the vocal elements of
the word apart from ih&form in which it meets the eye on the
printed page, and their mental conception of the word thi7ik,
will be confused with the sounds, or rather the names, heard
when we say tee-aitch-eye-en-kay ; but phoneticians know that
not one of these letter-names is heard when we say think!
Phonography, therefore, is not the writing of the conventional
spellings which is confusing and more or less irrational, but con-
sists of writing the spoken word by signs that stand for the
sounds which reach the ear when the word is distinctly pro-
nounced, and of which the ordinary spelling, though a professed
representation, is, in most cases, a misleading guide. ^
The sounds of speech, when reduced to their elements, are,
in the Phonographic system, classified into groups, and pictured
by signs that correspond to the nature and quality of the sounds
they represent; and as each sign is allowed to stand for but one
and always the same sound, there can be no hesitation in
deciphering any given sign or combination when it thus dis-
tinctly appeals to the eye. Isaac Pitman was not the first to
attempt an analysis and classification of the sounds of English
speech. It had been imperfectly accomplished in Walker's
FProuounciug IJictiDiiiiry, Irum which the author of Phonography
obtained his first ideas; but he was the first to devise a scheme
of brief and legible writing, based iipon a philosophic theory of
sounds, which secured to the "writer the accuracy and certainty
with which figures are used to represent nmnbers. He was the
first to discover that the signs contained in the preceding
diagrams, when light and shaded, were all that were needed to
represent every consonant sound of human speech. He dis-
covered certain elements of abbreviation, alike facile and legible,
as that each phonographic sign, made of convenient length,
might be shortened and lengthened with perfect legibility, thus
PHONOGRAPHIC E VOL UTION. 67
giving each sign a three-fold power. He discovered that small
hooks, circles, and loops, at the beginning and end of these brief
signs, could be employed to represent added sounds, terminals,
and syllables, which could be as legibly represented by these
abbreviated appendages as when written with the lengthier ele-
mentary signs, and that thus was secured a means of writing
words with almost the ease and freedom with which they are
spoken. How utterly unanticipated and incredible would it
have seemed to the old school of stenographers could they have
been told that all the consonants of the following words were
fully expressed by the accompanying brief phonographic signs,
where three, four, five, six and seven consonant sounds are writ-
ten by an uninterrupted stroke of the pen !
J . -. 3 \ "(S
tent cleaned strand punster spinsters
The principles of abbreviation and their systematic applica-
tion were only very gradually evolved by years of patient
experimenting on the part of the author and thousands of ear-
nest students in all parts of the world, so that now, on examin-
ing the early editions of the system, one is surprised to find in
what an imperfect and fragmentary manner these convenient and
useful principles of abbreviation were at first recognized and
applied. There is no more necessary abbreviation, for example,
than that required for the final /, heard in the past tense of a
numerous class of verbs, as sip, pick, cash, etc., and d, as heard
in the past tense of rib, bag, bathe, etc., and there is no more
beautiful principle of abbreviation in Phonography than that
known as the halving principle, by which T or D, according as
the letter is light or shaded, is added to the value of a consonant
stroke by making it half its normal length. This necessity was
not even recognized in Isaac Pitman's first published scheme,
and only partially and not uniformly applied in the 1840 edition
of Phonography. On one occasion, when instructing a class in
Phonography, using the edition of 1843, I was explaining to
what letters the halving principle was applied, and why it was
not applied to other letters, the halved form of which repre-
sented other sounds than i, or d, when a lazy pupil said: "Why
not apply the principle to all the letters and save us the trouble
of memorizing the exceptions?" Why not, indeed! It took
68 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
years to establish this convenient improvement, it cost thousands
of dollars in unsalable books, and gave rise to endless complaints
and discontent on the part of those who, having learned the
system, had to change their habit if they would conform to the
rule of the progressives. In like manner, my brother Joseph
was explaining to a class the principle on which the vowels in a
word might be omitted and yet be indicated by positiorty without
actually inserting them, when a pupil said; "If you omit the
vowel, why not join the consonant outlines, and thus save the
time and trouble of lifting the pen before starting for the next
word?" Though the idea was not new, the complaint gave rise
to a series of experiments that resulted in a distinct and abbre-
viated style of phonographic phrase-writing , which was first
worked out, to a practical end, by my brother, Joseph Pitman,
Mr. T. A. Reed, and myself, and proved to be a means by which
a degree of brevity, quite unlooked-for on the part of the author,
was obtained without any sacrifice of legibility. There are few,
even among intelligent phonographers of the present day, who
have other than a very imperfect idea of the vast amount of
experimenting, discussion, inconvenience, and expense that have
attended the evolution of Phonography. It might enhance the
phonographer*s interest in his favorite art if he recalled the
fact that the forms he uses and the theory he accepts for the
representation of speech, — seemingly so perfectly natural because
it is so facile and convenient, — is but the culmination and
fruition of a series of experiments, changes, and improvements
which were commenced, not with Isaac Pitman, but in the very
childhood of civilization, and which have been uninterruptedly
continued to the present time. From the earliest pictorial and
hieroglyphic symbols to the latest phonographic phraseography,
it has been an unending series of experiments and improve-
ments, and each step has been received with more or less of
hesitancy and distrust, because of the inconvenience attending a
change of habit. The development of Phonography affords
anothet" illustration of the general rule that the simplest, most
convenient, and most reasonable way of doing anything is usually
the last to come, but when the right thing is accepted, it seems
amazing that the inferior and imperfect one should ever have
been tolerated, much less loved and tenaciously adhered to.
PHONOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION.
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Initial and Final Appendages.
Halving and Lengthening of Curves.
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^■^fff^f^i'jl^(\fjff^^^3
HHE promulgation of Pho-
nography in Great Brit-
ain, by a band of ardent
young men, moved by an enthu-
siasm born of the conviction of
the importance of the phonetic
principle as a factor in education
and general progress, began in
18+2. My brother Joseph, who
was four j'ears my senior, was
the pioneer lecturer and teacher.
I joined him early in 1843, and
Thomas Allen Reed soon after-
wards. Within a few years the
band of helpers in the new cru-
sade included Henry Pitman,
George Withers, G. R, Haywood,
W. George "Ward (. afterwards
mayor of Nottingham ), Timothy
Walker, W, E. Woodward (.who
76 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN* S LIFE AND LABORS,
had been T. A. Reed's tutor in a private academy), J. H. Mog-
ford, H. S. Brooks, C. Sully, F. Carson, the philosophic, critical,
and aristocratic Mr. Edgar, and J. Hornsby. All these, with the
exception of the last named, were young men who had received
a good English and, in some cases, a classical education. Mr.
Hornsby had been, from his early youth, a worker in a cotton-
mill, but having been taught Phonography in pne of the free
classes, he became so enthused by its philosophy and utility that
he abandoned his calling to become a promulgator of the art. He
confined his labors to the more intelligent of the working classes
in the populous towns of I^ancashire and Yorkshire, from among
whom he formed large classes, at a low fee, and taught the art
with great success. All the lecturers and teachers named
became, for a longer or shorter period, devoted missionaries in
what they regarded as an educational and semi-philanthropic
movement, teaching Phonography, more or less gratuitously, and
advocating a reform in English spelling which would result in a
great shortening of the time of children in learning to read, and
tend to bring the elements of education within the reach of all.
These literary reformers usually worked in pairs, and almost
every city and town of importance in Great Britain was visited
between 1842 and 1852. To the foregoing list must be added the
honored name of T. P. Barkas, of Newcastle, afterwards known
as Alderman Barkas. He confined his labors to his native place,
but labored for years, with unflagging zeal, in teaching Phonog-
raphy to large classes gratuitously, until it was said that even
ragged urchins of the place were in the habit of chalking up
moral apothegms, in correctly written Phonography, on the bare
walls and board fences about the town.
At the earnest wish of my brother Isaac, I came to the
United States late in 1852 ; and, at that time, I was the only
remaining lecturer and teacher who had, for nearly ten years,
made the dissemination of Phonography and Phonetics successful
enough to yield a frugal living. Other teachers, after laboring
for a few months, and some for two or three years, accepted posi-
tions as reporters, or engaged in other callings. There were two
of these early apostles whose long, though occasionally inter-
rupted labors in spreading Phonography, and in the public advo-
cacy of the phonetic reform, were especially earnest and note-
worthy. My brother Henry, who, with intermissions devoted to
EARL Y PROMULGA TION OF PHONOGRAPHY, 77
the advocacy of other reforms, has been an active phonetic mis-
sionary for more than half a century. My brother Frederick
became the London publisher of his brother's phonographic
books, and a publisher of music, by which he made a fortune.
My brother Henry, with less worldly wisdom, but with a wide-
embracing thought and affection for humanity, has been a con-
stant and faithful helper in many ways to make people wiser,
healthier, and happier, and his long-continued devotion to a life
of usefulness, though often repaid by rude rebuffs, has been as
constant as it is admirable. Another of the early pioneers was
George Withers. He was a nephew of Isaac Pitman's first wife.
He was well educated ; and if an intelligent person could be,
George Withers was a fanatical advocate of the phonetic reform.
He was not sufficiently practical to make the teaching of Phonog-
raphy yield more than a scant and precarious living. After a few
years spent in phonetic propagandism, he became private secre-
tary to Mr., afterwards Sir, James Matheson, M. P. This gentle-
man, who had been a merchant — and made a great fortune by
selling opium to the Chinese — had purchased the island of Lewis,
the largest of the Hebrides, containing over five hundred square
miles of land. An incident illustrating the independence and
nobleness of character of my friend Withers is worth recalling.
Sir James lived in a fine mansion in London, and the family
employed a retinue of servants. On one occasion, from low-
ering of wages, restriction of privileges, or some other cause,
not now remembered, the whole household of domestics struck
for their rights. In the dilemma. Withers was appealed to by the
mistress of the establishment. To the consternation of the family,
he sided with the domestics, from a conviction that they had rea-
son and justice on their side, and the misunderstanding was set-
tled in their favor ; but it cost my friend his position before many
months had passed, when he again took to the phonetic field.
Phonography, as a time and labor-saving art, has now grown
into such a mercantile necessity, both in this country and in
England, and its practise is so generally regarded, from a utili-
tarian and business standpoint, that it will be difficult for the
present generation of phonographers to realize how much itvS
early dissemination was an educational, philanthropic, and mis-
sionary enterprise, usually accompanied by incessant labor, self-
sacrifice, often privation. In its early days, Phonography was
78 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
never severed from its association with the much needed reform
of English spelling, and the consequent simplification of element-
ary education, that would bring its benefits and blessings within
the reach of all. During these early years my brother Isaac
would again and again remind us : "Do not fail, after your pay
. classes are formed, to give a lecture on the phonetic reform ;
circulate documents and the Phonetic Journal, and show the
necessity and importance of phonetic printing.** Speaking from
my own experience, and from the knowledge I have of the labors
of others, the early advocacy of Phonography and the phonetic
principle was not undertaken for gain or merely to earn a living,
but was engaged in from a sincere love of the art, a desire to see
its use extended, and a strong conviction of the educational bene-
fits that would result from the adoption of the phonetic principle
in writing and printing. Our motives in spreading Phonography
may be inferred from the fact that where we taught one pupil for
pay, we instructed five, on an average, without any thought of
remuneration. In large towns and cities, where our stay extended
to months, much of my time and labor were given to teaching
Phonetic Reading to classes of ignorant adults, prisoners, and
pauper children. This was done to test the practicability of Pho-
notypy, and to show in how brief a period the ignorant and the
young could be taught to read by means of a consistent alphabet.
In Manchester, Sheffield, Preston, single handed, and in Glasgow,
with the assistance of my brother Henry, permanent Sunday--
schools for adults of both sexes were established, where phonetic
reading, lectures, and vocal music were made instructive and
interesting exercises.
Our custom was to begin our labors in a place with an intro-
ductory lecture in a public hall hired for the occasion. Admis-
sion to the lectures was by card only, which could be obtained at
the booksellers* stores gratuitously. The lectures were announced
by tastefully printed handbills, which were displayed in the shop
windows, and by advertisements in the newspapers, when any
were published in the place. I made it a point to have these
handbills printed with care and on good paper, and I never per-
mitted one to be printed without seeing one or more proofs, and
the exceptions were rare when I did not insist upon many
changes in the display lines before they were made to accord with
my ideas of good taste. I have at first annoyed, and afterwards
EARL V PROMULGA TION OF PHONOGRAPHY, 79
received the thanks of, many a compositor for showing him the
difference between a tasteful and a vulgar use of type. In addi-
tion to handbills, we liberally circulated phonographic docu-
ments that gave an explanation of the principles and uses of the
art, and contained the opinions of leading men as to its merit and
advantages. Our lectures were uniformly attended by large and
intelligent audiences, and, not unfrequently, were presided over
by the mayor or some leading, influential citizen.
During my phonographic teaching career in Great Britain,
which extended from the spring of 1843 ^^ December of 1852, I
lectured and taught in the following cities and towns of Great
Britain, making a stay of from one to six months in each place :
London, Manchester, Birmingham, Shefl&eld, Nottingham, Hull,
York, I^ancaster, Leicester, Preston, Derby, Chesterfield, Mansfield,
Coventry, Whitehaven, Carlisle, Southampton, Winchester, Plym-
outh, Portsmouth, Penzance, Truro, Glasgow, Dumfries, Sterling,
Dundee, Montrose, Kilmarnock, Perth, Aberdeen, Dublin, and Bel-
fast. During this period I was assisted, first by G. R. Haywood,
then by George Ward, afterwards by my brother Henry. These
worthy helpers remained with me for periods varying from a few
months to three years, in the case of my brother Henry. In visit-
ing many places I was, professionally, alone, being accompanied
only by my wife and infant daughter Agnes. My opening lec-
ture never failed to be a trjnng ordeal to me. During the ten
years I devoted to the spread of the phonetic reform in England,
the first lecture was preceded by two days of unrest and misery.
The day of the lecture especially, I suffered from depression of
spirits, that, even to this distant day, it is painful to recall, but the
instant I faced my audience it all disappeared. From the moment
I opened my mouth and looked into the glad eyes of my audi-
ence, I was not only at ease, but felt as if possessed by a sense of
exaltation in the performance of a pleasurable duty ; and if the
hall was not too large and the audience too numerous to be
under my control, which was the case on only a few occasions,
my lecture was successful. I had youth and health in my favor,
and my powers of endurance must have been of a staying quality,
for, at that time, I worked and walked and taught fifteen to six-
teen hours each day. I never knew fatigue, nor did I know aught
of ache or ailment of any kind. My living expenses for many
years were not more than a dollar a week. When my brother
8o SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
Henry was my partner, our united living expenses were uni-
formly between six and seven shillings per week. It was a prac-
tise, from, which I never deviated on the day of my lecture, to
touch neither food nor drink after my mid-day meal till after my
lecture. This I did that my voice might be clear. I never had
occasion to regret this abstinence but once. My opening lecture
at Winchester was delivered while I was residing at Southamp-
ton. These cities are ten miles apart, and I walked this distance
after dinner; and I distinctly recall the vexation I felt during
my lecture from a lack of my usual energy. My audience seemed
too much for me, and less sympathetic than usual. I had not
then discovered the limit of my endurance, and I attributed my
comparative failure on this occasion to stupidity, when in reality
it was exhaustion and starvation.
Boarding houses, in the American sense, were not known in
England. In each place we visited, we engaged two rooms in a
respectable private house centrally situated, usually at from half
to a guinea per week, which included service. In our sitting-
room we lived, taught private pupils and small classes. Our
habits of life were regular and frugal. If we visited a theatre we
sat in the gallery. When we traveled it was always in third-class
carriages, which, at that time, were usually open, breast-high
trucks, without a top, in which passengers sat on nine inch
boards laterally placed, with their backs to the locomotive, to
avoid being blinded by dust and cinders. Parliament ultimately
interfered with this barbarous attempt to drive people into sec-
ond and first-class carriages, by compelling the companies to put
tops to these windowless, penny-a-mile cattle pens.
On commencing in a new place, after engaging our rooms,
I would advance perhaps half a guinea to the landlady with
directions somewhat as follows: "We are simple in our living,
and shall give no further trouble if you will let us have well
cooked oatmeal porridge for breakfast, with a bowl of milk for
each of us, taken the night before and allowed to stand for cream ;
for dinner we take potatoes with milk, and a fruit pudding for
dessert ; and wheaten bread and butter or toast, with fruit and tea
for our last meal. We shall take this every day till we ask for a
change," which we never did in any place or in any particular,
except in a change of fruit according to its season. We had
acquired the habit of assimilating and enjoying simple food from
EARLY PROMULGATION OF PHONOGRAPHY, 8i
living with Isaac, and we now continued a like frugal dietary
from choice and as a duty. It would have robbed it of its charm
to admit it was from necessity. Our living was so exceedingly fru-
gal that, in the estimation of some of our landladies, it seemed
not entirely respectable. On one occasion the comment of one
of them, made to a friend of ours, happened to reach us. It was
to the effect that, though we lodged and dressed and acted like
gentlemen, we lived like beggars.
It is perhaps worth recording, as an argument in favor of a
simple diet and a resulting healthy appetite, that the gustatory
enjoyment of this fare must have been great, for, half a century
later, I retain distinct associations of our stay in certain places,
say Lancaster, for instance, for the glorious red currant and rasp-
berry pudding we reveled in for our daily dessert ; and Carlisle
is associated with its admirably-cooked apple pudding, that daily
graced and then disappeared from our festive board. It would
convey a wrong impression if I dismissed this pudding episode
without. saying that, at the time, the fact would have possessed
no importance beyond the temporary enjoyment which came
from the gratification of an unvitiated appetite. Among the
lessons we were taught in our youth, and which were confirmed
by living with Isaac, was that of giving little thought to matters
of eating, drinking and dress, and not to make them topics of
conversation, except in illustration of a principle. The mention
of Lancaster and Carlisle recalls our pleasant stay and successful
labors in those cities. Lancaster, having no manufacturing
industries, was not large enough to give us a free class, but I
very distinctly recall the exceptionally intelligent private classes
we taught. In one family of wealth and refinement I instructed
a class of five ladies. They were not titled people, but of an
old, wealthy and aristocratic stock, that showed the sweet graces
and fine eflFects of generations of culture. I remember, too, that
it was in Lancaster I taught a private class, each member paying
his half-guinea fee, for a course of twelve lessons, and, as was
our custom, I continued to instruct it freely, as long as I
remained in the place. At the close of the lessons they insisted
on my accepting a silk purse, which, on opening at our rooms,
I found contained five golden guineas, at that time, and still
more so now, a very rare and highly -valued coin.
Our stay in Carlisle, as might be said of our sojourn in
82 S/R ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
almost every place, has its distinct associations. We made an
early visit to its grand old cathedral, dating back, I believe, to
the eleventh century. Some religious paintings on the walls
had been whitewashed over, but at the time of our visit were
partly recovered ; but my eyes were fastened on the finely-carved
canopied stalls of the choir, the finials of which had been uni-
formly sawed off, giving them a strange, stunted appearance.
On inquiring of the verger, we were told that these mutilations
were the work of Cromwell's iconoclasts ! Cromwell was one of
my heroes, but the sight of this Carlisle mutilation, the skilled
work of pious monks, terribly shocked me. I had no radical
objection to his chopping off the head of a faithless King, but to
destroy the finest carving in this grand old cathedral, simply
because it was a thousand times more beautiful than anything
they possessed in their barn-like conventicals, or could appreciate,
seemed an unpardonable barbarism. Among my pupils in
Carlisle I taught the grand-daughter of Archdeacon Paley, who
will be remembered as the author of the "Evidences of Chris-
tianity," and who had been Archdeacon of Carlisle. She was a
lady of great intelligence and refinement, and seemed quite
charmed with the philosophy and utility of Phonography.
Carlisle, too, is remembered from the fact that, while there (1847)
I wrote in lithographic style, and published for the use of my
pupils, what I think was the first reading book of selected matter
in Phonography. It was called the Phonographic Bijou.
Though I never repeated a lecture, there was a general simi-
larity in the choice of matter and the order of its arrangement.
The introductory part might deal with the possible universality,
nobility, and richness of our language and literature ; the impor-
tance of an alphabetic representation, and its dissemination by
printing, as the prime element of civilization; a sketch of repre-
sented language, from the pictorial, symbolic, and the hiero-
glyphic methods, to the Romanic alphabet. The current system
of writing, its length and shortcomings, were referred to, and the
absurdities of our orthography, were always made a telling
feature. Illustrations, rapidly and distinctly written on the
blackboard, never failed to put an audience in good humor. How
could it be otherwise, when, for example, after showing how
varied were the powers of every letter in the alphabet, and how
numerous were the ways in which each sound of the language
EARLY PROMULGATION OF PHONOGRAPHY. 83
was represented, we gravely proposed to spell scissors by the
combination psozzyrrzz f This was but one of the eighty-one
million ways in which we might spell the word, every one of
which would be justified by the spelling of other words : — a truly
orthographic jumble for sizers, or sizursy but justified by the ^ in
psalm y the i in women, z in buzZy ur in myrrh , and z in whizz.
Sometimes we took time to be exact, and showed, quoting from
the tables given in Dr. Ellis' "Plea for Phonetic Spelling," that
the sound of ^ was represented in nineteen different ways, i in
thirty-seven, z in eighteen, e or u (the sound represented by o in
the spelling of scissors) in not less than thirty-six, r in ten, and
the final ^, as we before stated, in eighteen different ways. If
the varied powers of these letters are multiplied one by the other,
the total number of spellings will be 81,997,920 different, justifia-
ble forms, in which the word scissors might be written.
The audience would now be ready to listen to an explanation
of our proposed phonographic substitute, which, being strictly
phonetic, would be free from the absurdities and time-wasting
perplexities of the common spelling, and in which, instead of
employing lengthy forms for the representation of sounds, as in
longhand, the briefest geometrical signs were used, thus securing
facility and speed in writing, and as each sign was used for but
one and always the same sound, the letters of the phonographic
alphabet were as unchanging as are the powers of the Arabic
numerals, and Phonography, therefore, was always reliable, cer-
tain, and legible. An explanation of the phonographic alphabet
followed as I referred to a large and well-painted chart of the
vowels and simple consonants, which was suspended immediately
behind me. My exposition of Phonography was made interest-
ing and effective in the degree in w^hich I succeeded in turning
my audience, at this stage of my lecture, into a class, and this
I invariably did. It is pleasant to recall the intelligent enthu-
siasm that was, as a rule, enkindled by these early phonographic
lectures. When the alphabet of consonant signs had been briefly
explained, I made it a point to repeat certain of the phonographic
signs on the blackboard, as \ /, | /, — ky^^m^^^^ «, so that
they would be memorized, then to show how they were joined,
and I proceeded no further nor faster than I knew the majority
of my audience followed me. After this, the vowel signs would
be written after the letter | /, and perhaps after the horizontal letter
84 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
— k. Then I would make the letter ^^ m, and below it write
"the first-place heavy vowel," after naming it; I would suggest
that probably some of my auditors would know the word I had
written, and some one would be sure to say me. Then I would
add a / and again intimate that probably some one could name the
word I had written. Some one would be sure to show their
ability by answering met. Then would occur the lecturer's
opportunity to enlist the interest of all who had not blundered.
I would recall the phonetic principle before explained and insist
that if me spelled me, — and the phonetic principle allowed no
change, — m-e-t would not be mety but — and numerous voices,
newly awakened to a recognition of the phonetic principle, would
answer meet. Then would follow many other examples of simple
words, phonographically written, and the lecturer would have his
entire audience reading selected words as fast as they were
written, and people were delighted to find that they could read
with ease words thus phonographically expressed. These black-
board exercises were followed, and the lecture concluded, by
illustrations of phonographic reporting. I would read a passage
from a book, leaving the audience to name the page, at the rate
of I20 to 130 words per minute, to my brother Henry. The cor-
rect reading of the passage from his phonographic notes always
QtlUtfd forth an approving cheer. To show that phonographic
rtt{>i>rting and reading were not an effort of memory, I would
ngftd a jHissage backward, then when Henry read his notes back-
wtau^ the audience would get the sense of the passage, and at the
^*H^ tunc tt proof that it was the legibility of the system, and not
itt^mMiY^ thttt was concerned in deciphering it. The reporting
cJ<t^ikuvut^ were always received with interest and delight, for
\\^ v\>ui^i? iMX^ther showed an intelligence and skill that were
^htoHVnblV' \ brief announcement of the classes we intended to
v^>*^*^ v\4K^Uik^l the lecture, when the president, if we had one,
NW^M. ^ '"^^ ^ make a few eulogistic and commendatory
^TtlLUJ^t, ^UHJt tlht^ >K^>uld follow a rush to the platform to buy
^l^||JMMIMiLt^^^-\^itied the wonderful system!
\lLpliiC<t tt^i^mtri\tiH an industrial population, it was our
it^SPPIiSJMMk ^ItWt V^t pay classes were formed, and we had
MWftMk^^i^^^^ iyt^ii^ practicable, at the private schools, to
^AHiliHib-lWrilfeit' (MMkr lecture (usually given in the Sunday-
church) for the purpose of forming
EARL Y PROMULGA TION OF PHONOGRAPHY. 85
a free class for the intelligent among the working people. In the
manufacturing towns of the north of England these classes were
very numerously attended. The announcement was made at the
lecture that, as certain expenses would necessarily be incurred
for printing the lecture bills, lighting the room, and for janitor's
attendance, if each pupil paid one penny each evening to meet
this expense, we would be only too happy to give them the
necessary instruction to make them practical phonographers.
This was always answered by a cheer and the resulting classes
were always large and teaching them became the pleasantest
duties of our life. There was really very little generosity in our
offer. These free classes, with few exceptions, paid all expenses,
and the profit on the sale of the books was a welcome addition to
our earnings, and increased the remittances we were able to send
to our hard-pressed brother Isaac. These classes were attended
by pupils from sixteen to sixty years of age, and they varied in
number from fifty to two hundred, and even more, according to
the size of the place. Occasionally, but rarely, there would be a
sprinkling of young women. The classes met on two evenings
of the week, which gave the pupils time for practise between the
lessons, and seldom did a pupil present himself without bringing
a written exercise showing several hours of studious application.
Of those who were instructed in these free classes some became
professional reporters. One of the most skilled and accurate
reporters I have known in this country, who came from Scotland,
told me that his father, who was his instructor, had been a pupil
in our Aberdeen free class. This reporter attributed his dexterity
to the fact that when he was a youth of fourteen, and up to the
time he left home, he was accustomed to report the Sunday ser-
mons, which be afterwards read to his mother, whose defective
hearing prevented her from attending the services.
These free classes had a delight all their own. The spirit
that prevailed seemed to be an intelligent excitement. The
explanation of the system, with illustrations on the blackboard,
the simultaneous reading and writing of words and sentences,
made the hour pass all too soon. The gradual unfolding of the
system was received with delight and surprise, and as each new
principle was explained, the pleasure and satisfaction of the
pupils would be shown by broad smiles, and the more receptive
ones seemed ready to spring from their seats ! I have again and
86 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
again heard from pupils at the close of the lesson such exclama-
tions as *' I never enjoyed anything so much in my life! " From
many cities and towns we were not allowed to depart without
some demonstration on the part of our pupils ; presents, written
addresses, and a tea-drinking soiree or phonetic festival, with
music, appropriate speech-making, congratulations, and good
wishes, would pleasantly and affectionately close our labors in
the place.
ISAAC PITMAN'S
habit was to rise
at four,and never
later than five, o'clock
summer and winter.
His toilet and devo-
tional reading being
over, he was always at
his desk at six o'clock,
whether he worked at
home or in his office,
which was more than
a mile from his resi-
dence. The mere
statement that he
worked from six in the
morning till nine and
ten at night, with brief
intervals for meals,
every day in the year,
that for fifty years he
rarely, if ever, took a
holiday, and that he
scarcely ever partook
of a meal away from
home, save when on a
lecturing journey, conveys but an imperfect estimate of his daily
work, unless it be borne in mind that his life was a succession of
duties which, to the average man, would be felt to be an unremit-
ting strain of head, eye, and hand. Those who are familiar with
Uthographic-transfer writing, of which Isaac Pitman did such an
immense amount, know that it requires a steady, even, and deli-
cate touch, secured only by a concentration of the powers of the
band, eye, and brain, and an absolutely tranquil mind, to produce
the precise and satisfactory results shown in my brother's works.
Preparing, proof-reading, and publishing a constant succession of
new books, conducting his two or three monthly magazines,
keeping up with his immense correspondence, and attending,
unaided, as he did, to every detail, he lived a life of unvarying,
calm, persistent, almost automatic labor, that has rarely, if ever,
been equalled. In 1849. after fifteen years of this kind of work,
when attending a phonetic festival at Nottingham, addressing an
88 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
assembly of those who had been instructed in Phonography by
my brother Joseph and myself, Isaac Pitman said :
**I am sometimes told that I shall wear myself out in a few
years, but I think differently. I take everything very calmly,
and have acquired the habit of doing my work quickly, in short-
hand style. I have adopted temperate habits of life and early
hours of rising and going to bed; and I have the happiness of
being descended from a healthy stock, being the third child of a
family of eleven, only one of whom died in youth, and the young-
est of whom, Frederick Pitman, is now on the verge of manhood.
I am now thirty-five years of age. My father, an eldest son, is
now sixty-one and has scarcely passed the prime of life, and his
father, who is eighty-one, gives promise of a few more years in this
world. And I may add that when I was a boy I attended my
great grandfather's funeral. I hope then, through the Divine
mercy, I may reach the age of eighty.'*
Close upon half a century after this a lady visited him (March
9, 1895), and wrote in a London monthly magazine :
'*I knew that tomorrow would be his eighty-second birthday,
and, had he received me in an easy chair by the fireside, it would
have seemed the most natural thing possible on a cold afternoon
in midwinter. Instead, I found him in his study seated at his
writing table immersed in correspondence, and with no apparent
thought about fire. He rose quickly to greet me in his simple,
kindly way, and I saw that though his back was slightly bent
and his hair and beard were white as the snow outside, his eye
was bright and keen, and his face ruddy as a winter's apple.
There is a juvenility, too, about Sir Isaac which is very bewilder-
ing, for he skips and runs about the house from one room to
another, and jumps upon tables and chairs to reach down a book
or a picture in such an agile manner that it would put many boys
to shame."
It might have been said of my brother, with more truth than of
most men, "There is but one Isaac Pitman." Yet, strange to say,
the world contained at least two, as is related in a letter from my
esteemed friend, the late Dr. Thomas Hill,* former President of
Harvard University :
*Dr. Hill was one of those rare souls whom it is a privilege to call your friend. He
was a profound mathematician, and his general information was immense. His genial
nature made his talk most varied, interesting, and instructive ; and of all those with
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TRAITS. 89
Waltham, Mass., 22 June, 1891.
"I have wanted to tell you, if I have not done so, of a curi-
ous coincidence. Professor Barber, at Meadville, told me that
when he was in Somerville, Mass., he had a parishioner named
Isaac Pitman, a very enthusiastic phonographer. This American
Pitman went to England, and while there called on your brother
Isaac Pitman. The two men had been born and brought up on
opposite sides of the Atlantic, but were of no known relationship.
But they were of the same age, of the same name, with the same
zeal for Shorthand, with the same devotion to Swedenborg, and
with the same adherence to two or three other isms ; Professor
Barber thinks that homeopathy and vegetarianism were among
them. This is, it seems to me, a very curious set of coincidences,
and would seem to indicate the probability of mental peculiarity
inherited from a common ancestor several generations back."
That the two Isaacs were not Dromeos, is shown by the fact
that one had leisure to make a pleasure trip across the Atlantic,
partly to see his twinship, while the other lived a life of incessant
occupation, never, seemingly, spending an hour of his waking life
in doing other than the immediate, pressing duty that lay before
him. I could give a hundred instances of my brother's devotion
to duty rather than yield to what might be called his natural
inclination. His sister Rosella, for example, the next younger
than Isaac, was, from her fine intellectual and moral nature, more
esteemed than either of his two younger sisters, yet he wrote to
me (Bath, 13 May, 1853): "Dear Rose is with us. She came
yesterday and will leave tomorrow. So beset with work am I, I
cannot take a single hour to be with her." My sister had not
seen Isaac for two or three years, and he was the sole attraction
in her visit to Bath. They would meet at their brief meals, but
beyond this, so "beset" was he with work — or, as Rose might
have interpreted it, so exacting were his self-imposed duties — that
whom I have been brought into friendly contact in this broad land, he certainly was one
of the most worthy, intellectual, and likeable I have ever known. Dr. Hill was a practi-
cal phonographer, and a stanch friend of the phonetic reform. As chairman of the
school committee, he inaugurated and superintended a series of experiments in the
public schools of Waltham. in which it was clearly shown that, by beginning with the
Phonetic method, children acquire the ability to read the common system in much less
time than if they began with it, and that its use was attended by many advantages,
prominent among which were that it tended to give distinctness of articulation and
accuracy of pronunciation. The report of these experiments (1853) was widely quoted in
this country and in England.
90 S/I^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
he could not conscientiously spare a single hour to respond to the
call of his natural affection when weighed against the dutie$ and
attractions of his phonetic mission. That Isaac Pitman possessed
strong natural affection, every one who knew him felt assured,
but so absorbed were his mind and heart in his special work, that
other things were relatively of slight importance. For example,
my wife had suffered from a severe fever and illness, soon after
our landing in Philadelphia, in giving birth to Ellis, my second
born son, due chiefly to our unusually longknd tempestuous voy-
age. Both of our boy babes were prostrated by sickness that soon
terminated their earthly career. I suppose I had communicated
these facts to Isaac. His next letter, containing four pages of
closely written Shorthand, was wholly occupied with details of
phonographic business matters, but the last three lines read, **My
hearty sympathies are with you in your domestic trials. Happily
there is no poverty in addition. With many kisses for the dear
sufferer and sweet little Agnes; farewell !" (the last word crossed
with a double phonographic kiss). Whether my brother's life
would, on the whole, have been happier, had he taken a different
view of the relative importance of his special mission, it is impos-
sible to say. Such was his peculiar organism, such were the
unusual circumstances which accompanied his special work, that
he probably could not have been other than he w^as, or have done
other than he did, and most likely he got out of life all the happi-
ness he wanted, or deserved, or was capable of enjoying.
My brother's love and friendships depended chiefly on his
sympathy with those possessing the following characteristics : a
passion for phonetics and the Phonetic Reform, when in agree-
ment with his special view of the subject; simplicity of living
and purity of life and conduct in accord with his own high ethi-
cal standard. Agreement on religious points, when not accom-
panied by these other essentials, did not seriously affect him, and
blood relationship, except so far as it was accompanied by traits
of character referred to, did not seem to weigh with him at all.
I do not mean that Isaac was devoid of family affection, but that
certain spiritual and mental affinities vastly outweighed them.
He could be as impartially severe in his censure of any member
of the family, who acted in a manner contrary to his ethical stand-
ard, as to the veriest stranger. I do not think he ever prized or
retained a friendship where any of the essentials named were
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TRAITS. 91
lacking. He had a great horror of smoking, yet I accompanied
him once when he tolerated and walked in company with one who
smoked, but who chanced to be the son of his dearest friend, who
had introduced Swedenborg's writings to his notice. It was in an
early morning walk over the downs at Clifton to view the first
wire that had been stretched across the chasm in which flowed
the Severn, from the piers of the first suspension bridge built in
England (1842). Our friend, on striking a match to light his
cigar, said, '*I hope my smoking will not be disagreeable to you,"
to which Isaac quietly replied, ''Not if you will permit me to keep
to the windward of you." I looked for at least a gentle reprimand,
but nothing more was said on the subject, and we walked and
talked and greatly enjoyed our morning constitutional. Smoking
was regarded by him as a terribly disagreeable habit, and one who
used tobacco in a still more oflfensive way — I question if he ever
encountered such — would have shocked every fiber of his phys-
ical and spiritual nature. My brother's extreme repugnance to
tobacco was both physiological and ethical, and was probably due
less to prejudice than to the keenness of his olfactory powers.
He was like Thoreau, who also had a great aversion to smoking,
of whom it is said that, while living as a recluse at Walden, he
would be notified of the passage of a traveler along the highway,
sixty rods off, by the scent of his pipe.
Isaac Pitman was disinterested and generous to a fault ; but,
like all things human, his generosity had its limitations. It is
equally true that he was determined and exacting in his con-
victions, and he conscientiously made his conduct square with
his belief. This, of course, was not always agreeable to those
who worked with him, and whose convictions, though different,
were entertained with equal sincerity. He seemed to believe
that the phonetic scheme of writing and printing had been com-
mitted to his special charge, and that its development was his
assigned work. He acted as if persuaded that he was com-
missioned with an almost exclusive right to determine its mani-
fold details and mode of promulgation. It would be unjust to
his memory not to insist that he was unconscious of his auto-
cratic rule. His convictions were deep and decided, and that
only which appeared for the time truest and best would he
tolerate. No sacrifice was too great to be rid of a blemish ; no
effort too great to secure an improvement, and no persistence
92 S/R ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
too prolonged to gain a victory for what he regarded as the truth
and the right. He was not always logical, for the "best" today
might be succeeded by a "better" on the morrow, and the
"foundations of truth," sound from today's examination, might
be discovered to need repairs before the next month's magazines
were put to press. But he consistently carried out his belief,
and generally at a pecuniary sacrifice. The belief of today
would be no criterion of his convictions on the morrow, and the
latter decision might prove more costly than preceding ones, but
it would be as consistently carried out, and a kind Providence
was trusted in some, for the time being, unseen way, to take
charge of that looming type or paper bill, and the compositors'
and printers' wages, on the coming Saturday. But, oh, the
pitiful strain of those years of ever-present, ever-pressing poverty!
It might have been an unconscious spur to goad him, and keep
him at his racing pace ; but the mental strain of this brooding
incubus of debt — the subject of very frequent mention in the
hundreds of his letters lying at this moment before me — would
have been too much for the mental balance of any soul endowed
with less energy, conscientiousness, and hope. My brother was
a bundle of activities, and as they were directed to one end, they
found exercise in endless experiments with the possibilities of
his beloved scheme. How often have I heard from his stanchest
friends, "What does Isaac Pitman mean by these constant
changes?" There was but one reply: "A seeming improvement
presented itself, and he was bound to carry it out." My brother
Henry, writing to me from Bath, lo October, 1851, while I was
engaged in lecturing on and teaching the perfected (?) Phonog-
raphy, said: "I am learning, or trying to learn, every day that it
is useless to attempt to check Isaac's irresistible determination
to have his own way. Mr. Reed and myself, by an apparent
acquiescence, induced him to give up a half-dozen of the pro-
posed phonographic changes. It would amuse, if it did not
grieve you, to see the number of alterations which are made in
in one day in the * Proposals.' " This, we suppose, referred to
the MS. for the lithograph magazine, which was, for a time, pub-
lished under this title and circulated among the leading English
and American phonographers, containing discussions on the
improvements which are incorporated in the tenth edition of the
system, and which, with the exception of the inversion of the
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TRAITS. 93
first and third vowels, is substantially the American Phonography
of today. Phonography might not have been as near perfection
as it now is, had it not been for the constant experimenting and
trial that were given the possible "changes for the better" by
its indefatigable inventor ; but the present generation can have
but a faint idea of the commotion in the phonographic world, the
inconvenience to teachers of the art, and the annoyances to prac-
tical phonographers, as well as to the teachers of phonetic read-
ing, that arose from my brother's undue haste in incorporating
changes and supposed improvements into the system, without
sufficient consideration and trial.
But it is only fair to say that in the endless discussions of
the English and American Phonetic Councils that were carried
on from 1844 to 1851, to whom disputed points in Phonography
and Phonotypy were submitted, Isaac Pitman was always patiently
and calmly, if provokingly, serene. He was fair in argument ;
he never used a harsh or cutting phrase, but urged bis views
with seeming deference to the opinions of others. He never,
however, yielded a point which, for the time being, seemed best
and most desirable. He patiently continued the discussion until
his opponents were silent — possibly wearied — or convinced, and
his best friends, whether agreeing or disagreeing with him, were
in the habit of saying, " Isaac always carries his point." The
truth is, he simply continued the discussion, arguing for the
fitting thing, and delayed the voting, — when a vote was to decide
the question, — until his point was gained. Better that the
heavens were rent in twain than that any blemish should mar
the symmetry of his beloved scheme ! He labored and argued
from an instinctive, irresistible impulse, until the real or imagi-
nary blemish was removed and the fitting thing accepted and
installed. Those who agreed with him found him a redoubtable
leader; those who disagreed were often disciplined into line by
his chilling and unswerving conscientiousness — a condition of
mind which, under human limitations, is as liable to be wrong
as right. I could not give a better illustrative example of Isaac
Pitman's perseverance, changefulness, and conscientious following
of his convictions, notwithstanding the sacrifice it entailed, than
by mentioning that in the publication of "Milton's Paradise Lost,"
one of the first of his Phonotypic books, portions of the work,
varying from 8 pages (one form) to 96 pages, were set up and
SIR fSAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
,'/'r) ci:iienxiict,fciUiiid ujM'i. fin- i^cari
■i ..fiant use cftht "PIwi- du- r//«A7,i
■ !u :h iRij private crpcn tua.d'tid
'n tiu'Pimi.if^chods of^aUkam. /.-
^/uit it IS yusdq mpen,ortotiu i>rdi-
idvijcr ABC mode ofieaehini ehil
drcu to read. Jl rmdca {hci'udufi
iiffcelalions of the ^'luiA I'vr/. it:
hi.' ok pleasant. It culiiMiki atvut-.
fid iuibil ofana]!^£is oi' SvUidMid
ijuprove0 the ear- it eorreds bud
aiuucLaticn and proniuid pmiau-
liittioti. and pi-vducef ecmcmuU^
I V iiu' hijSjiest standard of eiihot-pij.\
It i^ives us the onlu nasvuaou''
ii'fpc of teairhiuSl foreign borii)\
id lilts t.v readiJng/isk.I kim-
-k<it a thorough triaCiTi sdwd ind\
'jhivLl tobe the beft nicanp ever
printed, aud then, in consequence of some improvement he
thought should be made in the forms of certain phonotypic let-
ters, they were canceled and thrown aside as waste paper, and
these cancellations of printed portions of an edition of a thousand
copies, and then recommencements of the work, occurred not
less than nine times before the book was actually printed and
ready for the binder.
ISAAC PITMAN'S career as student, clerk, schoolmaster,
preacher, lover, husband, Bible corrector, inventor, author,
journalist, publisher, compositor, proof reader, dictionary
compiler, lithographic-transler writer, and indefatigable worker
generally, was, in its varied phrases, a striking manifestation of an
altruistic spirit laboring unceasingly for the benefit of others.
Personal gain or honor as a reward for what he did was as
unsought and unthought of, and as foreign to his nature, as it
would be for a loving mother to expect reward for nurturing her
child. His delight and satisfaction were in the performance of
the duty that presented itself, and his energy and eagerness were
always proportioned to the task undertaken. My brother never
would have accomplished what he did in his long life of labor,
or have made what to others seemed unending self-sacrifices, had
he not been upheld by an enthusiasm that never forsook him,
and which was based on an abiding faith in the necessity and
usefulness of the work that had faHen to his lot. But it must
be confessed that his unsophisticated and uncalculating nature
often made success fall short of what it might have been had his
efforts been spiced with a soupcon of worldly calculation. The
first edition of Phonography, issued in 1 840, the result of the pre-
ceding three years of incessant experiment in completing, as he
thought, the crude Stenographic Soundhand of 1 837, was published
at one penny, that It might, as the author desired, be brought
within the reach of every school boy in the land. The entire sys-
tem, with explanation and exercises, was crowded into a six-by-
eight sheet of exceedingly fine steel engraving, the sheet contain-
96 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
ing on its margin the announcement that the author would correct
the exercises of learners through the post gratuitously. Generous,
indeed, but measurably futile, for the explanations, examples, and
exercises were presented with such microscopic fineness, that
probably not more than one in fifty of persons of ordinary intel-
ligence would possess the ability and industry necessary to
unravel so intricate a presentation. He overlooked the fact that
others were not so clear-sighted as himself, or that in general
they possessed about one-tenth of his untiring industry. He
seemed unable to comprehend the narrow limits of people of
average ability. Hence his presentation of the system in the first
and second editions of his Manual was far from being as simple
and sequential as is desirable in an instruction book. It was not
until my brother Joseph and I began to teach Phonography that ,
we perceived the necessity of a simpler and more methodical pre-
sentation of the art, and it fell to my lot to compile the necessary
instruction books. I never thought it necessary or desired to
make' this fact known till the suit of A. J. Graham was instituted
against me, when he sought to deprive me of the right to publish
my own Phonographic books. I then put my brother's letters in
evidence to show that I was not only entitled to the copyright of
my own books, but that I was the author of some of the leading
English text books. My brother was the inventor of the system,
and I was the compiler of several editions of his Class Book,
afterwards called the Instructor, and of two editions of his Manual
of Phonography.
My brother's daily labors for many years would average fif-
teen hours of close, stern application to duty, but he did not feel
it as such. It was a life of self-sacrifice, but he knew it not. He
sacrificed himself, and he looked for self-sacrifice from others, and
in the degree in which others were esteemed and were dear to
him. After ten years of public lecturing and teaching in Great
Britain, my brother was very desirous that I should come to this
country to further extend Phonography and the Phonetic Reform,
and to engage in the publication of works that should do less
discredit to the cause than most of those which had been issued
here prior to that time. He sent me, my wife, and two infant
children across the Atlantic as steerage passengers in the midst of
winter, because it seemed to him necessary that my advocac}'^ of
the phonetic reform here should not be longer delayed. My wife
HIS DAIL Y WORK, 97
was a delicately nurtured and highly endowed soul, to whom he
was devotedly attached, and when I think that he had ten years
more experience than I, it amazes me that his enthusiasm should
have demanded such a sacrifice from her and from me. I under-
took the mission with a willing alacrity that seems now quite
incomprehensible. The novelty ot the voyage concealed its dis-
comforts. Our vessel was run into by a returning steamer
before we left the Mersey, and we stopped several days to repair
the gapping rent made in our vessel's side, fortunately just above
the water line. The voyage was long and tempestuous. The
care of my three charges filled my whole time with necessary and
not unwelcome duties. My wife and infant child were located in
a different and pleasanter part of the vessel, and my two-year-old
daughter, Agnes, was left wholly to my charge. So incessantly
were my attentions required that I did not open a book, maga-
zine, or paper during the voyage, which extended to thirty days.
But the passage seemed to me a holiday, and a season of exhila-
ration that recognized neither danger nor discomfort. Such was
the effect of health, hope, and buoyant spirits. My wife, who had
scarcely left her berth during the entire passage, bore the trials
of the voyage with a brave and cheerful spirit ; not a syllable of
complaint or suggestion of dissatisfaction was uttered. The prep-
aration of food for my infant child, which was done in the cook's
galley, was a feat which frequently taxed my utmost dexterity.
An occasional half-crown to the cook kept me on friendly terms
with him, and his fires were at my disposal at all times day and
night. The preparation of the infant's food oyer the galley fire
during a storm was a feat of skill, and carrying the hot food to a
distant berth along the deck of a rolling and pitcjbijing steamer
was, in stormy times, not often accomplished till two or some-
times three separate attempts had been made, and as many of my
amateur efforts at cookery had been tempest-tossed and Ipst, The
struggle of the vessel as it made headway through th^ ^ild tur-
moil of the heaving sea had a strange fascination for me, and
served to arouse extra interest and energy in overcoming the dif-
ficulty attending the novel duties that fell to my lot. We were
excited and overjoyed to reach the shores of the new world, and
on a genial, sunshiny day in January, 1853, such a day as is almost
unknown in England in winter, — and the novelty of which I
seemed to enjoy for the first time in my life — we plowed our way
98 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
up the Delaware through four inches of unbroken ice, and landed
on the evening of the day. Most of the passengers left the vessel
immediately upon touching shore, but we remained on board
that night. In the early morning I stepped ashore, and no one
being near, I reverently knelt and kissed the blessed land I had
reached, less from a sense of danger escaped, than in joyous antic-
ipation of the duties and occupation that the new world would
open up to me.
The practical phase of Isaac Pitman's life is told in a charac-
teristic pen sketch by an Episcopal clergyman, which appeared in
Welden's Register at the time my brother was occupying the
building in Parsonage Lane. The writer says : "If we were asked
to name the most diligent and hard working man we know, it
would be Isaac Pitman. It is a treat to visit his printing oflfice
in Bath. Printing offices are usually very dirty and untidy places,
but Mr. Pitman's office, save for the furniture, might be a lady's
drawing room. Everything is in what for some unknown reason
is called 'apple pie* order. In a large room sits Mr. Pitman him-
self, writing an article, reading a proof, or answering a letter.
His correspondence is immense, letters and papers flow in upon
him from every part of the world; he attends to all himself.
Those who write to him in ordinary handwriting he answers in
long-hand or in phonetic spelling, but the mass of his corre-
spondence is in Phonography, and the speed and ease with which
he writes enables him to get through an amount of work which
would else seem fabulous. We wish we could reproduce one of
Mr. Pitman's phonographic letters on this page. Written on a
scrap of ruled paper half the size of an ordinary page of note paper
would be seen a series of lines, circles, and dots, sharp and deli-
cate as if traced by a fairy, and containing as much matter as an
ordinary letter of four pages. A most courteous correspondent, he
commences in the ancient style, * Isaac Pitman to Mr. , or Mrs.
, or Miss ' as it may be, and goes on to say what is neces-
sary in a free, kindly, and concise style, closing his letter with the
simple word,*Farewell.' Letters in this way he writes off by the
score, without haste and with an ease which fills one used to
drudge with the pen in the customary fashion with pity for his
own sad lot.
"Mr. Pitman carries in his printing office the regime of the
schoolmaster ; he is a strict disciplinarian. No talking is allowed
HIS DAIL V WORK. 99
beyond necessary questions and orders, and the quiet is unbroken
except by the click of the t3^pe or the packing of parsels for the
carrier or the post. We have sometimes amused ourselves with
drawing comparisons between Isaac Pitman and John Wesley,
and did we believe in transmigration of souls, we might imagine
that the soul of John Wesley had left its 'world parish* to write
Shorthand and persuade Englishmen to spell phonetically.
Unlike Wesley, Pitman is somewhat tall, but, like him, he is spare
and muscular, with bright eyes and keen face and rapid motions.
Like Wesley, his habits are regular and almost ascetic. He goes
to bed early and rises early, summer and winter, and may invari-
ably be found posted at his desk by six in the morning. Except
for the progress of his work, he seems to have no care in the
world. He sees no company; he seldom dines from home or
pays visits, and, first in the office in the morning, he is last to
leave at night. He delights in walking exercise, and scampers
over miles of country with the same ease that his pen goes over
paper. Like Wesley, he is very abstemious ; wine, beer, or spirits
of any kind never pass his lips, nor fish, flesh, nor fowl. For years
he has been a strict vegetarian, and but for a cold now and then
he has enjoyed perfect health. As if his Shorthand and phonetic
printing were not enough to task all his powers, he preaches each
Sunday in a little Chapel at Twerton, a village two miles from
Bath. Like Wesley, he has no love for money save for its uses
in promoting his ends. His personal wants are few and simple,
and every penny beyond what is required for them is devoted to
the phonetic propaganda. Like Wesley he has a governing and
despotic temper. In all things he takes his own way. He hears
the advice of a disciple in the blandest and most candid spirit.
The disciple thinks surely never was a man more pliable than
this. But if he observes carefully, he will discover he has made
no progress. Somehow, he will find that Pitman has not changed
his mind, and has rejected his disciple's advice, but yet so kindly
that the rejection gives no pain, but almost pleasure. His alter-
ations in Phonotypy and Phonography have usually been pro-
posed in the face of strong opposition, but he has always carried
them. Consciously or unconsciously he makes up his mind as to
what ought to be done, and though he undergoes much palaver
with all the appearance of being affected by it, he ends in execu-
ting his program to the final letter. Alternately he is accused of
loo S/Ji ISAAC PITMAN-S LIFE AND LABORS.
fickleness and obstinacy ; of fickleness, because when be sees, or
fancies he sees, a possible improvement, he will pull down any
amount of building to make room for it ; and of obstinacy,
because what he thinks right he does, whatever be the outcry."
IF Isaac Pitman,
with his acute
and almost mor-
bid sense of duty,
had been of an irrita-
ble temperament; had
lie eaten and drank as
the average man o f
literary and artistic
temperament does;
had he failed to com-
ply with the strictest
health conditions he
would probably have
ended his life in a
lunatic asylum. This
is often the fate of the
too-earnest worker,
who unduly taxes
some limited portion
of h i s brain power.
Those who suppose
that the discussion of
questions of phonetic
science and graphic
art, and the reconcile-
ment of conflicting
views thereon, are not
matters to arouse
caustic words and excited feelings, are ignorant of the evolution-
ary steps that have led to the development of the phonetic arts,
and given Isaac Pitman's name a place in the history of educa-
tional progress. For many years in the early stages of the pho-
netic movement there existed a Phonetic Council, consisting of
twelve to twenty members, who, by their general intelligence and
special study of phonetics, were supposed to be able to give an
intelligent opinion on matters that should be submitted to their
decision. Dr. Alexander John Ellis was president of the Council,
and my brother and I were members. The communications of
the members, usually written in phonography, were passed round
to members by mail, as an ever-circulating magazine.
Matters of science and practical art one would suppose might
I02 67/? ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
be discussed with calm impartiality ; but phonetic questions can-
not be considered apart from the physical as well as mental idio-
syncrasies of the writer, and the result in our case was that the
communications of some of the members were frequently of the
most emphatic and dogmatic character, and occasionally members
would be so firmly convinced of the correctness of their opinions
that they would not allow that a contrary opinion could be enter-
tained by any sane person, or even by one of ordinary intelligence.
Among the questions discussed were such as the pronunciation of
certain words and classes of words ; what vowels should be used
in certain unaccented syllables ; the division of syllables, and the
most desirable typic, script, and graphic representations of sounds;
yet these and like questions were sometimes discussed with such
savage gravity, that on one occasion a member seriously inquired,
"Is the discussion of phonetic science necessarily inseparable
from insanity?" The grim humor of the query was not lost upon
the Council, and I think that in subsequent years we endeavored
to settle phonetic questions with a little less of the zealous acri-
mony which too often distinguishes religious and political dis-
cussions.
Of all men I have known, Isaac Pitman stood alone in the
placid, self-centered equilibrium with which he performed his
never-ending labors, and for the earnest persistence and provok-
ing calmness he maintained through these years of discussion.
Beyond doubt, his temperate diet and regular and ascetic habits
were conducive to a long continuance of his unremitting toil.;
His example is of interest as affording a contrast to the fate of
some other one-idead men of unusual capacity, whose thinking
and work have ended in physical and mental disaster. It is sad-
dening to recall the numerous instances where an all-absorbing
idea, pursued with unflagging energy, neglectful of other condi-
tions necessary to healthy equilibrium, has resulted in physical
and mental wreck. A late striking example is that of the grand
artist Munkacsy, who, though he commenced life and passed early
manhood in poverty and a struggle to live, had in middle life pro-
duced work that commanded admiration, abundant reward, and
abounding honors ; but yielding to the ambition to do more and
better work, and with grudging impatience of his powers, even at
their highest strain, he labored on to end life with a body pros-
trate and a mind sunk in the oblivion of madness. The marvelous
SPENDING VS. WRECKING LIFE. 103
feats and brilliant career of Paul Morphy, ending in a mental
collapse, are recalled by the more recent parallel case of the cele-
brated chess-player, Steinitz, who, for a time, defeated every world-
renowned player, of whom it is said that he thought chess,
dreamed chess, and lived in a world where the only visible object
was a chess-board ; but at last meeting defeat from a younger
player, Lasker, the tension of an overtaxed brain suddenly gave
way, and Steinitz became demented. Equally pitiful, but more
striking, is the example of the literary man, Albert Ross, whose
overmastering desire was a greed for money. To this end he
wrote obscene novels that brought him wealth; with this he
speculated, and the wealth thus accidently gained only stimulated
him to speculate for more. His success ended in a madhouse,
where he died bewailing his imagined poverty, and mumbling
curses on the ill-luck that had made him a pauper.
When I recall the many personal friends whose lives have
been shortened, if not sacrificed, by faithful devotion to duty in
some narrow rut that modern life and competitive antagonism
have made a necessity, I am filled with gratitude that I inherited
some of my father's ingenuity, which, though it has prevented me
from becoming rich and being knightied, has made me a prover-
bial jack of many trades, yielding satisfactions and delights com-
pared with which riches and knighthood would be a barren mock-
ery. My father was a man of varied and inventive powers. He
rarel}^ used a machine in his manufactory for any length of time
that he did not alter and improve. Three of the boys and one of
the girls inherited father's inventive and constructive ability.
Isaac possessed no mechanical ingenuity. He had accurate vis-
ion and a delicate and precise manual touch, but his bent was
literary, and that created and settled his career, and his devotion
to duty, which he inherited from mother, made life a success. His
life, however, was not an all-round success. And whose is ? His
devotion to one idea made his life an automatic clerkship, pur-
sued with a conscientious zeal we have never known equalled.
Most fortunate for him it was that he loved his work ; his work
was his pleasure, and his only pleasure was his work. His life
was beautiful because his labor was so wholly unselfish. It
brought him wealth and honor in the end, but they were unsought,
and uncared-for except as means to useful ends ; but if poverty,
neglect, and persecution had been the sacrifice required of him to
I04 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
accomplish his work, they would have been met with equal ear-
nestness and equanimity.
He was somewhat deficient in esthetic taste. He was pre-
cise, orderly, methodical and clean in body and mind, and with a
simplicity and directness of soul that we look for only in the
innocency of childhood. But he had little appreciation of, or care
for, things of beauty, or of fine art works, especially if they called
up associations with which he was not in sympathy. I recall,
when a youth and living in his family, looking again and again
with great interest at a precious vellum manuscript, rich in its
gold and color illumination, but which lay totally uncared-for
amid a heap of valueless papers in the sitting-room cupboard.
This, and other like relics came into Isaac's home possessions
from his wife, whose first husband was a man of great taste and
culture.
If from my life were abstracted the experiences and satisfac-
tions I have enjoyed from varied labors, and which were wholly
unknown to my bxpther, I should seem not to have commenced
to live. And when I think how limited were the faculties my
brother used in this life, and how much of his fine nature remained
undeveloped, I can only hope there will be no Phonography
and no unaccomplished Phonetic Reform in the other life to mo-
nopolize his intellect and heart.
THERE is a type of character occasionally met with in the
world that is honest, direct, and gentle, but uncompro-
mising ; not often gifted with intellectual energy, and not
necessarily deficient In this respect, but almost wholly without
worldly prudence and that calculating circumspection which is
bom of experience. This typical character, which nineteenth
century civilization tends to render still more rare, is yet without
a name. We call its mental and moral opposite Sophist, or by
its older form Sophister, that is, one who is plausible that he may
impose, who would make the false seem true, and the worse to
appear the better cause; the man whose ideal is the success
of Number One. The simple, uncompromising, transparent
type of character, — perhaps because it is so rare, — we are able to
designate only generically, and call its exemplars the Unsophis-
ticated. Sophists abound ; sophistry is so pronounced a fector in
the present stage of civilization, that worldly success is, perhaps,
oftenest achieved in the degree in which man plays the sophist
and the egoist. The leading motive in the Sophist is selfishness or
egoism, as, in the Unsophisticated, it is often unselfishness or
altruism. The Unsophisticated are often too independent and
impractical to be safely held up as models. They are too indiffer-
ent to the customary and conventional to be always agreeable ;
too unconcerned about the opinions of others to win friends, and
too truthful and honest to be successful in a worldly point of
view; while the majority, who accept the established and custo-
mary as their guide, and who assume the all-roundness of judg-
ment which experience brings to be the only safe rule of life and
conduct, are apt to regard the Unsophisticated with more or less'
distrust, if not contempt.
The Unsophisticated seem to act from spiritual instinct
rather than from reason or worldly calculation. Circumspect,
prudential conduct is unknown to them. They were apparently
born without the mental stratum in which it could thrive; hence,
105
io6 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
kindly disposed persons are less inclined to censure the oddities
and imprudencies of the Unsophisticated, than they are to toler-
ate the blunders of the worldly Imprudent. The Unsophisticated,
so born, retain their unworldly nature and transparency of char-
acter in spite of all prudential teachings. They may, in youth,
have been taught that it is wisest and best not to be unsophisti-
cated, but to act, for example, towards superior people with a
reserve and circumspection needless to be shown familiars; to
behave dififerently in public from what they would in private ; to
bow low to rich and important people, whilst they might, with
head erect, look squarely into the eyes of their equals. In vain
are all such teachings. The Unsophisticated retain the unper-
verted suavity and transparency of childhood through life. In
public and in private, towards youth and age, to patrician and
plebeian, they are alike uncompromising and innocently fearless
and genial. **It is easy in the world," Emerson says, "to live after
the world^s opinion ; it is easy in solitude to live after our own ;
but the true man is he who, amid the temptations of the worlds
preserves with perfect freedom the independence of solitude."
Isaac Pitman, from youth to manhood and through life to old age,
naturally and unconsciously squared his conduct in accord with
this golden rule. Some there are who regard the unsophisticated
nature as a blemish, and the resulting conduct as distressing.
But it may be that in some future and less artificial age, unso-
phisticated behavior will be the rule, and, if not entirely so, its
manifestations will be regarded as a kind of decorative virtue,
impressing people with a charm akin to that we experience in
contemplating the added beauty which bloom gives to the peach,
or with which the mind is gladdened when the landscape, relieved
from the shadow of passing clouds, bursts forth in genial sun-
shine.
The Unsophisticated sometimes show a curiously complex
character. Though they may be direct, simple, and gentle, they
are sometimes persistent, and in a quiet way dogmatic and self-
assertive. Of intellectual people, I have never known a more
unsophisticated person than Isaac Pitman. He was unimpulsive
and forbearing in word and action, always gentle and undemon-
strative, yet he was self-assertive, and in the cause of truth, as it
appeared from his point of view, he was quietly and unyieldingly
aggressive. In his family he was wholly passive, and to domes-
THE UNSOPHISTICATED. 107
tic differences, habitually non-assertive. In the daily conduct of
his publishing business, when ten or twenty persons were work-
ing under his direction, he was a strict disciplinarian, but always
showed a Christian poise of perfect self-control. With little or big
annoyances, as the}'^ would appear to most, he was seemingly
unmoved, and uniformly calm and considerate. A hasty word
never escaped him, nor was he betrayed into petulance of speech
by mishaps that hindered his work and wasted his means, though
they might be censurable blunders which ordinary thought fulness
would have avoided.
Unsophisticated people are liable to be betrayed into eccen-
tricities of behavior to which the conventional world is apt to
make objection. About a year after the publication of the first
edition of Isaac's Phonetic Shorthand, and when I was about six-
teen years of age, my brother came to Trowbridge, our native
town, to deliver a free lecture on his newly-invented system. A
good-sized audience welcomed him, and the lecture was meas-
urably successful, but not on the whole satisfactory, as it seemed
to me. I remember calling my brother to account, on our return
home after the lecture, for his non-observance of what, to my
youthful comprehension, appeared to be the proprieties of the
occasion. This, among other things: towards the close of the
lecture, after writing a passage which had been read to him to
show the practicability of Phonography for verbatim reporting,
he had lai9- his paper down on the table, and advancing to the
front of the platform, while holding the pen in his hand and con-
tinuing his explanatory talk, had deliberately raised his swallow-
built coat-tail, and, bringing it forward as far as its length would
permit, had carefully wiped his pen before returning it to his vest
pocket. On my reminding him of what I thought should have
been avoided before a public assemblage, he smilingly said, "Why
did I? Well, there was nothing else at hand to wipe it on ;" and
with that the unsophisticated soul disposed of the indiscretion as
though it never had occurred, or, if it had, it was not worth
recalling.
I retain to this day the remembrance of a certain uneasiness
I felt during the greater part of the lecture. Isaac was not in the
least nervous or awed by the audience. I remember thinking
that had the assemblage been composed of the most awe-inspir-
ing personages I had ever read of, such as magistrates, judges,
io8 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
archbishops, princes, or kings, I did not believe my brother
would have been in the least abashed in the delivery of his mes-
sage. But there was little effectiveness in his utterances, and he
lacked repose and dignity. His earnestness of speech was accom-
panied by a certain restlessness which made one wish that he
knew the virtue of a pause. The gravest objection to the lecture,
but one which I did not mention to him, was my brother's lack
of a lecturing voice. He was unimpressive, because his voice
lacked resonance, that quality which, when combined with agree-
able modulation, makes public speaking impressive. Isaac's
serious, retiring kind of life that he led as a youth had its disad-
vantages. It prevented the development of the vocal organs,
which the shouts, loud talk of sports, and the aspirated speech of
misunderstandings and quarrels of the average youth, are so well
calculated to develop.
My brother's lecture recalled the dissatisfaction I felt the
first, and only previous, time I heard him speak in public. When
I was about ten or eleven years old I accompanied my father to
hear Isaac preach from the Methodist pulpit of our native town.
It was on the occasion of my brother's return home from school
teaching, to spend his Christmas holidays. A sermon by Isaac
was a great event in our family, for a Preacher was then con-
sidered a very important and imposing personage. From the
time I was five years old I had been used to attend our parish
church every Sunday morning, to join in the Episcopal service,
and to listen to the sermons of our venerable rector, the poet,
George Crabbe. Most vividly I recall his benevolent face and
impressive figure, clad in his black silken robe, which brought his
snow white hair into such striking contrast, and I never failed to
be interested from the time he ascended the pulpit stairs to the
close of his dignified, persuasive, and always brief discourse. On
each Sunda}' evening, there being no church service, I as regu-
larly attended, with my parents and the rest of the family, the
preaching of our noteworth}', but somewhat unlettered. Baptist
minister, who, with stentorian lung power and Bible-thumping
earnestness, preached the doctrines of election, foreordination and
free-grace, with a dogmatic impressiveness that permitted no
questioning the truth and authority of his teachings. With such
standards in my mind, I was much struck with the inadequacy
of my brother's pulpit efforts. He was neither persuasive nor
THE UNSOPHISTICATED, 109
dogmatic, only argumentative and earnest, in a schoolmaster sort
of fashion. My brother's preaching was unlike anything I was
accustomed to hear. It wholly failed to satisfy my ideal ; it was
not Preaching, but simply talking and arguing from a pulpit. He
did little to comfort the good or terrify the bad, and the ungodly
were but mildly cautioned; and I summed up the whole matter
to my childish satisfaction by thinking, that he was altogether
too young to occupy a pulpit, and that, however efficient he
might be as a schoolmaster, he was a failure as a preacher.
Soon after the publication of Phonography, in 1840, under
the stimulus and novelty of the Penny Postal system, then first
established in Great Britain, Isaac Pitman's correspondence
greatly increased. His promptitude and unfailing courtesy in
answering letters, correcting phonographic exercises, and dis-
cussing points suggested for the further development of the
system, naturally made him a host of friends and admirers in
all parts of the land, some of whom occasionally found their
way to Bath to see him and pay their respects. Highly as
my brother appreciated the enthusiasm which the study of his
invention not unfrequently aroused, so long as it was expressed
in phonographic characters, its oral repetition he regarded as
a waste of time; and, from his standpoint, this was a sin, and
no more to be tolerated than any other hideous offense, such
as smoking, extravagance, gambling in stocks, or gluttony ! It
was pleasant to note the unfeigned, brotherly cordiality with
which a visitor would be received, but after the friendly greeting,
when it was found that he had nothing special to communicate
or discuss, it was amusing to note the unsophisticated friendliness
with which the visitor, who expected to spend an hour, would
seem well pleased and perfectly satisfied to take his leave after
an interview of a minute or two. Visitors were always received
in his office, which was in no sense a private one, for within
a few yards were compositors at their cases and wood engravers,
folders, and stitchers at work. Isaac usually stood at his desk,
and after a cordial shake of the hand and a never-to-be-forgotten
smile, he would talk with his visitor, pen in hand, a reminder,
though not so intended, that an interrupted duty was waiting
to be fulfilled. His lady visitors were not so readily disposed
of, and, if at the expiration of about a minute and a half they
showed no sign of leaving, he would, in the pleasantest manner.
no S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
set them to work! He would lead them to see that he was
busy with his correspondence, proof reading, lithographic-transfer
writing, or some other duty, as the case might be, and that thej-
could help him in his work if they liked to do so, and of course
they did. He would then give each a square of postage stamps,
or a sheet of lozenge-shaped phonographic wafers, such as were
then used for sealing letters before the advent of gummed
envelopes, and, handing them scissors, they would be led to
believe that by cutting them up for use, they would be doing
something to aid in the spread of their beloved phonographic
cause. Isaac would then seem to be relieved from all sense of
intrusion, and would proceed with his work with his accustomed
serenity, as if no interruption had occurred. When the sheet was
cut the visitors would probably take their leave. A friendly smile
and a farewell shake of the hand, on the part of my brother,
would send them away with the grateful satisfaction those are
said to experience who receive the papal benediction. It should
be remembered that those were the days when a sheet of postage
stamps had to be carefully separated with a pair of scissors, and
before the discovery of the method of perforating the sheet of
stamps with intersecting lines of small holes to facilitate their
division, — the little thought that brought the inventor a large
fortune. Few men could act as Isaac did without seeming to be
discourteous and rude. But he inherited father's deferential
courtesy towards women; wholly unconventional, but entirely
frank, the promptings of an honest and loving heart, of which
conduct is the outward and visible manifestation.
Isaac Pitman's unsophisticated performance of duty is told
by one who had been a pupil in his school, at Barton-on-Humber,
in 1835. He recalls that when he attended school, his master
accompanied the marching of the boys through the little town by
playing on the flute. The Barton school was conducted on the
Bell and Lancaster system, in which my brother bad been trained
at the London College. Being semi-military in its methods, part of
its discipline was for the boys to leave school, after each session,
in marching order, section after section, breaking ranks from the
rear only when the boys arrived at a point nearest their homes.
Isaac had been from his early days a successful performer on
the flute, and for years before leaving home he and his elder
brother, Jacob, were accustomed to lead the singing in the Sun-
THE UNSOPHISTICATED. iii
day school with the strains of their flutes. To appreciate the
Barton incident at its worth, it must be borne in mind that it was
the period of high tension in my brother's religious experience.
His serious and studious life, his fastings, self-denial, and strict
religious discipline caused him to be ranked wath his high exem-
plar, John Wesley. His marching in the ranks with his brigade
of eighty boys, making them keep step to the strains of his flute,
only shows that he aimed to perform a necessary duty in what he
conceived to be the best way, and the thought that marching
with the boys through the streets with his flute might excite
ridicule probably never entered his mind, and if it did, it had no
effect whatever in deterring him from using his instrument, if,'
by so doing, he could more efficiently drill his boys. It interests
me to think that about the only tune I can recall that Isaac
would be likely to play, which would satisfy his conscience, anS
be the right tempo for a marching tune, would be Handel's Har-
monious Blacksmith, and the strains of this distinctly marked
measure would have made marching an exhilarating discipline
for the youngsters.
Very unsophisticated was it of my good brother to blurt out
during service in an Episcopal Church his deep-rooted objection
to the doctrine of the Orthodox Trinity. It was at Wotton-Under-
Edge, after he had been expelled from the Methodist Church for
his rejection of this tenet, and his acceptance of the teachings of
Swedenborg. He had received a friendly call from the rector of
the parish church, who invited him to attend the Episcopal ser-
vice. I think it must have been the first Sunday of our attend-
ance, and I remember that Isaac, accompanied by his wife, Henry,
and myself, occupied the large and fine cloth-lined pew of the
rector's family, immediately below the pulpit. The congregation,
all standing, were responding to the Litany, and when the
preacher came to, "O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three
persons and one God," Isaac said aloud, without raising his eyes
from the prayer book, "Where is the scriptural evidence?*' His
words were sufficiently loud to be heard by the rector, and by all
who were within a radius of fifteen to twenty feet. The rector
took no notice of the interruption, but I remember blushing till I
felt half suffocated, as, raising my eyes, I met the questioning
glances of all the nicely-dressed people in the pews about us. A
few days afterwards the rector made us a call. I happened to be
112 S/J^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
present, and was much relieved in mind at the easy and polite
way in which he minimized my brother's unchurchly conduct,
and at the same time lessened the formidable objections which
Isaac seemed to have encountered in the Episcopal Doctrine as
set forth in the church Litany. The rector's visit, I remember,
impressed me because I thought that if the doctrine of the Trin-
ity was not so very necessary to accept, then, probably, "the crafts
and assaults of the devil, God's wrath, and everlasting damnation,"
as set forth in the prayer book, and which I had recited hundreds
of times, might not be the tremendous verities I had been taught
to believe, and possibly these terrors might be explained away in
like manner, and in future, as the preacher recited the dread-
ful possibilities, I might with hopeful confidence respond, "Good
Lord, deliver us ! "
While I was attending Isaac's school at Wotton-Under-Edge,
and living in his family, his unsophisticated nature led to an
indiscretion oddly contrasting with the even tenor of his life and
conduct. One of the largest cloth manufacturers in that part of
the country unexpectedly failed, and everything he possessed was
ordered to be sold. His residence, about five miles from Wotton-
Under-Edge, was a place of note. The house was situated in a
beautiful park, and the whole establishment was on a scale of
splendor which seemed, to my young imagination, more befitting
a prince than a cloth manufacturer. His horses and carriages
were fine and numerous, and his wine cellar was so well stocked,
that an entire day was devoted to its sale. Isaac never partook
of wane, except in his pudding sauce, and of its presence there he
was uninformed. Mrs. Isaac Pitman always kept a small stock
of wine in the house for visitors, and for the itinerant Meth-
odist ministers who, once a month, made their Sunday stay at our
house while fulfilling their Sabbath duty. At his wife's request,
Isaac attended the sale on the day the wines were sold, and I
accompanied him. The sale took place in the stately dining-
room, and would-be purchasers were seated on each side of the
long, broad table that extended the length of the room. As each
new variety of wine was offered for sale, and while its pedigree
was told and its qualities extolled by the auctioneer, sample bot-
tles were uncorked by attendants and passed down the table, and
all who were disposed poured a little into their wine glasses to
enable them to judge of its worth, and to guide them in their
THE UNSOPHISTICATED. 113
bids. Plates piled with small cubes of old Cheshire cheese were
plentifully supplied at regular distances down the table. Occa-
sionally my brother would pour out a small quantity of some
sweet variety of wine for my delectation. According to instruc-
tion, Isaac made purchase of only a case or two of sherry, and I
imagine he would be guided by what the auctioneer said as to
the age and quality of the wine, rather than by the judgment he
himself would form from the sparing sips he took of the varieties
offered for sale. It was on a pleasant Saturday afternoon that we
left the grounds of that beautiful home, and no sooner had we
reached the entrance gates than I was treated with a surprise.
With an exclamation, which I can only recall as something like
*'Well, here we are ! " or, "Here we go ! *' my usually serious
brother, to my amusement and surprise, started off on a run with
such frolicsome vigor that it taxed my utmost ability to keep
pace with him. He kept up the race for more than half a mile,
when he relapsed into a sober walk. Whether we afterwards
went at our usual pace, or whether he lagged, whether we
talked — for Isaac was accustomed to make walking the opportu-
nity for pleasant and instructive conversation — or whether we
were silent, I do not now remember; but well I recall that,
on reaching home, Isaac retired to his room, and did not appear
at the tea table, nor till after breakfast next morning. Mrs. Pit-
man reported that he had been sick.
The illness lasted but a few hours, and was the only lapse
from his usual normal health and vigor I ever knew of. It was
an incident that had no parallel in a lifetime, and, as well as
I remember, it was never afterwards referred to. My unsophisti-
cated brother had gained a little experience of the effect of
mixed wines, even though partaken of but sparingly, and not
for indulgence, but only in the simple line of duty. The
promptitude and certainty of the penalty was a surprise, but,
at this distance of time, has become only an amusing reminis-
cence.
Isaac Pitman never wore any personal adornments. Ex-
treme Methodistic simplicity of attire was his unvarying rule.
Black broadcloth, a swallow-tail coat, with a white cambric neck-
cloth, was his habit from youth to age. When the Queen con-
ferred upon him the honor of knighthood, he was, probably, the
only one of the small group who, on that occasion, knelt before
114 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
her majesty, to whom gold sleeve buttons, diamond studs, and
patent-leather boots did not, though unconsciously, afford a cer-
tain moral support, trifles without which each would have felt
himself unequal to the knightly ordeal ! One of the distinguished
group knighted on that occasion is reported to have said after-
wards that it was the most trying and uncomfortable few minutes
he had ever spent in his life. We can readily believe that Isaac
Pitman was the only one to whom it was a season of anything
approaching tranquillity. To each of the others knighthood was
a distinguished and much coveted honor, and, no doubt, regarded
wholly as a personal affair, a reward for ability or achievement ;
and recognition by so august a personage as the Queen of
England, accompanied by so imposing a ceremony as laying the
Sword of State on the shoulder of the average Englishman, was
enough to crush out of him the last remaining spark of inde-
pendent manhood. To my unsophisticated brother the ceremony
must have been an agreeable comedy. Of course it was interest-
ing and highly gratifying that the supreme personage of the
realm should at length recognize the worth and utility of the
child of his brain, whose development had caused him more than
half a century of unremitting thought and labor, but the mere
presence of the Queen would not be awe inspiring; the cere-
mony, as such, would not be disconcerting, and, of itself, would
be unimportant. It was the recognition of his lifelong cherished
idea that was important, and for this he was glad and grateful.
It was an event that ought to happen, might happen, or might
not; but, as it did, it was a cause for joy, and there was nothing
in the event, beyond, perhaps, being a little too formally con-
ducted, that was felt to be anything more than a pleasant thanks-
giving ceremony.
At the royal luncheon, which followed, Isaac was the only
vegetarian, and his abstemiousness is said to have given rise to
the only little pleasantry attending the stately function. A well-
bred vegetarian can always find sufl&cient to satisfy his needs at
any well-spread board, without partaking of fish, flesh, or fowl;
but we can easily imagine our unsophisticated vegetarian, after
taking a survey of the ornamental and gustatory amplitude of the
royal spread, quietly addressing the gorgeously attired lackey
behind his chair with the request: "Will you oblige me with
a buttered sandwich, with nothing in it ?*' And then, of the
THE UNSOPHISTICATED. 115
consternation of that important personage, when he discovered
that the royal larder did not contain it!
Those on whom the honor of knighthood was conferred were
not required to appear before her majesty in the usual Court
dress. At all other Court ceremonials the rule was enforced. A
special exception, it may be remembered, was made in the case of
Quaker John Bright, when he accepted a position in Gladstone's
Cabinet. Had my puritanical brother been required to appear
before the Queen in knee breeches, with a sword at his side, it is
safe to say there would have been no Sir Isaac Pitman.
SOMEWHAT curious was the coincidence that just at the
time when my brother first became absorbed in his life's
work, when, seemingly, every thought and affection was
devoted to the new-born child of his brain, that then should have
commenced the one great and only love romance of his life.
Though he was twice married, he had but one true love, and that
escaped him. Isaac's adventure was an illustration of the rule
that a true-hearted, conscientious man, however much he may
respect conventional law and usage, will, in the supreme events
of his life, be a law unto himself. My brother's married life was
uncongenial, physically, intellectually and spiritually. He would
have been less than a man, though, absorbed as he was in his
special work, had his heart not yearned, perhaps unconsciously,
for the solace, trust, and comradeship which only loving sympathy
can bring. But his singularly pre-occupied life naturally suggests
the questions whether a literary, artistic, or scientific man, whose
all-absorbing thought, time and energies are devoted to some
special life's work, should ever marry. It may be questioned
whether men of the type and temperament of Sir Isaac Newton,
John Wesley, John Ruskin or Isaac Pitman have any right to
marry, or to ask a true woman to enter upon so one-sided and
unfair a partnership as a life-long marriage. And, would a man
whose intellectual and emotional nature is pre-occupied with
some overmastering enterprise or vocation, and whose life is
filled with resulting activities and duties, be likely to find a mate
who could sympathize with him, and who would willingly, for
love's sake alone, participate in a life partnership with a pre-
occupied and devoted specialist? As readily could we imagine
Joan of Arc with a satisfactory husband.
"7
ii8 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
Some notable examples may be recalled of the worthiest of
men, Michael Angelo, Swedenborg, Gibbon, Washington Irving,
Buckle, Herbert Spencer, Phillips Brooks, Whittier, Thoreau,
and others, who never married, for each seemed to realize that
marriage, in his case, was undesirable because it would be unjust;
his life's work would not permit of that personal devotion which
the true wife expects and has the right to demand. John Ruskin
realized this shortly after his marriage, and with rare, generous
nobility, and in accord with his high ideal of duty, gave up the
wife he had espoused to his friend Millais, who proved to be, as
Ruskin believed, her true mate. The pure, earnest worker is
possibly the one who most needs and craves the rest, peace, and
delight of true comradeship and love ; but too often he is unable,
rather than unwilling, to pay the price in time and reciprocal
devotion.
Precisely the same plea might be advanced with respect to
women, for the day is past when men alone are pioneers in the
march of progress. We are now face to face with a new, or, at
least, an emphasized aspect of social life and its problems. Never
before, probably, were the social, intellectual, and ethical inequal-
ities of the civilized portion of the world as great as they are
now, and the more keen-sighted and tender-hearted men and
women are, the more readily will their chivalrous nature be
aroused to do battle for the weaker side, and to aid with all their
might in lessening the disparities and inequalities that divide the
high and the low, the learned and the ignorant, the extravagant
rich and the destitute poor, the wisely temperate and the debased
intemperate, the Christ -like man and the Cain-like culprit. These
anomalies in our civilization make philanthropists and specialists,
the most worthy of living souls, and the most to be respected
and revered of all the people on earth ; but, from much experi-
ence, we prefer to admire them from a distance. Now to our
story, which, had it prospered, might have controverted this fine-
spun theory.
There liv^ed a family at Wotton-Under-Edge with whom we
were on terms of friendly intimacy. The younger portion of the
family consisted of three sisters, who were interesting and intelli-
gent. They conducted a young ladies' school. The eldest was my
drawing teacher, and though more than three score years have
passed since then. I feel a glow of gratitude as I recall the gentle
MARRIAGE VS. A MISSION. 119
patience with which she encouraged me to do painstaking work.
The youngest, M — , came to live in our family as a companion to
Mrs. Isaac Pitman. She was then about seventeen ; a girl of a
very lovable type ; intelligent, emotional, but unassertive ; of
pleasing countenance rather than beautiful, and with a smile that
lighted her face into perfect loveliness. She had been taught to
pronounce correctly, and her voice being low and sweet, and her
intonations smooth and caressing, her speech was very winning,
for, in addition to its emotional quality, it had the charm of refine-
ment and precision. Isaac seemed to pay no more attention to
her than to us boys. M — lived in the family for about a year.
The three sisters then moved to a northern town, where they
established a larger ladies' seminary. I visited them some years
after, and I found their home a charming example of quiet ele-
gance and refinement. I returned home to Bradford and remained
nearly two years, when Henry and I went to Bath to serve an
apprenticeship under Mr. Lewis, the city architect, to study car-
pentry, building, and architecture, with the intention of joining
our brother Jacob, who was then a builder and architect in Aus-
tralia. Isaac had now removed to Bath, and had established a
private school there, and Henry and I again became members of
his family. I soon found that Isaac kept up a correspondence
with M — , and occasionaly he would say, with an eye-lighted
smile, " Here is a letter from M — ," handing it to me, or reading
an extract from it. That the letters were something more than
friendly, is shown by the domestic upheaval which soon occurred.
A package of M — 's letters in some way came into the possession
of Isaac's wife, and revealed the fact that there had been a regu-
lar exchange of heart secrets between them. Mrs. Pitman was
unable to read Phonography, and she had to avail herself of the
knowledge of one of Isaac's schoolboys to decipher and make
extracts from the letters. Armed with these she proceeded with
a determination born of a supposed wrong to see the two minis-
ters of our church, Mr. J. B. Keene, who was the able editor and
proprietor of the Bath Journal, the leading newspaper of the city,
and his associate minister, Dr. Barnes. The result was that the
matter was laid before the trustees of the church at two separate
meetings, Isaac and his wife being present. I know nothing of
the proceedings beyond what was afterwards quietly told, that
the judges of Isaac's conduct were so firmly persuaded of the
I20 S/I^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
purity of his motives and sentiments, the innocence of his impru-
dence, and the virtue of the charged immorality, that he was
cautioned rather than censured, and with that the matter ended.
The only effect at home was that we were for a time all some-
what reserved at our meals, but soon life seemed to glide on in
its customary routine of smoothness and regularity.
The heart-friendship between Isaac and M — did not cease
with this eruption. After eighteen months in Isaac's family, I
left Bath to assist my brother Joseph, who had just started in the
north of England, in the promulgation of Phonography by lec-
turing and teaching. Soon after I left Bath I was made one of a
circle of four who contributed to a phonographic ever-circulator,
and who were the only confidents in Isaac's love secret. In addi-
tion to Isaac, M — , and myself, there was a friend of M — 's, a lady
of great intelligence, sweetness, and worth. I need say nothing
more of her than that she was the loving wife of a professional
man, and that Ralph Waldo Emerson, when he was on his 1846
lecturing tour in England, was a guest at their beautiful home
for the two or three days that he remained in their city. Isaac's
life at this time was as full of active, never-ending work as ever;
but this ever-circulator seemed his only joy, all the rest of his
life was duty, necessary and pleasant, but still duty^ and lacking
the emotional ecstasy which the thought of M — inspired.
It was when I was lecturing and teaching in the old city of
York (1848) that an arrangement was made for Isaac and his love
to meet at my rooms, when they would see each other for the
first time for three or four years. Isaac might have been on a
lecturing tour, of that I am not certain, but M — had to travel at
least fifty miles to reach York. The meeting was the mutual
clasping of hearts, compared, on my brother's part, to what a lov-
ing mother might feel for her only child from whom she had been
separated for years. But it was something more ; it was the hun-
gry soul feasting, for the time, on the sweet consolation of sym-
pathetic companionship, of which, in his ordinary life, he was
denied. If ever there was an ardent, spiritual love from which
earthly passion was eliminated, I believe this was one. The
meeting was only for a few hours, when they took the train for
their respective homes. After I was married, my wife knew of
Isaac's affection for M — , and rejoiced in the knowledge of it. I
left England for this country late in 1852, and Mrs. Pitman died
MARRIAGE VS. A MISSION. 121
in 1854. In 1857 Isaac was again married, but not to M — . My
amazement was great. There seemed to be no satisfactory expla-
nation beyond the possible interference of the two older sisters.
Up to that time Isaac's income from Phonography was scarcely
enough to pay his living expenses ; in other words, all that Pho-
nography was earning, and much borrowed money, Isaac w^as
spending on his costly phonotypic experiments. Love for the
younger sister, dread of separation, fear, nay, a seeming certainty
that her life would be a struggle with poverty, were deemed suffi-
cient reasons for insisting on delay, and certain persuasive tactics
at Bath, which I only knew of afterwards, proved effective in
breaking off as pure and sacred a love as I have ever known,
leaving my unwary brother to venture on a second marriage,
which, unhappily, proved a reminder of the Paradise he had
sought and lost.
A S early as 1845 or '46 the returns from the sales of Phono-
J-\ graphic books must have yielded my brother a sufficient
revenue for a frugal living, and for the gradual increase
and betterment of the means for carrying on his publishing busi-
ness. But the income derived from his books was all absorbed
by his Phonotypic experiments; and how those varied, and how
constant were the changes and fancied improvements in the
forms of the new letters, is abundantly shown in his weekly Pho-
netic Journal, from 1844 to '56. Few persons have other than a
faint idea of the thought, labor, and cost of adding new letters to
the alphabet, and Isaac Pitman's scheme required at least seven-
teen to complete an alphabet of forty letters necessary for the
correct representation of English. Each letter required steel
punches to be cut, and matrices to be made for lower-case, capi-
tal, and small caps, as well as capitals and lower-case forms for
Italic letters; script, as well as Roman forms, would, of course, be
ultimately required for the added letters, and all these would be
necessary to complete one font, or size of type. I believe my
brother's printing office contained, in 1855, five fonts of phonetic
types of different sizes, and at the time of his removal from
Albion Place (the office I knew before leaving England) to more
commodious quarters in Parsonage Lane, in 1855, he speaks of
having " to pack up, haul, unpack, and rearrange from fifteen to
twenty tons of type, printing apparatus, books, and office fiirni-
123
124 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
ture." To pay for his costly experiments, more ab\indant means
were needed than were furnished by his own income, so he estab-
lished the Phonetic Fund, to which all interested in the attempt
to secure a rational orthography were invited to contribute.
This fund, in December, 1852, amounted to nearly five thousand
dollars. He also borrowed from confiding friends sums varying
from ;^ioo to ;^200, till, in 1858, he was over ;^2,ooo in debt. Sir
Walter C. Trevelyan, who was a liberal and devoted friend for
twenty years, was one who never consented to receive interest on
his loans. Neither he nor anyone else ever asked for any secur-
ity for their loans beyond my brother's word.
In 1859 some of the more earnest friends of the Phonetic
Reform, who knew of Isaac's self-sacrifices in carrying on his
costly typic experiments, proposed that a public subscription
should be raised to aid him in his efforts to perfect the alphabet.
Rev. Cyril H. E. Wyche, of London, who took the lead in the
matter, wrote to Isaac asking if a money testimonial would be
agreeable to him, or in what form their appreciation of his labors
would be most acceptable. My brother regarded Mr. Wyche's
announcement of the generous intent of the phonographers of
that day as "one of those rarely occurring events in life in which
we recognize the Angel of the Divine Providence as soon as he is
at our side." He would, he said, gratefully accept aid, in that it
would help towards building a Phonetic Institute — a suitable
home for Phonography and Phonotypy — and afford the much
needed facilities for carrying on the work to which his life was
devoted. To show the urgency of this want he said : "It is only
necessary that I should refer to the buildings that have been suc-
cessively occupied for this purpose. From 1837 (the date of the
first edition of Phonography) to January, 1846, I put out my
printing. I then set up a press in one of the rooms of my own
house, 5 Nelson Place, and used two other rooms for compositors
and a bindery. In January, 1 851, to obtain more room, I removed
to I Albion Place, Upper Bristol Road ( Mr. Ellis's printing office
from 1847 to 1849), where the business was carried on, under
many inconveniences, in four rooms. In March, 1855, 1 removed
to this office in Parsonage Lane, where I have sufficient room for
my present business (but not for much increase), and on a single
floor, but I can say nothing else in favor of the place. It is sit-
uated in the only filthy lane I have seen in this clean and beau-
ALTRUISTIC LABORS, 125
tiful city of crescents and squares; and the pollutions are not
physical alone, but moral also, for on the other side of the narrow
lane, two or three steps from my office door, the 'social evil*
festers. The dimensions of my office are 53 feet by 28. It is the
top floor of a block of buildings occupied principally by cabinet-
makers. The rate of insurance is thus so high that I have not
insured my stock of type and books. The ground floor has a
large gateway leading to a pig slaughterhouse that lies at the
back; there is another pig slaughterhouse in the front of my
office, and a sheep slaughterhouse, that does a great deal of busi-
ness, next door. Of course, noisome smells often arise from these
places, and sometimes they have been pungent enough to drive
everyone out of the office. The room itself would be more
correctly designated a barn than a printing office. During the
first two years of my tenancy, one-half of the room was not even
ceiled, and I had nothing between me and the sky but an old
shattered tile roof that constantly let the rain in. This room is
an addition to the original height of the house, and the walls are
only six inches thick. Placed thus within thin walls, under an
immense tile roof, we are exposed in summer to excessive heat,
and in winter to excessive cold. I have scarcely been free from
a cold since I entered this place. Only in the spring and autumn
can I do a fair amount of work for the number of hours I spend
here. Often, in the evening, when I am the sole occupant of the
office, a company of rats will scamper across the floor to amuse
me. There is not another place in Bath to which I can remove,
nor have I been able to find one elsewhere.'*
It was thought that ;^ 1,000 would be raised, but no great
publicity was given to the affair, and the subscription stopped at
;^350, which was presented to my brother at a meeting held in
lyondon, in June, 1862. Accompanying the check for this sum
was a fine marble time piece, on which was inscribed: "Pre-
sented, with a purse of ;^350, to Isaac Pitman, the inventor of
Phonography, by many friends of the Phonetic System, in token
of their high appreciation of its many excellences, and of his
untiring labors in its extension.
It is hard to realize the fact that tens of thousands of pages
of delicately-written lithographed Phonography, the faultless
hand-printing of his Weekly Journal, and his other numerous
publications, and the countless neatly written phonographic let-
126 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
ters, came from this barn-like office, with its wretched surround-
ings. In 1867, after an occupancy of eighteen years, Isaac Pit-
man's lease of the Parsonage I<ane premises expired. The spread
of Phonography, the general interest in the phonetic experiments,
and the increased demand for Phonographic and Phonetically
printed books, were such that the one "big bam-like room" was
felt to be ill-adapted to the requirements of my brother's extended
business. In his desire for a suitable Phonetic Institute, which
would give larger and healthier quarters for himself and his
eighteen workmen, he appealed for help to the English Phonetic
Society, now numbering upwards of four thousand members.
After describing the wretched environment of the Parsonage
Lane quarters, its insufficient accommodation, its leaky roof, its
thin, damp walls, and consequent damage to his books, as well as
its general discomforts to his workmen and himself, he said :
"From the year 1837, when Phonography was invented, to the
year 1843, when I gave up my private day-school in order to live
for and by the Writing and Spelling Reform, I occupied all my
spare time before and after school hours in extending Phonog-
raphy through the Post, and by traveling and lecturing during
the holidays. In this period I gained nothing by my system of
Shorthand, but spent all the proceeds of my books in extending
their circulation. From 1843 to 1861, I labored at the cause from
six o'clock in the morning till ten at night, and literally never
took a day's holiday, or felt that I wanted one ; and I worked on
till 1864 without the assistance of a clerk or foreman. During
this period my income from the sale of phonetic books, after pay-
ing the heavy expenses connected with the perfecting and exten-
sion of Phonetic Printing, did not exceed ;^8o per annum for the
first ten years, ;^ioo for the next five years, and ;^i50 for the
next three years. During the first of these periods I was twice
assessed for the Income-Tax. I appealed, and proved that my
income was under ;^ioo. The commissioners appeared surprised
that I should carry on an extensive business for the benefit
of posterity. From 1861 to the present time my income from
Phonography has been sufficient for the expenses of my increased
family, but not more. If phonographers think that this labor,
extending over the best part of a life, has been productive of
pleasure and profit to them, and to the world at large, they have
now an opportunity of placing me in a position to carry on the
ALTRUISTIC LABORS. 127
work of the Reading, Writing, and ^Spelling Reform more efifec-
tually. That which is done promptly is generally done well. Let
us all labor in the eye of the motto — 'The Future is greater than
the Past.' " He headed the subscription with the ^350 presented
to him in 1862. Sir Walter C. Trevelyan gave ^100, and other
smaller sums soon raised the fund to ^1000. After many fruit-
less attempts to obtain suitable premises, or a site on which to
build, he was fortunately enabled, at an extensive sale of property
belonging to Earl Manvers, to purchase a substantial stone struc-
ture of five stories, including basement, almost in the center of
the city, for the comparative low sum of ;^6oo. The building
was sold as two houses, but it had a central entrance, a spacious
hall, and a staircase twelve feet wide, and was originally built
and occupied as one house. It took nearly six months of work,
on the part of masons and carpenters, to transform the Kingston
Buildings, as they were called, into a Phonetic Institute.
Towards the close of ^74 the removal from the high room of Par-
sonage Lane had commenced, and a repetition of the packing,
hauling, ^unpacking, and rearranging of 1855 took place, and
though the task was more formidable than before, it was gladly
undertaken. The interruption to Isaac's correspondence, and
the temporary delay in issuing the Phonetic Journal, resulted in
the accumulation of piles of letters, till it seemed a little army of
clerks would be required to bring up arrears. But the indefati-
gable worker, single handed, was equal to the task; and soon
things went on smoothly and swimmingly in the new quarters.
But other and more perplexing difficulties had to be encountered.
At the Parsonage Lane establishment only hand-presses were em-
ployed. For the new building Isaac Pitman purchased a
"Blaten" printing machine, which would print six hundred sheets
per hour, a great advance upon the hand-press, on which a
man and a strong boy could print not more than five hundred
sheets per day. To drive the new press, he placed in the
basement of the building a two-horse vertical tubular engine ;
but it soon proved insufficient, and was replaced by a four-
horse horizontal engine. Gratefully as my brother appreciated
these new facilities, he soon encountered unlooked-for troubles.
We quote from the Phonetic Journal of 8th May, 1875 :
" The friends of Phonetic Spelling who see this journal have
sympathized with us in our trials for the past six months, with
128 67/? ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
legpect to the labor we have undergone, the great expense we
k^ve incurred, and the annoyances to which we have been sub-
jected 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 a new boiler and engine
made, the machine was pronounced a 'nuisance' to our neigh-
bors. We removed it to another part of the building, to pacify
the neighbor on one side, and then found that its sound could
just as well be heard by the neighbor on the other side, who is
much more exacting in his demands. Nothing less than a pay-
ment of ;^i5o cash, and the engine to be entirely stopped between
the hours of twelve noon and i 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 enter-
tained,' says his solicitor. Of course we do not entertain them,
but stopped our machine immediately on receipt of his solicitor's
letter, and just as this journal is going to press. The masons
have now (ist May) been working two months in laying down
the new boiler, removing the machine, and making the necessary
alterations 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, either here or in some
other premises, so that we can employ steam power, and it will
not be voted a legal nuisance."
THE year 1887 completed the fiftieth year of the life of
Phonography, The inventor still lived, and among the
tens of thousands who had been benefited by the use
of his system, there were many who thought it would be
most fitting to celebrate the jubilee of an art whose utility
was recognized in every country where the English tongue is
spoken. It was, moreover, just three hundred years since Dr.
Bright's famous first work on Shorthand was published; so it
was resolved, March 3, 1886, at a meeting of the council of
the Shorthand Society, — a body representing Jhe writers of all
systems of Shorthand, — to hold a Jubilee in London, in recog-
nition of Isaac Pitman's invention of Phonography, and of his
fifty years of labor for its development and dissemination ; and
that advantage should be taken of the event to call an Inter-
national Gathering of Shorthand writers of English and Euro-
pean systems of Shorthand, to celebrate the Tercentenary of
the origination of modern Shorthand by Dr. Timothy Bright,
in 1587.
Mr. T. A. Reed and Dr. Westly-Gibson (author of The
Bibliography of Shorthand) were appointed Chairman and Sec-
retary, and these gentlemen took an active lead in making the
event the interesting success it proved to be.
The preliminary announcement said: "It is proposed to
hold in the Autumn of 1887 an International Congcess of
Shorthand Writers, of all existing systems, and of persons
I30 S/I^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
interested in Shorthand generally, to celebrate conjointly two
events of importance, (i) 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, origi-
nated by Dr. Timothy Bright, about i587;^co5tiw^^ bf^i^ter
Bales, 15*90; John Willie, 1602; Edmond Willis, 1618; Shelton,
1620; Cartwright, 1642; Rich, 1646; Mason, 1672; Gurney,
1740; Byron5L^i767; Mavor, 1780; Taylor, 1786; Lewis, 1812;
and many others in past generations; and finally by Mr. Pit-
man, and other English and Continental authors of the present
day. It is hoped that the combined movement will bring
together a large assembly of Shorthand writers, professional and
otherwise, who will be willing to work fraternally and ear-
nestly in the interest of the science-art which has for three cen-
turies been a power in the world and a blessing to mankind."
After a brief resume of the history of the invention,
development, and spread of Phonography, and a reference to
the labor and sacrifices of the inventor in bringing his system
to completion, the prospectus continued:
"Like so many inventions. Phonography appeared at the
time when it was specially required. The rapid development
of the newspaper press created a demand for Shorthand work
which had never before existed; and a still wider and more
general field was open in large commercial and legal ofl&ces,
where the value of skilled phonographers was gradually recog-
nized, to such an extent, indeed, that their employment is
regarded as a matter of absolute necessity. Increased facili-
ties were offered to students for reporting lectures and copy-
ing extracts ; and for friendly, social, and intellectual intercourse,
the new medium of communication was hailed with gratitude
by thousands. It is needless to add anything as to the position
which the system now holds in every English-speaking-and-
writing community. Every lover of phonetic spelling will
readily recognize 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 educationalist, the principle has received practical embodi-
PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE. 1 3 1
ment 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 necessity 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.
"A Congress will be held in London, at which papers
will be read and discussed dealing with the history, develop-
ment, and literature of Shorthand, from Bright's days to Pit-
man's; also with matters of a more practical nature, bearing
upon the present and future 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. Whatever funds may be collected will,
after paying expenses of the Celebration, be devoted primarily
to some method of recognizing and perpetuating Mr. Pitman's
name and services, his own wishes being consulted as to the
precise mode of application."
The Phonographic Jubilee was a gathering of the repre-
sentatives of Shorthand systems from all parts of the world,
France and Germany being especially represented. The Con-
gress was held at the Geological Museum, Jermyn St., London,
by special permission of the Lords of the British Council.
Five days were devoted to topics of general Stenographic
interest, and one day was specially reserved for the celebra-
tion of the Jubilee of Phonography. Lord Rosebery presided
and delivered the inaugural address. He spoke eloquently of
the utility and value of Shorthand for professional and literary
purposes, and of its great importance as a time-saving instru-
ment in the ordinary business affairs of life. He referred to
its use in the public Government offices, and that he had,
when in office, frequently urged its employment on the score
of economy, and as a means of securing more efficient service.
So essential had Shorthand become to the press, in business,
in judicial, and in Government affairs, that if by any auto-
132 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
cratic power its employment were to be suspended for a week,
he could not, by any stretch of imagination, conceive how the
world could get along without it. Growing lads, he said,
should be reminded that a knowledge of Shorthand was indis-
pensable in a mercantile career, and to all who aspire to clerical
and secretarial posts.
Wednesday was devoted to the Phonographic celebration.
At the morning conference, Isaac Pitman read a paper on
"The Spelling Reform, and How to Get It;'* in the afternoon
he contributed a paper on "The Genesis of Phonography,"
giving some of the details of the construction and development
of Phonography already mentioned in these pages. He said he
was able to fix the exact date of the publication of Stenographic
Soundhand from a letter dated 14 of November, 1837, written
to Mr. Samuel Bagster, the London publisher, which accom-
panied a consignment of two hundred copies of his little book,
out of three thousand, of which the edition consisted.
It cannot be stated with certainty, but I think this was
the entire number of the crude little pamphlet that were ever
sent to the eminently respectable London publishing house.
The remainder were sold by my brother, or were given to
friends and correspondents for their use and for free distribution ;
for it was not long after its publication before it was seen how
vastly the scheme could be improved, phonetically and steno-
graphically, as is shown in the edition of 1840, which was com-
pleted in all its essential details early in 1839.
The chief event of the Phonographic Jubilee was the
evening meeting, when the theatre was crowded with enthu-
siastic phonographers from all parts of the country, to wit-
ness the unveiling and presentation of a marble bust of Isaac
Pitman, the work of the distinguished sculptor, Thomas Brock,
R. A. The author's long-time friend, Mr. T. A. Reed, was
selected to make the presentation. When the cheering sub-
sided, Isaac Pitman said: "Mr. Chairman, and my dear and
affectionate friends, there is a passage in the Divine Word that
has rested upon my mind for a month or two as one that I
could use on the present occasion. It is a divine inquiry sub-
mitted to us to institute a kind of self-introspection and self-
examination. It runs thus: *Seekest thou great things for
thyself?' If we put that question to our own hearts, I think
PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE. 133
there are vefy few of us who can say that we do not. The
inquiry is followed by a positive command from the Maker
of the Universe, 'Seek them not/ I have quoted this portion
of the Divine Word for the purpose of saying that, consciously,
that passage has been my guide from my youth up. Tonight,
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 bewigged, which would well become him, he
would be an admirable Judge. And my friends upon the front
row seem to me to be the jury — the Grand 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 answered with a smile.) I think this
(pointing to the bust) must be the man, such 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."
After alluding to the necessity for a brief alphabetical
system of writing, he said: "My object in life 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
Phonography the best Shorthand outlines 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 pos-
sible form, and then we shall have completed our work."
After a reference to the Spelling Reform and its great desira-
Sf/? fS.^AC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE. 135
bility, he said: *'Well, my friends, I accept these beautiful gifts
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. Pitman 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 been instru-
mental in introducing Phonography as a study at the City of
London School. In proposing the toast of the "International
Shorthand Congress," 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. 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 Jubilee Celebration were very fully
reported by the London Times, and by other metropolitan
papers, and more general attention was called to the educational
and commercial uses of Phonography than by any previous
occurrence in the history of the art. The proceedings of the
Congress were published in London, making a volume of 460
pages, together with an appendix of 48 pages, giving a catalog
of 1 45 1 volumes of Shorthand systems, pamphlets, and period-
icals, etc., of the history, use, and extension of the art in English,
French, and German.
America's contribution to the Jubilee was a handsome
Gold Medal, which was struck to commemorate the event.
The address accompanying it expressed the high esteem of
American phonographers for the inventive genius that had origi-
nated and developed so admirable and useful an art of expressing
thought ; for Phonography 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 which those elemen-
tary sounds admitting of classification in groups were repre-
sented by groups of analogous symbols; the first in which
the attempt was made to give circles, hooks, and loops distinct
oflSces for efficient service in the stenographic art. By it the
136 S/R ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
language was for the first time successfully presented in Short-
hand on a phonetic basis, and one who could read it could
hardly fail to know the spoken words.
The address concluded with the sincere wish for "your
health, happiness, and prosperity during the remainder of your
career on earth, and that your life may be spared as long as
existence shall be a pleasure to yourself and add to the hap-
piness of others."
The address was signed
Edward F. Underhill, ^
E1.1ZA B. BuRNz, y Committee.
James E. Munson, J
Subsequently Isaac Pitman was the recipient of another
testimonial, on this occasion from his fellow-citizens of ^ath.
It consisted of a replica of Mr. Brock's Jubliee bust, which
my brother consented to receive on condition of its being
accepted by the Literary Society of Bath. The meeting was
held at the Guildhall, under the presidency of the Mayor of
the city. The presentation was made by Mr. Murch, who said :
"As an old inhabitant of Bath, representing the friends whose
names are inscribed in this book, and indirectly a much larger
number, I beg to offer this bust for your acceptance. We have
heard of your kind intentions respecting it. We are glad to
know that it will find a congenial home within those walls where
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, especially, it will be a valuable
memorial of one who, through a long and useful life, has gained
their sincere respect, and set an example of intelligent, benev-
olent perseverance. 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 knowledge
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 suflSce for acknowledg-
ing this beautiful gift. But I am not a Stoic. I am deeply
moved by the kindness of the friends who have subscribed to
PHONOGRAPHIC JUBILEE. 137
this testimotiial. Whatever of honor there may be in this pre-
sentation, I refer it not to myself, but render it to the Lord,
to whom all honor belongs. The Literary Institution has
kindly oflFered to accept the bust, and place it in the reading
room, and I have much pleasure in asking Mr. Murch, as the
representative of the Institute, to accept it. I like to think of
English literature under the form of a vast temple, with a
portico supported by two pillars, on one of which is inscribed
the single word, * Letters,' and on the other, * Numbers.* The
temple is adorned with statues of men, English and American
who have made the literature, 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
numbers and their combinations. These little marks, *a, ^, ^^
and * I, 2, 3,' that seem in themselves to have no more meaning
than the marks of birds' feet in the snow, are really the foun-
dation of our civilization. There can be but little trade and
commerce, and no literature, without these seemingly insignifi-
cant signs. In the use of figures we are consistent, but in the
use of letters we are inconsistent. Figures always represent
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 at some length of the necessity and impor-
tance of the Spelling Reform, referring particularly to what
Max Muller called the "unteachable" character of English
orthography, and to the pitiful waste of time to which the
young were subjected in attempting to master its diflSculties
and absurdities.
Early in the following year a gold Jubilee medal was
presented to Isaac Pitman at a public dinner in London, under
the presidency of Hon. Viscount Bury. "Fifty years ago,"
said his lordship, "Mr. Pitman found Shorthand in a very
chaotic condition; and the man who, out of such elements,
could evolve a system which was brief, rapid, legible, and easily
acquired, and which has so quickly taken the foremost place
among Shorthand methods, must be a remarkable man. But
he has done more than that, for, by his indomitable energy, he
has brought his system to such a position that the little seed-
ling which he planted fifty years ago is now spreading its
branches over the civilized world." In his acknowledgment
138 SfR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
of the kindly feeling of his Phonographic friend^ Mr. Pitman
said that he was able to announce that Phonography had been
adapted to the Malagasy language by the Queen's Private
Secretary, who reported the speeches of the House of Repre-
sentatives in Madagascar, and who was holding weekly classes
for instruction in Shorthand. He also alluded to the adaption
of Phonography to Spanish and Dutch, and was sanguine
enough to avow his belief that the Phonographic art would,
in time, be adapted to all languages, founded, as it was, on
principles of universal application.
^^M
^Sl
WM^s^m^
i^-'v-^^fe
'■'i''^5^M5Q
ISAAC PITMAN has been charged with being "releiitlessly
strict" in suppressing any infringement of his phonographic
copyright; "so particular, indeed, that many so-called
infringements were considered by legal counsel to be untenable,
and were not persisted in, in order to save the long and har-
assing process of legal procedure." (Wm. Hope, Phonographic
World, February, 1897.) The retention of his copyright was
a struggle for something dearer than life; for my brother
deemed its control essential to the completion and general
acceptation of his all-important ideal^the universality of Pho-
netic Writing and Printing. On every point but this Isaac
was the embodiment of generosity, but any encroachment on
territory sacred to his cause and secured to him by legal rights,
he resented with judicial severity. When I began publishing
phonographic books in this country, he would not allow me
to send instruction books to friends in England, though my
object was simply to show my work and method of presenting
the system. In a letter bearing date of 11 November, 1856,
in referring to some of my first editions, which I had sent to
my brother Henry, Isaac wrote: "I do not know what books
you have sent to Henry. If there were any Manuals, or any
books whatever for teaching Phonography, please send no
more, because it is dishonest for any American publisher to
send phonographic books to England, where the work is copy-
righted, and would take away my sale of the work." That
139
I40 5/y? ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
this prohibition did not proceed from actual selfishjfess, is shown
by the following extract respecting copyright infringement.
Isaac's letter is dated 30 October, 1852, only a few months
before I left England: "Three serious attempts have been
made to rob me of the copyright of Phonography in this
country, not to mention Henry's threat when he was in
Darlington." [If Isaac would not print some phonographic
exercises which Henry desired for the use of his pupils, he
would do it himself.] "First Cassell, then Withers, and now
Heath, of Nottingham, publishes a circular for getting pupils
among the respectable classes, and announces the publication
of 'Familiar Lessons in Phonography, or Phonography Taught
without the Personal Attendance of a Master, price three
shillings.' I shall stop it. If it were not that Phonotypy needs
the profits of Phonography, I should directly throw the system
up to the booksellers, and earn my living by teaching; but I
can do nothing for Phonetic Printing if I do not preserve to
myself the profits of my three Shorthand teaching books. I
wish I could secure the copyright of the system for you in
America, but there is no possibility of doing it, and you must
depend on the sale that is to be got by your, issuing good
books, and moderately cheap."
My brother's rule to stay any procedure, which, from his
standpoint, might imperil his copyright and hinder, as he
thought, the success of the phonetic reform in Great Britain,
occasionally worked great injustice to me and my friends on this
side of the water. An American phonographer, wishing to repay
some kindness on the part of a friend, a professor in the Edin-
burgh University, sent, for his acceptance, a parcel of phono-
graphic publications. Among the books were my Manual and
Reporter's Companion ; the result was that on its arrival at
Liverpool, the whole package was confiscated, and, according to
standing instructions received from my brother, was committed
to the flames by the custom house officials. Books of engraved
Phonography, illustrative of the system that I may have issued,
such as the Book of Psalms, History of Shorthand, Manners
Book, etc., my brother would not have hindered ; but if the parcel
contained any instruction books, thus interfering with his copy-
right, the whole package would be condemned and burned.
Still more extraordinary, considering the endeared relations
HIS COPYRIGHT. 141
we held towards each other during all our previous lives, was
my brother's conduct, and the method he adopted to bring me
to terms, on account of my rejection of his injudicious and
much-repented-of changes in the system, — the use of large
initial hooks on curved strokes, — which he introduced into
the English text books in 1862; — the very changes which he
labored so energetically during the last six years of his
life to expunge from the system as a *'defect" and "a blot!"
So thoroughly was he convinced, at the time, that it was an
improvement, — and being such that it was my duty to accept
and advocate it, — he sought to force me to accede to his views
by supplying his books to teachers and others in this country
and Canada at one-third of the English prices. This was
done to suppress my publications and to secure, if possible,
the exclusive sale of his own instruction books. Equally
convinced was I that my brother's proposed changes were
wholly undesirable, and this view of the case was enter-
tained by the great body of American phonog^aphers, to
whom it appeared a backward step.
The impersonal manner in which Isaac regarded this per-
secution, as it seemed to me, is shown in a letter of 25 May,
1883, when his forced attempts to suppress my books had con-
tinued many years. After referring, in no unfriendly terms,
to several matters, he writes: "As to the main topic of your
last letter, my selling books to American customers at one-
third English prices, you must remember the reason for it,
namely, to institute one style of writing in the two countries.
If you can point out any other and superior plan I will adopt
it. When the end is accomplished I shall give up the prac-
tise." This letter commences "Isaac to dear Benn," and the
phonographic word "farewell" is crossed with a double frater-
nal kiss — a bit of phonographic freemasonry which most
phonographers will understand — showing undiminished love
for me personally ; but my phonographic heterodoxy he would
not tolerate. Additional proof of the absence of any unbrotherly
or unfriendly feeling on his part is shown in a letter written
one year before this, 14 June, 1882. "My plan of supplying
American and Canadian phonographers with my phonographic
books at one-third price for the purpose of establishing one
style of writing on both sides of the Atlantic, has succeeded.
142 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
It is impossible now for either of the three variations of
Phonography, in addition to your own — Longley's, Munson's,
and Graham's — to stand against the English presentation of the
system. My trade with America and Canada has become so
large, every day bringing me orders, and sometimes ten letters
in one delivery, that I want to be relieved of this labor by
giving the trade in books into your hands."
In spite of the drastic measures on the part of my brother,
and the sacrifice it entailed, — and the attempted suppression
of my books, he admitted, cost him $40,000, — their sale did not
seem to be affected in any appreciable degree ; and in less than
ten years after this Isaac began to realize that the changes which
he made such great sacrifices to establish were not improve-
ments, but — to use his own words — '*a blot upon the system,"
and the late years of his life were devoted with tragic earnest-
ness to induce English phonographers to return to the former
practise, to which I had adhered and had established as the
American standard.
Isaac Pitman's attempt to starve a brother and sister,
whom he devotedly loved, for disagreeing with him on certain
stenographic theories; — the over-conscientious physician who
refused to prescribe for that beautiful soul, Lucretia Mott,
because she had become somewhat heterodox in Quaker faith;
— Calvin, sending his friend, Cervetus, to the stake for non-
acceptance of his own harsh creed; — John Wesley's denuncia-
tion of his friend, Thomas Maxfield, for daring to preach
without his special permission*; — Kaiser William's belief that
he has the Divine right to make other people believe as he
does; — are not these examples of pure hallucination? When
people, otherwise sensible, are so overwhelmingly convinced of
the importance and correctness of their special theory, creed,
or course of action, that all argument is as powerless to eflfect
any change as when addressed to the absolutely insane, are
not such the victims of hallucination ?
*He (Wesley) left Maxfield in charge of the Society in London . . He began to preach,
and the Lord so blessed his word that many were deeply awakened . . It was an irregu-
larity; it required Wesley's presence to put a stop to it . . He hastened to London . .
His mother, perceiving marks of displeasure in his countenance, inquired the cause.
He replied. "Thomas Maxfield has turned preacher, I find." Mrs. Wesley looked at him
seriously . . "Take care, John, what you do with respect to that young man, for he is as
surely called of God to preach as you are" . . Wesley heard Maxfield preach and at once
expressed his .satisfaction and his sanction. — Life of Wesley, by .Southey.
IT was as early as 1843 that my brother made the acquaint-
ance and secured the Hterary cooperaliou of Mr,, afterwards
Dr., A. J. Ellis. Mr, Ellis had given special attention to
the analysis of the sounds of language before he ever heard
of Phonography, but his studies and labors had reference to the
possible completion of a Printing Alphabet for the correct
representation of all languages. On learning of the existence
of Phonography, Mr, Ellis immediately put himself in com-
munication with the author of the system, and from the first
proved himself one of the ablest and safest of my brother's
advisors. He was the foremost of those earnest phonographers
by whose suggestions and patient experimenting those great
improvements were incorporated into the system that distin-
guished the Ninth from all previous editions, and which, in all
essentials, is the American Phonography of today. In 1845,
Mr. Ellis completed his adaptation of Phonography to Foreign
languages, which Isaac Pitman added to his Manual as an
appendix, and his scheme continues to be the standard mode
of expressing French, German, and other foreign sounds as
used by English and American phonographers today.
Mr. Ellis's chief interest, however, was centered in my
brother's phonotypic experiments, which first assumed a prac-
tical shape in the January number of the Phonetic Journal
for 1844, in which the first practical examples of phonetically
printed English were given, where every printed word pre-
sented to the eye an unerring picture of the spoken word.
Mr. Ellis was profoundly impressed with the importance
of employing a Phonetic alphabet as a desirable, nay, necessary
144 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
instrument in national education, in that it furnished the only
means by which reading, spelling, and writing could become
general among the great body of the English people. Towards
the close of 1846, my brother secured the pecuniary coopera-
tion of Mr. Ellis. A partnership was entered into by these
two phonetic enthusiasts with little, if anything, beyond a verbal
understanding, wherein it was agreed that Mr. Ellis was to give
his time, ability, and means to the furtherance of the typic
department of the reform, while Isaac Pitman was to give his
time and energies to Phonography, leaving the income which
the sale of the instruction books was beginning to yield
wholly to my brother.
By the joint efforts of Isaac Pitman, Mr. Ellis, and a host
of earnest helpers, a thoroughly practical phonotypic alphabet
had by this time been decided upon. The embryo printing
establishment of my brother was handed over to Mr. Ellis,
who took upon himself to relieve my brother from the heavy
drafts to which he had before been subject in experimenting
with new types. Fonts of different size phonotypes were now
ordered — each new letter requiring five new, costly steel punches
to be cut, for large cap, small cap, and lower case, Italic cap
and lower case Italic ; new presses were obtained, a new print-
ing ofl&ce was opened, and the bills for all were promptly paid
by Mr. Ellis, who now took up his residence in Bath, so that he
might give his undivided attention to the details of his philan-
thropic enterprise.
After events showed that nothing could have given such
prominence and dignity to Isaac Pitman's fondly cherished
hopes as the countenance and aid of a man of Mr. Ellis's
literary and social standing. He was a gentleman of good
birth, ample fortune, and university training, and the influence
he brought to bear reached outside the Phonographic field to
which Isaac Pitman's labors had necessarily been confined.
While the Phonotypic Reform was confessedly for the unedu-
cated, to help the ignorant to read, and to save children from
the time-wasting perplexities of the ordinary spelling, it was
evident that this could be done only by first reaching the
intelligent classes, the teachers, the patrons of schools, and the
publishers of books, magazines, and newspapers. At that time
my brother's phonetic propagandism had scarcely touched the
DR. ALEX, J. ELLIS. 145
intellectual world. His name was unknown save to the com-
paratively few who were interested in Phonography. Mr.
Ellis's aim was to reach the great world outside. He took
charge of the Phonetic Journal, established the Phonetic News,
a weekly newspaper, and began the publication of elementary
readers and school books, and reprinted in Phonotypy a number
of the English classics.
A widespread interest was aroused in favor of the Phonetic
movement. Experimental classes for instruction in Phonetic
reading were formed and taught in many of the cities and
towns of England and Scotland. Classes of ignorant adults,
ignorant but reformed drunkards, classes of prisoners in jails,
were taught to read by means of tablet-letters and primers in
a surprisingly short space of time. Numerous classes of
ignorant children in Reformatories and Charity schools, as well
as private classes, were taught to read with precision and tol-
erable fluency in from two to three months, by one hour's
daily instruction. An added interest was created in favor of
the new system when it was found that the transition from
the Phonetic to the Romanic letters was a comparatively easy
task. The general resemblance between the old and new styles
was so great that the pupil's ability to read the new method
enabled it to readily decipher the greater number of words in
the common print. It was thus demonstrated that the easiest
and speediest way of learning to read Romanic spelling was
to begin with the Phonetic system.
It was not two years, however, after Mr. Ellis had com-
menced his disinterested labors that my brother persuaded
himself that the phonotypic alphabet ought to be still further
improved. He grew impatient with an alphabet that used
vowel signs to represent English rather than European analo-
gies. Considering the future universality of the phonetic
scheme, he regarded this not merely as a blemish, but an error !
With this conviction he proceeded to advocate using the vowel
signs /, e, a, with slight modifications in form, to represent their
European instead of their usual English values. These and
other changes were urged with great persistency; but so ill-
timed and radical a change of the 1847 alphabet, which had
proved thoroughly practical in teaching, and in accordance
with which an imposing number of books had been printed,
146 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
was generally considered by the friends of the reform as most
undesirable and unwise.
Mr. Ellis was grieved and annoyed by my brother's insist-
ence in this matter. Mr. Ellis, I think, wrote to me more
freely than to anyone else in the phonetic field, because he
knew I was in sympathy with his views; that I was all the
time publicly advocating and teaching the 1847 alphabet, used
in his publications, and that for theoretical, as well as practical
teaching reasons, I was opposed to my brother's changes.
But Mr. Ellis showed his thoroughly generous nature by never
hinting to me or to anyone else, as far as I ever learned,
what I felt was the true state of the case, namely, that my
brother's impatient zeal led him to adopt a course at once
unwise, ungenerous, and unjust, in that it minified the great
sacrifices Mr. Ellis had made for the Phonetic Reform ; it
cast a slur upon his labors by the implication that there was
a better scheme which he might adopt, but would not, and,
more than all, it rendered Mr. Ellis's publication obsolete in
the proportion in which Isaac Pitman's proposed changes were
accepted.
The following extract from Isaac's letter of 25th Septem-
ber, 1849, relates to the collapse of Mr. Ellis's printing estab-
lishment. I was prepared to receive the news, knowing the
impaired state of Mr. Ellis's health, and how unexpectedly
large a portion of his fortune had been expended in his Pho-
netic venture; but I well remember that I read this letter
from my brother with impatience and distress, for it seemed
to show a tinge of exultation at the stoppage of Mr. Ellis's
active labors for the spread of Phonotypic printing; an effort
which I regarded then, and still do, as intelligently earnest
and nobly generous.
"The finale which I said would come off at Albion Place
[Mr. Ellis's printing office] in three years, has come already!
The whole office received notice to dissolve last Saturday, and
the type and workmen will be turned over to Saville, the
printer, in Chandos St., London. A more lamentable illustra-
tion of 'up like a rocket and down like a stick,' I never saw.
... I cannot but bless the good angel who whispered to me
last January, 'Have a press of thy own.' . . . These were the
words of M. as I was lamenting that I could do nothing for
DR. ALEX. J. ELLIS. 147
the reform, in consequence of the turn things had taken. We
wish to regard the re-establishment of the Journal and the
resetting of my printing office as the salvation of the reform.
. . . Now, my brave Benn, brave in labors, to work, to work,
to work, more than ever, and we shall see all we long to see."
The most conservative objector to the Phonetic movement
could not have devised a more effectual way to arrest the
progress of the reform than my brother's impatient zeal proved
to be, — zeal due to an exaggerated estimate of the importance
of his latest theory, where even his moral perceptions were
subordinated to a mental hallucination, making him forget his
obligation to Mr. Ellis, and the personal interest and rights
of his co-laborer. The Phonotypic Reading Reform movement
was in a most unsettled condition from ^49 to ^52. Teaching
by means of Phonetic books was greatly hindered by the
never ceasing controversies, on really unimportant details.
Isaac's proposed changes were not generally accepted, and
the alphabet which Mr. Ellis had used was far more generally
approved, and what teaching was done in schools was entirely
by means of that alphabet. During this period I was in
frequent communication with Mr. Ellis, who took as great an
interest in the reform as ever. A letter from him, bearing
date 10 October, 1852, is interesting as giving an inside view
of the phonetic position at the time, from his standpoint.
"Alexander John Ellis to Benn Pitman : I was very much
surprised to hear you had ventured to do something for phonetic
printing, or 'Reading for All.* I have not been surprised to
find you have done but little of late in this respect, for with
Isaac's Journal and frequent changes, a great deal of determi-
nation is required to bring the subject before an audience.
In 1849 you might talk of it as a settled thing, that is settled
so far as learners were concerned. Now it is very difficult
to say what it is. The 'Changeling* seems its best name, and,
very like a miserable changeling it looks in the pages of the
Journal. Your brother has done his worst for the Reform.
He does not seem able to discover that he cannot possibly
get an alphabet in which every one shall agree, that in fact
no one of the present day is likely to concoct an alphabet
which shall suit those who have been from the first taught to
read phonetics. My little boy, four and a half years old, who
S/Ji ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
knows no other style of reading but the phonetic, is more
capable of telling what is to be done than Isaac, or you or I,
who have all manner of Romanic nonsense in our noddles.
That the Phonetic Council will accept his alphabet as a whole,
I do not look for it. The members may do it, but if they do,
it will not be because they approve of the alphabet, but because
they do not see who is to carry on the reform if Isaac does
not, and he declares he will not with any other alphabet. I
do hope, however, that the Council will have sense enough
not to yield to this piece of compulsion, which reminds me
very much of Louis Napoleon's asking for votes that he
should decide upon the Constitution, threatening that if peo-
ple did not vote for him, he would give them up to the giant
Grim giber (see ye.sterday's Punch) of the Red Republic,
Isaac won't give up the reform ; he cannot do it ; and he will
not have resolution, I think, to print in any alphabet that the
Council have refused. And though he has shown himself
very cavalier towards the Council since the trouble of the
election for president [Mr. Ellis was elected President], he
must feel that if the Council vote against him, and though he
appealed (like Louis Napoleon again) to 'Universal Sufferage,' —
DR. ALEX. /. EL LIS. 1 49
that is to the votes of the whole Phonetic Society, — he has put
himself in a very false position. Now I should find it very
difficult to name twenty persons in all England (let alone the
Council and the Phonetic Society) that are really in any respect
qualified to decide upon these matters by vote. People have
not the experience or the knowledge. Isaac knows this
as well as you or I, but he will, of course, take advantage of
the votes which he can collect, and there are very many who
will vote as he tells them, just because he tells them. Mj'
own impression is that the Council will decide nothing. . . .
Your handbill is a very judicious one. The extracts are very
good. Of course the extracts relate to the 1847 alphabet only.
I suppose you spoke about that alphabet only; for I do not
see how you could speak of any other, as Isaac himself has not
seemed to know from week to week what he wanted. And
what an alphabet he has now got up! It is painful to my
sight; a complete clown's jacket, the fool's motley, half Latin-
istic, half English, half Isaacish — if such a thing must have
three halves ! B is thrust in for the sake of the Greek ; but
the Greek w is thrust out of its Greek meaning to please Isaac.
liy Be, must have their "European" sense, but
•
Oo. Uu, li, Uu,
as in nol up ice new
are quite English. Kk must be used because of its "European"
employment, but it is not used by half of the nations of Europe,
and j^ must be kept in its English sense. What trash ! I have
no patience at having my intellect insulted by such a com-
position. Then, Isaac's spelling. But, dear ! I wish he would
teach a young child to read, and learn what is the meaning of
phonetic spelling, for he seems to have lost all recollection of
it. As for the opinions of the great majorities, out of those
who gave their opinions upon the different subjects, they did
not seem worth much, but when they are in the slightest degree
opposed to his views, he shows that he does not consider them
worth anything ; when they corroborate what he says, then
they are all in all. With kind wishes to yourself and wife,
here and in America, if you really get there — and I think you
will have a fine field there — farewell!"
When I had resolved to come to this country, Mr. Ellis
I50 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
wrote a letter which, contrary to his customary style, — an
exceedingly distinct and fully vocalized Phonography, — was
written in longhand, evidently with the thought that thus
written it might be of service to me. As it refers to some
labors of mine in furtherance of the Phonetic Reform, which
conclusively showed the practical nature of the 1847 alphabet,
and the advantages of phonotypy in facilitating the acquire-
ment of the Romanic print, I give it here, more out of respect
for his memory and gratitude for his friendship, than for any
care I have for praise of my own work ; that is a feeling I
can honestly say I have long outgrown.
"7 Apsley Place, Redland, Bristol.
3 Jan., 1852.
'*My dear Mr. Benn Pitman :
. . . "I have many times felt it my duty to say in public and
in private concerning your exertions, which no one can appre-
ciate more than myself, that, notwithstanding the duties of your
arduous profession, you, in the most disinterested manner,
devoted much time and great labor to the dissemination of the
Phonetic principle of reading, and your efforts were crowned
with the most brilliant and deserved success. The experiments
which you instituted at the Pauper Schools, at Swinton, near
Manchester, upon a class of fifty of their dullest children ; upon
the criminals at the Preston House of Correction; and the
Glasgow Bridewell ; your foundation of the Manchester, Preston,
and Shefl&eld Phonetic Schools for adults, have only to be
mentioned to show the important part- which you played in
giving a distinct character and practical value to the Phonetic
Principle. But when I consider that you made these experi-
ments at a time when they were most needed, that in fact you
were one of the first, if not the first, who ventured upon such
bold experiments, and who undertook the labor of requesting
and were successful in persuading public authorities to allow
a fair and convincing trial of Phonetic reading to be made
in cases which would severely test its practical value, and that
after having done so you labored cheerfully, assiduously, and
without any reward but the feelings of your own conscience,
till you triumphantly proved the truth of all the statements
and promises you had made, then I feel it no more than your
due to declare that you have done more than any one indi-
DR, ALEX, /. ELLIS. 1 5 1
vidual in England in propagating and establishing the phonetic
principle of teaching to read. The labors of your brother
Isaac and myself in preparing the ground and furnishing the
means, by books and alphabets, would have failed of the greater
part of their effect but for your timely exertions; and as I
am fain to hope that the introduction of the Phonetic principle
of reading in the practical form which it has now assumed
will prove of g^eat national advantage, I thank you, in the
name of those who will experience its benefits, for having been
one of the first to furnish the decisive experiments on which
we relj' for inducing the educationalists of our country to give
it their consideration and support.
*'With every good wish and every expectation of hearing
of your success in the New World, I remain,
Yours very truly,
Alex. J. Ellis."
Half a century after the time and occurrences here narrated,
an unprejudiced judgment, it is believed, may be pronounced
with reference to Phonetic history, and, measurably, of its
future prospects. From the present standpoint it seems clear —
1, that the adoption of the Phonetic principle in the printed
representation of the language, from an educational, social,
political, and cosmopolitan point of view, is eminently desirable ;
2, that it would be a change of habit of so radical a nature
that it cannot, by any possibility, be suddenly, or even speed-
ily, brought about; 3, that the adoption of the Phonetic prin-
ciple of typic representation must be preceded by a general
recognition of its utility and importance, as the only means
of ridding the language of an imperfect alphabet, and the
resulting false and perplexing spelling — (hence the importance
of Phonetic propagandism, and instruction by means of even
a not-perfect Phonetic alphabet, as tests of its practicability
and advantages) ; 4, that the general practise of Phonography, —
in which a full Phonetic Alphabet is used, and the true alpha-
betic principle applied to writi7ig^ — will greatly aid in bring-
ing about the ultimate adoption of the Phonetic principle in the
typic representation of the language; 5, that the change from
a false to a true representation of the language will be gradually,
but certainly brought about, not only as an educational necessity
and a social and political desirability, but as a commercial
152 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
necessity, from the fact that correct spelling, with a Phonetic
Alphabet, will save one quarter of the present cost of all printed
matter; 6, that the precise forms of letters to be used for the
representation of sounds is comparatively unimportant, so long
as the principle of a "sign for a sound" is recognized, as,
whatever forms may at first be adopted, future use will, in
all probability, change and improve them; 7, that a Phonetic
Alphabet, with some objectionable forms, would be better than
the present alphabet and the heterogeneous orthography of
to-day — that it would be an educational and national blessing
to have an alphabet as ugly as the Russian, rather than con-
tinue to use the present one and suffer from its time and temper-
wasting perplexities; 8, that a complete Phonetic representa-
tion of the language will be preceded by the gradual employ-
ment of an amended Spelling, that is, an approach to consist-
ency, by the phonetic use, as far as possible, of the present
twenty-six letter alphabet, which will prepare the way for the
ultimate acceptance of a complete Phonetic Alphabet of forty
letters; 9, that the constant, never-ceasing mania for change
and improvement in the forms of the measurably complete
alphabet of '47, by Isaac Pitman, did more to check the spread
of Phonetic Reform, stop practical teaching, and dampen the
ardor of those friendly to orthographic consistence, than all
other causes combined ; 10, that some consolation may be
derived from the fact, — it being, perhaps, a necessary evolution-
ary process, — that future experimenters will be saved trouble
and expense by the avoidance of the forms of the hundred and
fifty thousand dollars' worth of "tried and rejected'* letters, —
costly "literary remains," for catalogue of which see next
chapter.
SIR fSAAC P/TMAA-S LIFE AND LABORS
THE representation of Language by Alphabetic characters,
and its manifold uses m writing and printing, may be
regarded as the prime factor in modern civilization.
Without it progress would be slow and culture impossible ; for
tlie Press, its embodiment, is the special instrument that stimu-
lates, formulates, modifies, and shapes thought, commerce, and
conduct. Yet, strange to say, while no single element of civ-
ilization is of greater use and importance, none can be shown
to be more defective. It is the growth of ages of civilization,
and never before was its employment so vital to life and
progress as it is today, and its very universality is, probably,
the chief impediment to its improvement,
Reading, writing, and spelling are the rudimentary arts
that stand at the threshold of educational training, but the
difficulty of mastering them is so great that it is generally
supposed to be incidental to their nature. The time and effort
spent in the acquirement of these elementary arts are felt to
be a great tax oh the patience of every teacher, and every
parent who acts the part of instructor. Foreigners, however
intelligent, who aim to acquire a knowledge of English, express
their amazement at the contradiction between the words that
meet the eye, and their sounds as they appeal to the ear ; and,
with reason, express their keen regret at the difficulty and
waste of time necessary to master the thousand-fold eccentrici-
ties of English spelling. Custom, which reconciles us to many
glaring anomalies, often blinds even the intelligent to the
grave consequences of this defect, and tends to stifle investi-
gation into the nature and extent of the cause. Yet the cause
is plain. An Alphabet, theoretically, contains a letter for each
sound in the spoken language, and it is easy to believe that
were this really the case, reading and spelling would be as
156 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
simple, and nearly as easy, as is the reading and writing of
numbers, after once learning the shapes and values of the
Arabic numerals ; and it would be so if the alphabet provided
a sign for each sound and uniformly used it to represent one
and always the same sound.
The young scholar, on opening his primer, soon discovers
the deficiency of the present alphabet, and, alas, its falsity.
He readily learns that s-o is so and n-o is no, but when he is
corrected for saying that t-o is not toe, but too, he begins to
feel a distrust of letters, finding that they are not true to their
alphabetical names. As he progresses he is further puzzled on
finding that when o occurs in other words, it has neither the
sound of owe nor oo^ and that in soriy otiy wonien^ ^ol/^ fork,
choir, etc., the letter has a different sound in each word, while
in reasoning it has no sound at all. Another perplexing difl5-
culty presents itself when he discovers that the alphabet not
only fails to provide a letter for the vowel in tOy do, etc., but that
when this sound does occur in a word, it is represented in
variously arbitrary ways, as, for example : by oo in food, by ou
in soup, by u in ruliyig, by ue in true, by ti-e in rude, by
oiigh in through, by ooe in wooed, by eu in Reuben, by ou-e in
bourse, by ew in brew, by ew-e in brewed, by o-e in move, by
oeti in manoeuvre, by oe in shoe, by ui-e in bruise, by ui in
bruised, by wo in two, by out in surtout, by w-o in who, by
hu in rhubarb, by heu in rheum^ by ouz in rendezvous, and ow
in Cowper (as the poet pronounced it), and that neither book
nor teacher can give him a rule which will enable him to
spell or write the next word he meets with that happens to
contain this sound. The young student soon discovers that a
similar misuse of letters is resorted to when other sounds are
to be expressed that have no representative sign in the present
alphabet. Instead of using letters to represent unvarying
sounds, as, theoretically, they are supposed to do, every letter
is used for some other than its alphabetic power ! The first
letter a, for example, has its alphabetic power in fate, but it
has other and unlike sounds in fall, fat, father, many, want,
etc., and the young student asks in vain for a rule to determine
what sound he is to give it in any one of these and like
examples.
To the perplexity due to the varying and arbitrary powers
ALPHABETIC REFORM. 157
of letters^ is to be added the varying and equally arbitrary
representation of sounds. It might reasonably be supposed that
when the alphabet does provide a letter for the representation
of a given sound, that it would be uniformly used for its
assigned alphabetic power; but what alphabetic key enables a
child, after being taught n-o, no; g-o, go, to correctly pro-
nounce other words containing this letter, such as do, one, sot,
women, wolf, cork, choir, or to discover that it is mute in sea-
soning f And when the learner has to spell or write a word
containing the sound of o, shall he use o as in post, or oa as
in boat, or oe as in doe, or ow as in know, or wo as in sword, or
owa as in towards, or ew as in skew, or eau as in beau, or au as
in hauteur^ or eaux as in Bordeaux, or ougk as in though, or og
as in oglio, or ol as in yolk, or ot as in ^<^^/, or owe as in ^?a/<?,
or 00 as in brooch, or ^ze/^ as in sewed, or a^^ as in Pharaoh, or
^-<f as in ^^w^, or oh as in ^^, or oa-e as in Soane, or ^?«/-^ as in
Knowles, or ^^^ as in Cockburn f
As there is no rule governing these perplexing diversities,
it may be truly said that the language is not alphabetically repre-
sented, and that, — as is the case in an ideagraphic representation,
like the Chinese, — each word of the language has to be separately
committed to memory, both as to its spelling and pronunciation.
No wonder that years are spent in the wearisome endeavor to
master English orthographic and orthoepic anomalies. Can it
be said that they are ever mastered ? Is it not a fact that after
years of schooling, college, and university training, we are never
certain as to the correct pronunciation of a word that is seen
for the first time, but which we have never heard pronounced ;
or the customary spelling of a word that is heard for
the first time, but which we have never seen written? Yet
a tolerable acquaintance with reading and spelling is necessary
for the most elementary education, and it would be dishearten-
ing to the young student were he told how formidable the task
really is. In Dr. A. J. Ellis* *Tlea for Phonetic Spelling," care-
fully compiled tables are given, showing the extent of the per-
versity of English orthography, the examples proving that the
twenty-six letters of the alphabet are used in six hundred and
forty-two different ways, and that the forty sounds of our
language, instead of being represented by forty letters, are
really represented in not fewer than six hundred and fifteen
158 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
different ways ! So utterly does our so-called orthography devi*
ate from a true alphabetic standard, that of the two hundred
thousand words which may be said to constitute the language,
not more than about one hundred simple ones, such as be^ so,
no, posty mildy etc., are pronounced as they are spelled, and all
the remainder are spelled in one way and pronounced in another,
and therefore have to be separately memorized.
Words alphabetically spelled are, indeed, rare exceptions.
If the reader will scan the preceding paragraph, which con-
tains 315 words, he will find that only five, — we, be, he, so, no, —
a^:e spelled correctly, that is, with the alphabetic powers of the
letters, the remainder being spelled in one way and pronounced
in another, and for which no rule can be given.
More than a hundred years ago practical Dr. Franklin,
among others, gave much thought to the question of alphabetic
reform, being greatly impressed with its necessity and impor-
tance. The existing system, or want of system, Franklin
regarded as one of the greatest obstacles to general education.
In the new order of things which he helped to establish, it
would doubtless seem eminently desirable that the education
of the youth of the young Republic should not be hindered
by the literary shackles of a false and antiquated orthography.
His suggestions and improvements were sensible and practical^
but were far from being a sufficient remedy for the colossal
disorder; he is, however, to be honored for his prophetic
encouragement; "sooner or later," he said, "something must
be done." When the waste of time and temper incidental to
an insufficient alphabet are considered, and that many more
millions of English-speaking children are now concerned than
in Franklin's day, it is gratifying to be able to pay a tribute
to the intelligent foresight of this pioneer phonetic reformer,
by noting that there has been, since his day, a slow but
unvarying tendency in American spellings towards a phonetic
standard. Since the publication of the first edition of Webster's
Dictionary, in 1826, we have become perfectly reconciled to
drop the useless u in labor, honor, etc., and to economize in
check, plow, wagon, etc., instead oi plough, cheque, waggon; and
many sensible people prefer catalog, prolog, program, to the
longer forms, and are quite willing to return to the olden spell-
ing, — ^the favored custom of the poets, — and write / instead of the
ALPHABETIC REFORM.
absurd ed, for the final sound in the past tense of words ter-
minating with a whispered consonant, as slopt, ceast, sipty etc.,
instead ol stopped, ceased, sipped; and using (/instead <i{ed, when
the final sound is a vocal, as roard, aimd, bravd, etc., instead of
roared, aimed, braved. In a few newspapers and periodicals of
wide circulation, many useless and misleading letters are already
dropped, and the words though, through, have, etc., give way
to the shorter and more sensible spellings, tho, thru, hav, etc.
Ere long k and s will be used ivith uniform consistency.
Superfluous c will be dropped, and k will be used in can, as in
king, etc., and s will be the initial letter in civil, as well as in
«V. A like uniformity will be insisted on in the use of g and
/; g will be always used for the sound in give, and j as
unifornilj- employed for that in ginger. Thus amended and
systemized, English spelling, with the present alphabet, will
be shorn of many of its absurd and misleading difficulties.
i6o S/I^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
Probably the first move towards an extended alphabet will be
when some owner of a linotype awakens to the economy and
advantage of using single types for the simple sounds thy as
in thCy them^ etc., and for sh, as in shall, and for // and si in
the frequently recurring terminations tion, Hal, etc. If the
spelling of words were thus phoneticised, as far as practicable,
the slight change in the appearance of the printed page would
be tolerated and soon preferred, if only as authorizing a sim-
pler spelling, and for the unquestioned benefit it would be to
the young ; this attained, the adoption of a complete alphabet
and a wholly truthful spelling would be among the assured
blessings of the succeeding generation.
Theoretically, the problem of phonetic spelling is simple,
and its attainment easy; practically, it is difficult, and mainly
because of the tremendous inertia of the existing custom, that is
accepted and daily used by more than one hundred and fifty
millions of English-speaking people, who, from years of constant
use, are more or less familiarized with the incongruities of the
customary spelling, and who think they would be inconvenienced
by accepting a new, though a better and more truthful scheme.
When it is considered that the addition of seventeen satisfactory
new script and typic letters would complete the present alpha-
bet, — c, q, and x being rejected, as superfluous, — and that the
learning of forty letters would enable a person to read, without
hesitation, any printed or written word, and to correctly spell
any word that reaches the ear, the problem seems so simple
and the result so desirable that it seems amazing the remedy
is not immediately and universally demanded.
The first step in the attempt to represent the language
satisfactorily, that is, to perfectly visualize speech, so that the
printed page shall picture the sounds that reach the ear when
the words are spoken or read aloud, is to determine what are
the elementary sounds of human speech. There is little diffi-
culty here, after the past sixty years* discussion of the subject,
provided the general and popular speech of the people be
accepted as the standard, without regard to certain niceties
and shades of pronunciation that distinguish the speech of a
few. The Phonetic Movement which has resulted in the
settlement of many questions once in dispute, is told in the
fifty years* issue of Isaac Pitman's Phonetic Journal. Before
ALPHA BE TIC REFORM, 1 6 1
coming to a decision, point by point, upon the manifold
differences of pronunciation and the most fitting representation,
deciding first what were the sounds that people used in speech,
or thought they used, such lengthy discussions occurred that
for years orthoepic agreement and a satisfactory representation
seemed among the most perplexing of human problems. As a
matter of fact, the "absolute truth" of representation, in quest
of which Isaac Pitman set out, came to be somewhat of a
compromise. Only gradually did it become evident that as
human organisms are indefinitely varied, making the vocaliza-
tion of individuals to vary, consequently no two human beings
pronounce a given word in exactly the same way, because the
form, position, force, and point of contact of the vocal organs
necessary for the production of a given sound, not being the
same in any two human beings, the resulting sound will not,
with any two persons, be absolutely the same. That which
it was found wise to agree upon was an alphabet and an
orthoepy that would be accepted and used by the majority of
educated people, and not attempt to provide for shades of
pronunciation that were recognized only by the super-critical.
Much discussion has taken place as to whether the alphabet
should represent elementary sounds only, or whether the
diphthongal glides, i in timey oi in boy^ and ow in cow, should
or should not be represented by a single letter. If the ques-
tion were left to teachers, it would doubtless be decided aflfirm-
atively, especially with respect to the diphthong /, eye, {fi)igh,
in view of the fact that this vowel, more than any other, is
differently pronounced by the English, Australian, and American
branches of the English-speaking world.
On carefully examining a well printed pag^, the eye is
arrested by the uniformity and beauty of the Romanic forms.
They are the culmination of innumerable experiments by scribes
and artists, extending over thousands of years, embracing the
skill and taste of both the Eastern and Western worlds, and
they have been completed, say perfected, by the exacting
demands of modern type-makers and type-users. The legibility,
distinctness, and symmetry of the Romanic letters are never
so fully appreciated as when an attempt is made to invent
new forms of equal beauty, and the seeming impossibility of
doing this presents the first diflSculty in the path of the
S/J? /S.LIC rnM.-a^'S LJFE AXD LABORS.
, fluindicScnpl^hh-iihel.
1^5 f asineel jj c/-t tzsinu
'•^ " ! , ale U3 e . 'eU
a, . alms'^j^O' . al
er . all t ffo . on
ff- . old ^ Kmi » uji
u, . ooie *r\ f/i » put
^iphthanjs.
,,as iniee.i>t,as inMrOU/.asmejit
Sonsonanis. .
' as in pabn 3' 4- as ui luie
'■ , bairn Irv . rine
tame
0d . dame VH
gc, „ church dj
"K-i, . cape fj
6/a . 4ape "yt
iil.asinlM: Sf'i.aemmr
h m, in rrMyTnn, mrm {hti^m
eoalescenp. . ^'Mrate
'I'/if, in myMp.mrjia^XA.iTi/ui}
thijfi
tht/
seal
leal
shaU
azure
ALPHABETIC REFORM, 163
alphabetic reformer. New letters, however, tnust be added if we
w^ould complete an alphabet for the English language. But
to find satisfactory forms for the seventeen sounds that at
present have no representative letters, is no easy task, and
the phonetic reformer of the future will be wise who avoids
spending a moment in devising new forms before he has care-
fully examined the following formidable list of letters that were
suggested, cut, cast into types, and tried for longer or shorter
periods in the printed page, by Isaac Pitman and Dr. Ellis,
and, after a fair trial, rejected as unsatisfactory, either for lack
of distinctness, symmetry, or beauty, "spotting" the page, or for
incongruity, as, for example, using the superfluous consonant
X to represent some vowel.
This list of rejected letters, and experiments with them
in printed matter, represents an outlay of more than one hun-
dred and fifty thousand dollars. Coincident with experiments
in new Roman forms, there were, of course, attempts to devise
suitable corresponding Italic and script forms for both capital
and small letters.
REJECTED PHONOTYPIC FORMS.
IlXEAeOO¥U#H-qiI\ir,jrVS2 1lRLMN
M u n
liCEdkAOV 33aOWUJUyVJl«0V«Vl>AU SZHR
M K H
iiieiiea^aaaaccuuiiuuuuaii\[QoiiJVKiii)i<i<^
HuiuiyyyqtJSTrlmivil'l
In the preceding page Isaac Pitman's latest Script Alphabet
is presented.
The examples of phonotypy on the following page illus-
trate the principal stages of phonotypic development, as shown
in the pages of Isaac Pitman^s Phonetic Journal, and in the
printed pages of his phonetic books, from 1844 to i860. If it
were asked how any sane man, with normal vision, could
expect that such a presentation of English as the 1844 example
would be accepted by the English speaking race as a substi-
tute for the present typic representation of the language, it
would be difficult to frame a satisfactory reply. In extenuation
i64 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
of its crudeness, — a relative crudity, be it remembered, due to
the more critical vision which subsequent experiments have
given us, — it might be said that it was better than anything
which had been done before, that it was the result of a great
expenditure of thought, time, and means, and, strange to say,
vastly to be preferred to many attempts at phonetic reform that
have since been made by others to attain the great desider-
atum, — a perfected representation of English, which alone would
make possible its acceptance as a Universal tongue.
The example of the 1847 phonotypy is the alphabet which
was adopted by Mr. Ellis, and used in all his printed books,
in the Phonetic Journal while under his control, and in the
pages of the Phonetic News, his weekly newspaper. It is the
alphabet by which the most satisfactory results were obtained
in teaching children, ignorant adults, mission pupils, and for-
eigners to easily learn to read English, as thus truthfully rep-
resented.
The 1852 alphabet is the one which Isaac Pitman insisted
was to be preferred to the '47, and all preceding alphabets, in
that it recognized the European values of the vowel types, while
the *47 alphabet recognized only the English usage, — a con-
viction in which my brother lived and died, but which, in the
opinions of the majority of English phoneticians, was the
gravest and most unfortunate error of his life.
ALPHABETIC REFORM.
165
A^o. 1, January, 1S44.
i £ A e ^ u (heard) H, i l a o u u,
X O If W, W Y H, P B T D e *J C O, F Y
e A S Z £ Z, L R, BI N U
specimen:
^'ueiU HWOTEVER IZ MDK TU BI
PEZJIRD, OR MDR DELATFIJL, AAN AE
UlT OV TRWe: FOR IT IZ AE SDRS'OV
WIZDUM HWEN AE MAND IZ HAR-
AST WIA. OBSKlirRITI,DI$TRAKTED B.\
DHTS, RENDERD TORPID OR SADEND
BA IGNORANS OR FOLSITIZ, AND TRHS
XHERJEZ AZ FROM A DARK ABIS, IT
XJINZ FORe INSTAXTEKIVSLI, LAK AE
SUN DISPURSIU MISTS AND VEPURZ,
OR L-IK AE DON DISPELIU AE ££DZ OV
DARKNES.
No, 3, June, 1846.
ieaeom, ieJAOUU, ler^u,
wyh, pbtdqjcg, fvtdsz
J 5, 1 r, m n g.
Specimen.
Nutir) hwotever iz raor tu bi
dez^rd, or mor dditful, dau de
lit OV truit : for it iz de sors ov
wizdum. Hwen de mind iz bar-
est wid obscuriti, distracted bi
d^rts, renderd torpid or sadend
bi ignorans or felsitiz, and truit
emerjez az from a dare abis, it
Jinz fort instantaniusli, lie de
sun dispersii) mists and vapurz,
or lie de den dispeliij de Jadz ov
darcnes.
iVb, 5, Proposed Jan.^ 1862.
ie^oerii, ieaouu, i^m, w
yh, pbtdqjcg,f V ddsz J3,
I r» in n I).
Specimen.
Nadii) hiwotever iz merr tu b\»
dezird, or merr delitfvil, dan de lit
ov trud : for it iz de, serrs ov wiz-
dnm. Hwen de mind iz harast
wid obscuiriti, distracted bi dvts,
renderd torpid or'Sadend bi ignor-
ans or folsitiz, and trq^d emerjez
az from a dare abis, it Jinz fcrrd
instanteniusli, lie de sun dispersii)
mists and vepurz, or lie de don
dispelii) de l^^ ov darcnes.
No. 2, October, 1844.
i 8 q 6 c (heard) 00, ieaouu,
iqum, wy h, pbtd^jkg,
fvtdszJs, ^^* mni).
Specimen,
Nutii) hwotever iz mor tu bi
dezjrd^ or mor dclitful, dan de
l[t ov trot : for it iz de sors o?
wizdum. Hwen de m[nd iz har-
ast wid obscuiriti, distracted b|
diits; renderd torpid or sadend
b[ ignorans or f61siliz, and trot
emerjez az from a dark abiS, it
f[nz fort instantcniusli, l[k de
sun dispersii) mists and vepurs,
or Ijk de d6n dispelii) de Jedz ov
darknes.
No, 4, Jan,, 1847.
eaqeom, ieaouu, i &^ \i,
wyh, pbtdqjcg, fvtda^
J 3, 1 r, m n g.
Specimen.
Nutii) hwotever iz mor tu be
dezird, or mor delitful, dcm de Ijt
ov trmt : for it iz de sors ov wiz-
dum. Hwen de mind iz horost
wid obsCiiriti, distractecl bi d^ts,
renderd torpid or sad'ndoi ignor-
ans or felsitiz, and tiutt^ emerjez
oz from a dare abis, it Jinz fort
instantaniusli, lie do sun oispersig
mists cmd vapurz, or lie de den
dispelii) de Jaoz ov darcnes.
No 6, Romanic Alphabet,
SLo, hb,cc, dd, ee, f/, gy, hA i», j[/,
kc, 11, mm, nn, 00, p/>, qc, rr, bs, tt,
VLU, YV, WW, xcs, jy, zz.
Specimen,
Nothing whatever is more to be
desired, or more delightful, than
the light of truth: for it is the
source of wisdom. When the mind
is harassed, ivith obscurity, dis-
tracted by doubts, rendered torpid
or saddened by ignorance or fals-
ities, and truth emerges as from a
dark abyss, it shines forth instan-
taneously, like the sun dispersing
mists and vapours, or like the dawn
dispelling the shades of darkness.
NOT the least of tlie difficulties attending the constnictioa
and introduction of a philosophic alphabet, by which
the phonetic representation of the language is made
possible, was that of determining what were the actual sounds
of many words and classes of words, and what letters should
be put on paper for the eye to translate and the voice to fol-
low. While all intelligent people are interested in the assurance
that they speak correct English, few are aware of the wide
limits within which "correctness" may be assunted, being
unaware of the many nice but marked distinctions which
characterize the pronunciation of educated people of different
localities. And this applies to all branches of English-speaking
people. Equally true is it that there is no absolute standard of
pronunciation. Speech, like culture and civilization, of which
it is the outgrowth, is all the time in a state of transition and
development. Grammatical and orthoepic changes seem to fol-
low the law of progress in the line of least resistance. The
easiest and pleasantest utterance is that towards which use doth
tend.
Modem dictionaries, — marvels of elaboration, erudition,
scientific and conventional completeness, — as the Century, the
Standard, and the International Webster, not to overlook the
stupendous, though incomplete. New English Dictionary, edited
by Dr. Murray and Mr. H. Bradley, — works that present them-
selves as authorities, not only vary in regard to the pronuncia-
tion of many words and classes of words, but they leave cer-
tain questions of pronunciation unsolved, admitting, by infer-
ence, that in the present state of knowledge and practise they
are unsolvable. Phoneticians have abundant reason for thinking
that after fifty years of investigation and discussion, pioneered by
Sir Isaac Pitman, they have settled a great many perplexing
16?
i68 Sm ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
questions of use, practise, and application ; nevertheless, there
are opinions still held by intelligent persons, which, from their
standpoints, may be regarded as yet unsettled.
For example, do we use ch or sh as the terminal sound
in the words French^ bunchy pinchy filch^ etc. ? It is amusing
to find so great a stickler for the right thing, as Isaac Pitman, —
and **right" with him had a moral side to it, and meant more
than "correct**, — ^giving sh in his Phonographic Dictionary for
1846, ch in the edition of 1850, sh in the edition of 1852, sh
in the edition of 1867, and ch in the 1878 and subsequent editions,
as the correct pronunciation of this class ot words. But, with
seeming inconsistency, sh continued to be used in a few words,
as filchy Welchy in editions of his dictionary, as late as 1883,
1891, and 1893. H. U. Jansen (Exeter, England), one of our
early patrons and phonetic enthusiasts, whose opinion Isaac
Pitman ranked with that of Dr. Ellis, Dr. William Gregory,
Sir Walter Trevelyan, and a few others of his early advisers,
insisted that it was "simply absurd" to write this class of words
with other than sh as the terminal sound. • Dr. Gregory (Edin-
burg) characterized the use of ^^ in these words as "the greatest
absurdity possible." A still further difference of opinion exists
as to what is the exact nature of the sound usually represented
by ch. Admitting French^ trench^ each^ to be preferable to
Frensh, trensh, bransh, is the final sound in the former words,
and initial in cheer ^ chain, chalky etc., a simple sound, or a con-
sonantal glide, consisting of t-sh, as claimed by each of the
dictionary authorities above named, and by lexicographers and
phoneticians generally? Dr. Thomas Hill, in discussing this
question with me, said, "It is unintelligible to me how a person,
with a normal vocal organization, can insist that ch begins with
/, or regard this sound to be other than a simple one;'* that is,
a whispered sound exploded from one point of contact, in con-
tradistinction to a glide from the / to the sh position. If one
pronounces mit-shell, and then Mitchell, he may readily convince
himself (i) that the latter word is unlike the former, and (2) that
the former word involves a glide from the t to the sh position
of the vocal organs, which is avoided in pronouncing the
latter word. If these inferences are admitted, it follows that
ch is a simple articulation, and not a compound; 1. e., a glide
from the / to the sh position. Of course, if ch is a glide con-
UNSETTLED POINTS IN PRONUNCIATION 169
sisting of t'Sh^ its corresponding vocal consonant y, consists
of d'zh.
There are local distinctions in English speech, and equally
great and more subtile differences, which may be called class
distinctions. If it could have been foreseen, half a century ago,
that the introduction of steam and electric travel would make
intercommunication so free, easy, and universal as it is to-day,
an intelligent person would not have hesitated to predict that
one eflfect would be to make the pronunciation of English
homogenous, wherever the language was spoken. How far
this anticipation is from being realized, and how wide are the
diversities yet heard, even among the educated, every ear-trained
traveler is aware. In the very interesting life of John Ruskin,
by his friend, W. H. Spielmann, Ruskin*s speech and readings are
spoken of as ''r-less'' When it is remembered that Ruskin,
though London born and bred, was a public lecturer, and that
the latter years of his life were spent in the Northern part of
England, where r-less pronunciation is laughed at as '^cockney"
speech, it is surprising he did not outgrow his early and his
university habit, and that his ear did not demand a more finished
pronunciation, one more in accord with his inimitable written
English. When educated Americans hear an English curate,
of Oxford or Cambridge training, say, "Feah the Laud; Onah
the King, 'e thut 'ath yahs to yah, let 'im yah !" they are
amused and surprised to find, that a people who can claim a
native right to pure, clean-cut, robust, pregnant English, should
accept without protest what, to the average American ear, is
an attenuated and ridiculous patois.
It was long a disputed question with phoneticians, and is
yet practically unsettled, whether the long / in eye, timey by, etc.,
should be represented by a single type, or by the two letters
whose sounds are supposed to make the diphthongal glide. But
what are the two sounds that make eye f Isaac Pitman has for
years used ei. The average American would prefer ai, often
recognizing a still broader a in Cairo, Kaiser, In Knowles*
English Dictionary (early editions) long i seems to be recognized
as consisting of oi, for ice and 7ioise are given as containing
identical sounds. But Mr. James Knowles, whom I had the
pleasure of meeting in Belfast, in 1868, was an educated Irish-
man, and his pronunciations, in many classes of words, especially
I70 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
in unaccented syllables, indicated the usage of careful speakers
more closely than did the phonetic spellings of Isaac Pitman
during the first ten years of his phonetic labors, and whose
pronunciations, during this time, in unaccented syllables, especi-
ally, would have been considered by Knowles as provincial and
slovenly. We cannot, however, accept Knowles in all c3-ses as
an authority, for throughout his dictionary he gives ripd, kickd,
chancdj etc., as the pronunciation of the past tense of ripy kick,
chance, instead of ripi, kickt, chanct. He fails to recognize that
d is an unpronouncable sound in such cases, and that / invariably
follows a whispered, and d as regularly follows a vocal, con-
sonant in this class of verbs; thus, ribd^ bagd, etc., indicate the
correct pronunciation of ribbed, bagged, etc.
It is a growing usage to make no distinction between the
diphthong u, in 7iew, tune, pure, beauty^ etc., and that in youth,
tmioji, ewes, etc. In the former words, especially in New Eng-
land, the prevailing custom has been to make the diphthong
consist of e-oo, and in the latter words y-oo. To make the diph-
thong u, uniformly, y-oo is certainly easier and more euphonious.
The pronunciation of a class of words, 2^% flute, blue, clue', etc.^
where u follows /, seems to be in a transition state. Careful
speakers, English and American, have heretofore used the diph-
thong, but the tendency is to the easier pronunciation floot, bloo,
cloo, etc. U following r, as in rude, rule, etc., is uniformly 00 y
though many authorities heretofore favored the long u.
It is not wise to decide in favor of an established habit of
pronunciation, apart from consideration of what it is desirable
to teach the child. Perhaps the majority of educated people say
soljur chrischun, queschun, cenchury^ naychur, etc., for soldier,
christian, question, century, nature, etc., as, fifty or more years ago>
they said ejucation for education, chune for tune, juke for duke,
hijyous for hideous, etc., as Walker gives. For many years
phonetic reformers adopted the conventional pronunciation of
the former words, but when it came to teaching the young, it
was found that precision and etymology were factors not to be
overlooked, and that to begin by teaching colloquial pronuncia-
tion, led to slovenly and vicious habits of speech. It is sur-
prising that Isaac Pitman and Dr. Ellis ever used uh (the mur-
mured vowel, or vocal murmur) in the first syllables of abide,
again, majority, etc., although usually so pronounced, — instead
UNSE'nLED POINTS IN PRONUNCIATION 171
of a as in ask. For many years after he attempted to write and
print phonetically he used chrischun for christian, nachur for
nature, soljer for soldier, etc.; and not till after ten years of
experimenting did he consent to the spellings oiyoomor instead
of yoomur (humor), canon instead of canini^ qtiestyon instead of
qiiestyun (question). In adopting a more precise spelling he
says (Phonetic Journal, April, 1852): "Only a few months ago
we ourselves had so strong a dislike to these spellings, when
presented in phonetic orthography, that we could not seriously
entertain the idea of printing them."
Shall ex as in exists examine, exert, etc., when the accent is
on the following syllable, be ekz, or egz f Shall we say ekzist,
ekzatnine, etc., or egzist, egzamine, etc.? Isaac Pitman favored
and used the former pronunciation. This country generally
follows the latter.
It illustrates the evasive nature of the sounds of speech
to note the varying opinions held by phoneticians as to the
nature and use of the coalescents w and y; sounds which have
seemingly, been misunderstood from their inconsistent use in
the ordinary spelling, where they are made to do duty, now
as vowels, at other times as consonants. Lexicographers and
grammarians say w and y are sometimes vowels and sometimes
consonants. The fact is, they are neither. They rank midway
between vowels and consonants ; w being a slightly obstructed 00,
and^ a slightly obstructed e. We have but to pronounce 00-ay,
first distinctly, then more rapidly without a pause, thus causing
a closer position for the 00, and we hear way. If we pronounce
e-oo without a pause, we hear yoo ; that is e-00, uttered with-
out a hiatus or obstructing pause, becomes you, yew. The
coalescents w and y are not vowels, but are like consonants
in that they are used only when preceding vowels ; and they
are not vowels in that they cannot be sung, — that is indefi-
nitely prolonged, — and to be pronounced, must be exploded like
consonants. They are unlike both vowels and consonants in
that they never terminate an English syllable or word; and
they are like vowels, in that they can be preceded by the
aspirate h, as in whey, tvheel, as different from way, weal, and
as hew or Hugh differs from you.
Words like compose, seize, glaze, enclose, etc., usually change
the final z to zh in their derivatives composure, seizure ,
172 57^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
glazier y enclosure y so that we hear cowpozhurey^ seizhurey gla-
zhiery enclozhure. When, as in this class of words, two pronun-
ciations are sanctioned by our leading dictionaries, — some giving
compozurey seizurey glazier y enclozurey — the spelling and pronun-
ciation which preserves the primitive word unaltered is to be
preferred, and will, most likely, be the one ultimately adopted.
In like manner the words seXyfix, sense y etc., — the final sound
being s (the whispered z')y — ^their derivatives sexualy fixture,
sensualy are usually pronounced sekshualy fikschurey senshval
To correspond with the rule mentioned, they should be seksual,
fixture, senstiaL The Century dictionary prefers the latter
pronunciation.
A scheme of writing, to be practical, cannot recognize
vowels of more than two lengths, that is, long and short.
Careful speakers, however, in certain classes of words use a
vowel of medium length. They insist that a preceding the
continuants fy th, s, and sk, as in laugh, path, mastery rash, etc.,
is longer than the a in paty cat, man, etc., but not so long as
the a in almSy psalmy father y etc. ; and also that the o in losty
softy tossed, longy etc., is longer than the vowel in loty soty top,
but shorter than the vowel in fally faulty laWy etc., though
of the same quality. The vowel in pasty pathy master, etc.,
we contend is not the lenthened a in paty saty etc., but the
shortened a in palmy fathery etc. English phonographers
write the short vowel for the medium length one in both
cases, while Americans, more consistently, write the long one.
Phonography provides a convenient means of indicating the
precise length of these vowels, if required, by a relative shading
or thickening of the vowel sign.
The impolicy of cumbering the alphabet with letters to
represent medium length vowels, would seem the only justifi-
cation for Isaac Pitman's spelling of words containing long e,
when not accented. The English use of the same vowel in
besides as in bety revile as in revely prefer as in preference y etc.,
is unknown here. American authorities, without exception,
give this class of words with long e, and never with the e in
met, but note that in the pronunciation of the former words,
where the accent is on the following syllable, the e is some-
what briefer than when under the accent.
Many elocutionists insist on recognizing the vanishing
UNSETTLED POINTS IN PRO NUNC I A TION 173
sound in the vowels a and o. A in day^ nay^ rally and o in
foe^ tnoa7iy roily they do not regard as strictly simple vowels.
A simple vowel is a vocalization where the organs of speech
remain unchanged during its utterance, whereas in the delib-
erate' utterance of words containing long 5 (when not followed
by r), the sound vanishes into i or e, while vanishes into
00, This usage may be allowed in very deliberate utterance,
but a nice ear and caution are needed to avoid making it a
vocal blemish. Prof. Bell, in his Principles of Speech mid
Elocution^ says: "The omission of this final element of these
vowels is a marked provincialism" (
The vowel a preceding r, as in pair^ dare, prayer, etc., is
generally admitted by careful speakers of English, except the
Scotch, to differ from a in plate, dame, paint, etc. The a in
the former words is a somewhat more open sound than when
it precedes other consonants, and a further difference consists
in its vanish into uh, the vocal murmur ; but when preceding
other consonants the vowel position of a, in seeking repose,
vanishes into / or e.
^ is a further disturber, in that it causes a diversity of
pronunciation and representation, in certain classes of words,
between American and English phonographers, which may long
remain unreconciled. The Phonetic scheme of vowels provides
but two signs to represent three unlike sounds, as heard in the
following words. Lines 2 and 4 are supposed to contain the
same vowel, though differently spelled.
1. set, pen, serried, perish, peril, etc.
2. earth, serve, mercy, firm, first, whirl, etc.
3. cut, rub, sun, hurry, scurry, etc.
4. word, burst, curse, worth, curl, whorl, etc.
English phonographers write lines i and 2 with short e,
and lines 3 and 4 with short u, American phonographers
write the first line only with the short e, and lines 2, 3, and 4
with the short u. The English practise of writing serve, earth,
etc., with the same vowel as set, pen, etc., and making a differ-
ence between firm, first, etc., and furnish, further, etc., seems
paying deference to the spelling which is not justified by the
usual pronunciation of educated people.
Whether or not we pronounce the k that is indicated in the
spellings of the words links, banks, sphinx, unctious, anxious.
174 S/Ii ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
sanction^ etc., may be regarded as another unsettled question.
When ng is immediately followed by j or sh, the articulating
organs, in gliding from the ng to the s or sh position, pass over
the k position, but as the k is not articulated, — i. e. exploded, —
it may be claimed that it forms no part of the spoken ' word,
and therefore should be omitted when written ; and that things
differs from thinks only in that the former word terminates with
z and the latter with s. In like manner thanked is not thangkty
but thangt; plumped is not plumpt, but piumt.
The use of an instead of «, when preceding a word begin-
ning with a vowel or silent h, was probably a matter of con-
venience in pronunciation before it became a rule of grammar.
In an intelligentlj' conducted newspaper now before us, a lead-
ing article begins with, **An unique discussion," etc. The writer
would never think of saying, still less of writing, " an youthful
discussion ;" but the phonetic absurdity of spelling unique with
a vowel, and youth with a consonant, cheats the eye into the
belief that unique needs a preceding an. The reason for chang-
ing a into an^ when used before a vowel, is to avoid the embar-
rassing hiatus of uttering two succeeding vowels. To say a
other is not so easy as an other (another), and the latter practise
is to avoid the hiatus of allowing the open mouth vocalization
of a to glide into the easiest of the (closed) vocal consonants,
which is that of the n position ; when the vocal organs are again
ready to open for the utterance of any word commencing with a
vowel. Connected with this is the yet unsettled question
whether hotel', histor'ical, etc., — where the accent is not on the
first syllable, — should be preceded by a or an. The, aspirate h,
though heretofore considered a consonant, is not to be so
regarded. It is not a contact; it is merely an open mouth,
audible breathing, through the position of the vowel or coales-
cent it precedes. While therefore it is correct to say, a history-^
the accent being on the first syllable— yet when the accent falls
on the second syllable, making the aspirate less emphatic, many
of our best writers prefer the easier and more euphonious phrase,
''an histo/ical account '' ''an hered'itary failing'' etc.
THKKE is a seeming
absurdity in devot-
ing a chapter to
the poverty of a man who
never knew hunger or
want, or ever lacked shel-
ter or decent attire. It is
possible for a man to be
rich ia spite of his poverty,
as their are many who
are poor in spite of their
wealth. The narrative of
Isaac Pitman's life would
be very incomplete that
failed to tell of the years
of keen anxiety that came
from the burden of debt,
the thought of the looming
type, paper or printing bill,
for which he was unpre-
pared, and, still worse, the
frequent inability to pay
the weekly wage that had
been earned by his faithful
helpers. These accompani-
ments of Isaac's life of un-
tiring industry cannot be
more fittingly expressed than by the dreadful word that heads
this chapter, for the poverty that brings meal time, and nothing
to eat, would have been thankfully accepted by my poor brother
in exchange for the pecuniary straits to which he was often
reduced. But it would be misleading to say this, and not to
add, that Isaac's life, due to his disciplined nature and his hope-
fully placid organization.— still more, to the fact that his time
and energies were wholly given to work of his own choosing, —
was one of more abiding satisfaction than probably falls to the
lot of one in a thousand.
Thoroughly as we believe in Lady Mary Wortley Montague's
dictum that physical pain is the greatest of all human ills, and
hardest to be borne, compared with which heart-aches and
mental disquietudes are the lesser and lighter evils, yet the fact
is dolefully .significant that many find their mental troubles so
175
176 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
unbearable that the poor unfortunates, rather than endure them,
seek the consolation of drowning, hanging, or poison. My
brother's temperament was such that he endured his woes in
marvelous faith and hopefulness, which I, who in some degree
was made partner in his troubles, did not always share. To me
his urgent needs, so often referred to in his letters, were grievous
troubles, and were an ever-present stimulus to do everything
that hard work could achieve to lighten his constantly-recurring
monetary burdens.
It did not lessen my brother's disquietude that his troubles
were of his own making. He could have avoided them had he
been less faithful to his ideal. He lived in the thought that he
had certain work to do, and do it he must and would. That
typic experiments were very costly, and steel punches obtainable
only for hard cash, were mere incidents in his special work, of
which it would be useless and unwise to complain. The work
had to be done, and no one can look into that placid, determined
face, which shows Isaac Pitman at forty-seven, and doubt that
in spite of difficulties, small and great, he was the one able to
overcome them — ^a determination very significantly expressed in
his own words, "I would go on doing all in my power to spread
Phonotypy and Phonography were I sure that I should be
hanged for it in the end." This sentence concludes one of his
letters, and though finishing with a note of laughter, was as
deep-seated a conviction as any he ever expressed.
It would be unjust to give the following extracts from my
brother's letters, without the reminder that his correspondence
with me was, perhaps, more confidential than with any one else.
Then again, the reader should bear in mind that phonographic
letters are written with a freer hand and mind than ordinary
longhand epistles. Phonography is often called "talking on
paper." Longhand, which may be likened to slow talk, tends
to make the writer formal, cautious and deliberate, while Pho-
nography, by giving to the hand the tongue's freedom of expres-
sion, is more likely to be an impress of the writer's unrestrained
feelings. During the ten years I spent in England lecturing on
and teaching Phonography, I was accustomed to look for a daily
letter from Isaac, and though, on rare occasions, two or more
da^'s might pass without one, when the diminutive scrap arrived,
it would probably be found to contain items of phonographic
THE INVENTOR'S POVERTY. 177
business and news, dated on two, three or more consecutive
days. Isaac's letters were very unlike ordinary longhand epis-
tles, both in looks and expression. They were always wTitten
on small three by four sheets of ruled paper, which did not need
folding to be inclosed in an envelope. They were sometimes
written on a single leaf, but oftener they filled a folded sheet,
and small as they were, they were full of life and thought, with-
out any waste of space or words, and expressed in interesting,
confidential chat, mirroring his most active thoughts, and always
picturing the impulse of the moment, — features which the slow-
ness of ordinary longhand, had it been employed, would have
been likely to stiffen and modify.
The following extracts, which might easily be increased
ten-fold, date from 1846 to 1852.
"Tomorrow evening I shall be in great distress if I don't
get £^ remittance from you. I had to raise a temporary loan
of ;^20 of Mr. Bush, for three weeks, last Monday, on account
of a small paper bill which fell due."
"Your remittance, received yesterday, was so serviceable,
for without it I should have sent home two workmen unpaid.
Not only was I short to this extent for paying the office, but I
had to borrow ;^i5 of Hoi way, for four days, till I could get it
from Fred, to take up the ;^28 bill of his just due."
Frederick Pitman, the youngest of the family, was the
London publisher. London is the distributing center of litera-
ture for all England. The books and magazines printed at Bath
were all sent to and distributed from the London agency.
"Within half an hour after I returned from the postoffice
came your hearty, cheering letter with ;^20. I felt that I could
have jumped over the moon as I took it in my hands. I have
a heavy paper bill due on the 29th of this month, towards which
I shall want a great deal of help from you. There is also ;^30
the 4th of next month, for Holway's lithography; but I know
you will do your best for me, only I want you to know my
straits."
" I was going to forget the most important matter of all,
namely, that I want some cash from you as quickly as you can
get it."
"My heavy debt of ;^iii, to be provided for by the 23d,
hangs upon me like a millstone. I may, if Fred should be very
178 S7/^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
gracious, get from him ^30 or ^40 towards it, for I have oflfered
him a handsome bonus in addition to interest, and I may
collect during the next week, through my oflfer of books at half
price, £'^0 more, but I fear I shall not. Do spare me some-
thing, my brother Benn, and I will raise it for you,-^for I am
not the very worst hand in the world for raising the wind
[laughter], — before you leave for America."
**If you have not already dispatched the £^^ please send it
by return post, for I have only half a crown in my pocket, and
I cannot send to the bank because I have already overdrawn as
much as I would like to venture upon."
*' I dismissed Evans, the engraver, on Saturday, because I
had no means of raising the money to pay his wages. The week
before last I had to leave about ^3 office wages unpaid, and in
order to pay Evans I had to borrow ;^5 to make the sum up."
" I have no other means whatever of paying my men this
week, but by your sending me something by the next post.
I have overdrawn Fred in order to meet the paper bill of
Tuesday, and can get nothing from him."
**I have this moment finished reading the proofs of the
Bible [in phonetic print], and must tell you how thankful I
feel that I have been enabled to bring it to a close. I had
many fears. I shall now reduce my weekly expenses by two
hands. I have, however, two very heavy bills falling due, one
at the commencement of next month, ;^i39, and the other at
the beginning of April, ;^i30. If I weather this storm, I shall
be safe and easy in all my operations."
" I have not ^i to pay my office tomorrow, and don't know
where to get it. I have drained Fred, it seems, to the last
extremity. I owe him about ;^20o, which I have overdrawn,
and I pay him interest for it. Blessings on this new Manual,
which will set me straight next year. If I hadn't raised the
price of the Manual to is 6d, at your suggestion, five years ago,
I would do it now."
This reference to the increased price of the Manual recalls
the fact that a few years after the first cheap edition of Phonog-
raphy was published, the system was elaborated into a text-
book, called the Manual, with numerous examples and reading
exercises in engraved phongraphy, and sold for one shilling.
All the books and magazines issued by my brother during his
THE INVENTOR'S POVERTY, 179
long career were published at very moderate prices, considering
the cost of their production. The instruction books abounded in
illustrations, engraved on wood, while the magazines were pro-
duced, from Isaac's transfer writing, by the then slow and costly
lithographic process. The income from the sale of the Manual
was my brother's main reliance, enabling him to carry on his
life's work. A year or two after I engaged in lecturing and
teaching, I urged him to raise the price of the Manual to one
shilling and sixpence. My pleadings were continued for a long
time before he yielded. In one of his letters, written a year after,
he said: "I bless you for your persistence in this matter." At
another time, in reference to the added income the raised price
of the Manual gave him, he wrote : " It will be the salvation
of the reform."
There may seem to be a sad lack of romance in the career
of Isaac Pitman, in that he did not live neglected and die poor.
Prophets and reformers usually do. A man may give a lucky
name to a pill, or invent a collar button, and die a millionaire.
Occasionally an inventor, like Edison, Bell, or Isaac Pitman,
may work a thought into a practical shape, and be abundantly
rewarded, for the invention may supply a universal need. It
would accord with the past experience of prophets and reformers
had Isaac Pitman spent his life in perfecting a useful art, and
a reform in letters of signal benefit to the world, and be paid
by his generation with persecution and neglect. Luckily his
invention was needed, and he was, in the end, amply rewarded
for his genius and skill. His greater and more important
reform, as he regarded it, the great educational benefit involved
in a perfected typic alphabet, and a reformed orthography, the
world is not prepared to accept, and will accept but gradually ;
had this alone, been Isaac Pitman's life work, he would, in all
probability, have lived and died in struggling poverty. A sadder
romance, however, than a struggle with poverty, closed the
career of my brother. It came not from the lack, but from the
abundance of wealth; not from a cold, unappreciative world,
but from those near him, on whom he had heaped abounding
favors. It is a story which, for many reasons, we wish might
remain untold; but this would be a grave injustice to the
memory of the inventor of Phonography, whose latest years
were devoted to the sole effort to rectify what he regarded as
i8o 67y? ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
a prime mistake in his effort to improve his art. The disregard
of his ripest experience, the systematic thwarting of his wishes
to rectify his own error, — thus completing his invention, — and
depriving him of all rights of authorship, by those to whom he
had generously given his accumulated fortune and dedicated the
furtherance of the Phonetic reform, he regarded as the crudest
experience of his life. This ungracious closing of a life devoted
to "righting the wrong," is reserved for our last chapter, where
the story is told in my brother's own words.
AVERY interesting and original attempt at alphabetic
feform was made in England in 1865-67 by Mr. Alex-
ander Melville Bell, who called bis scheme Visible
Speech. It was an effort to provide a universal alphabet that
should be self-interpreting, in that the forms of the letters, it
was claimed, would picture their sounds by indicating the
position of the organs of speech during their utterance.
Attention was called to the scheme by a paper read by the
inventor before the Society of Arts, who, after showing the
urgent necessity for a more philosophic representation of
language than is provided by the Roman alphabet, and its
consequent inconsistent spelling, claimed that a scheme of visual
representation of sounds was possible, by symbols that should
not be arbitrary, as are the letters of the Roman alphabet, but
such as would be pictures of sound, or, at least, visual indicators
of the position of the organs of speech in uttering the sounds,
and with such exactness that all possible shades of sounds, for-
eign and dialectic, would be accurately represented, Mr. Bell did
not give his auditors any indication of the actual symbols
employed in his new scheme. He hoped that the British Gov-
ernment would recognize the importance of his invention, in
which case he would give it to the public on condition that the
Government defrayed the cost of providing types for the new
forms of his alphabet, and circulate his system for the general
benefit
Isaac Pitman was, of course, deeply interested in Mr. Bell's
announced invention, and reprinted his paper in the Phonetic
1 82 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS, —
Journal. He offered to furnish means for casting type for the,
new scheme, — little anticipating its complexity, — and offered
the pages of his Journal for explanation and for the promul-
gation of it. Mr. Bell declined the offer, for his mitid was set
on that 6clat which the sanction and patronage of the Govern-
ment would give his invention. But the Government, as might
be expected, was as deaf to his appeal as had it been made to
the Sphinx.
Mr. Bell had given several interesting semi-public exhibi-
tions in London, demonstrating the practicability of his scheme
in correctly indicating the sounds of speech, in which he was
assisted by his two sons, Edward Charles and Alexander
Graham Bell, the latter now the world-wide-known inventor
of the Bell Telephone. In an editorial notice of Mr. Bell's
invention, the London Atheneum (5th July, 1865) gives the
following account of one those exhibitions:
"We and many others have seen this method tested in
the following way: Mr. Bell sends his two sons out of the
room, and then invites the company to make words in any
language, pronounced rightly or wrongly, and sounds of any
kind, no matter how absurd or original, for it is the success
of this method that whatever the organs of speech can do, the
new alphabet can record. Mr. Bell tried each sound himself,
until the proposer admits that he has got it; he then writes
it down. After a score of such attempts had been recorded,
the young gentlemen are recalled, and they forthwith read
what is presented to them, reproducing to a nicety, amidst
general laughter and astonishment, all the queer Babelisms
which a grave party of philologists have strained their muscles
to invent. The original symbols, when read sound after sound,
would make a Christian fancy himself in the Zoological Gar-
dens."
Mr. Ellis was deeply interested in Mr. BelPs scheme, and
after attending some of the exhibitions, publicly recorded his
opinion of the scientific accuracy of representation which the
new scheme provided.
There can be no doubt that young Alexander Graham
Beirs phonetic training, and assisting in his father's experi-
ments, were factors that led to his invention of the Telephone.
How marvelous it would have seemed, when these experiments
BELLS VISIBLE SPEECH. 183
were in progress in London, had anyone foretold that in the
near future one person would utter sounds, or converse with
another, with perfect distinctness, a thousand miles away!
Yet today there are many merchants in Cincinnati who daily use
the long-distance telephone, from five to thirty minutes, discuss-
ing business affairs with merchants in New York. At each end
of the line there is a phonographic amanuensis to note down
all that is said, and the transcription affords a perfect record
of matters that might require many days of correspondence
to settle.
The hoped-for aid from the Government never came, and
Mr. Bell, in 1867, published, in a beautifully printed and expen-
sive royal-octavo volume, his scheme of Visible Speech, dedi-
cating it, in loving remembrance, to his son, Edward Charles,
w^ho assisted in the phonetic experiments.
Those who favored phonetic reform, but had never experi-
mented in devising new typic forms, and therefore did not
know the difficulty — say, rather, the impossibility — of supplying
the deficiency of the Roman alphabet with new symbols that
equal the old letters in symmetry and beauty, were grievously
disappointed at the appearance of the new forms that Mr. Bell
had chosen for the representation of the sounds of speech.
He had to invent forty new forms, and those who had helped
Isaac Pitman in the invention of seventeen new and unobjec-
tionable letters were not surprised to find that Mr. Bell's
scheme stood no possible chance of general recognition, what-
ever might be its scientific merits. A printed page of the
forms used in Visible Speech was as distressingly ugly and as
unwelcome to the eye as Choctaw would be to the ear of a
cultured Italian ; and a hundred times more unlikely to be
generally accepted by the English-speaking world, than Isaac
Pitman's phonotypic scheme, in which only seventeen new
letters were added to the Roman alphabet. Mr. Bell's analysis
of sounds was unquestionably more complete and scientific
than any that preceded it, and those who are interested to
know what are the sounds of human speech, in all their scientific
minuteness of variation, can obtain a good idea by reading, or,
we would rather say, attempting to read, Dr. A. J. Ellis' article
on the 'Sounds of Speech', in volume XXII of the last edition
of the Encyclopedia Britannica, page 381. When that most
1 84 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
wonderful analysis of speech is intelligently examined the reader
will form a tolerably accurate idea of the difl&culties to be
encountered in devising any strictly scientific scheme for the
representation of human speech, difl&culties which will remain
insurmountable obstacles, until the world is more civilized, and
its ear better cultivated, when probably we shall be graduall}^
rid of many of the unpleasant fricatives, gutturals, aspirates,
and nasals, as well as of some close and obscure vowels that
now oflfend the ear when listening to most of the spoken lan-
guages of the world.
Mr. Bell is the author of a system of Phonetic Shorthand
which is more phonetic than Phonography, in that it recognizes
niceties of sound that experience has shown to be unnecessary
and undesirable to represent in practical writing. As a steno-
graphic system, it has few of the facile abbreviations and time-
saving characteristics of Phonography, and though he was
awarded a medal for his invention by the Royal Scottish Society
of Arts, it is never likely to be practically used, or regarded as
other than an interesting philosophic experiment.
The Bells were a distinguished family of literary elocu-
tionists. The father, Alexander Bell, was a teacher in London,
Alex. Melville Bell was a teacher in Edinburgh, and David E.
Bell was a teacher in Dublin. After the death of the father,
Alex. Melville Bell settled in London, and held the position of
lecturer on elocution in University College. David E. Bell, the
author of an excellent work on elocution, was my teacher.
Through him I came to know the father in London, and I
formed a high opinipn of his literary and elocutionary ability.
I remember he told me that he was the first to punctuate " Mil-
ton's Paradise Lost." He was employed by the London pub-
lisher, who was about to bring out a fine edition of the work,
and my recollection is that he said he was paid ;^5 for his task,
— the sum paid Milton for writing it.
I retain a vivid remembrance of meeting Mr. Alex. Melville
Bell before leaving England. I was much struck with the ;
purity and charm of his speech. It was a revelation to me.
His utterance seemed to combine the easy, graceful intonation
of the talk of a cultured actress, with the strength and resonance
that should characterize the speech of a man, and though finely
modulated, it was without a suggestion of affectation, either as
»>/.
BELLS VISIBLE SPEECH, 185
to^Satter or manner. I had never before, and I do not know
that I have since, heard English spoken with the ease and
delicate precision that so distinctly marked the speech of
Mr. Bell.
Prof. Beirs clean-cut articulation, his flexibility of voice,
and finely modulated utterance of English, was but an exem-
plification of what efl&cient and long-continued training of the
vocal organs will do for human speech — and how charming the
result! All are aware that many years of special training,
under competent teachers, are required to "make a singer," but
few seem to realize that Speech is as much an art as song,
and is equally difl&cult of acquirement. It is, however, equally
worthy of being mastered. The professional elocutionist who
tells graduates from our High Schools and Colleges that they
rarely utter a sentence that does not abound in faults of pro-
nunciation, articulation, modulation, and tone, receives scant
credit for his criticism. The surprise is increased if he insists
that not only are the unaccented syllables of most words mis-
pronounced or slurred, but that many of the simplest and most
frequently recurring words of the language (e. g. ofy to^ fovy that,
it, but^ asy skally or, can, etc.) are, almost always, mispronounced.
The trained ear instantly recognizes the hurried slovenliness
of Tkis'n that, for **This and that ;" This'r that, for "This or
that;" Yook'n do it, for "You can do it." "You shall have it,"
reaches the ear as Yoosh'l have it, and "This is for your friend,"
becomes blurred into This is fur yur friend, etc., etc. ; and
such imperfect utterances pass current for our beautiful mother
tongue! It is scarcely to be expected, however, that correct
speech — an acknowledged fundamental branch of education —
will receive the attention it deserves, till the exact sounds that
should reach the ear are pictured to the eye.
AN attempt to
reform the
English sys-
tem of numbers as
applied to money,
weights, and measures
was made by Isaac
Pitman in 1857-62.
To the average Ameri-
can, accustomed to the
reasonable and simple
decimal system of
computation, the
pounds, shillings,
pence and farthings
scheme of the English
people appears an old-
fashioned, complex
absurdity, and its use
in the business affairs
of life would seem
intolerable. English
people might retort
and say, " If the deci-
mal system is so supe-
rior as a scale for
money values, why not apply it to weights and measures?
Happily it is being done, for the Government, recognizing its
desirability, has legalized its application to both measures and
weights, as is seen by its employment in official documents.
My brother's attempted reform was more radical than the
decimal plan. He thought a change to the duodecimal system
would be more desirable, believing it would be attended with'less
inconvenience to the people of Great Britain than would be the
adoption of the decimal scheme. He sought to make tweh'e,
instead of ten, the basis of compulation. He would count and
compute by dozens and grosses, instead of by tens and hundreds,
and he framed a scheme of nomenclature for weights and measures
in accord with the duodecimal unit. The duodecimal scale of
reckoning fte asserted to be the one that furnished the easiest
and most natural system of money, weights and measures. He
believed it to possess all the advantages of the decimal system of
i88 S/R ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
money, as it could be adapted, in Great Britain, wit>out materially
altering the value of the British coinage, and that it would be
better to alter the English system of ciphering, and to lay a more
convenient basis for arithmetical operations, than it would be to
change the coinage and many of the English weights and
measures. Twelve, he argued, was more completely divisible
than ten, in that it can be divided by 2, 3, 4, and 6 without
fractions; whereas ten can only be divided by 2 and 5 without
fractional parts. Twelve is already applied to feet and inches ;
the day is divided into two parts, each of twelve hours, and we
are accustomed to count articles of merchandise in dozens and
grosses. We cannot divide or fold a sheet of printing paper,
for a book, in tens, but can readily do so in twelves : and twelve
is already a divisor as applied to English money, in that four
farthings make a penny and twelve pence make a shilling.
These arguments in favor of a duodecimal scheme would be of
little weight in inducing Americans to abandon their convenient
decimal money system, especially in view of the fact that this
scheme of money values is adopted by all the leading nations of
Europe, excepting Great Britain.
I distinctly recall my first experience of the use of the
decimal system of money, which occurred soon after my landing
in this country, when for the first time I cast up a column of
figures, representing the month's family expenses, and expressed,
of course, in American cents. On finding that the simple cast-
ing up of a column of figures showed the sum total, without
further ado, I experienced a pleasurable sense of relief and sur-
prise. Had the monthly expenditure been expressed in English
money values, placed in triple column, the farthings, after being
added, would have to be divided by four to make pennies ; the
pence column, when cast up, would be divided by twelve to
make shillings, and the shilling column, separately cast up,
would be divided by twenty to make pounds. The release from
the time-wasting intricacy to which I had been accustomed
seemed akin to what walking over a smooth pavement would
be after having been compelled for years to travel over cobble
stones, and I could not feel other than pleased and grateful for
a scheme at once so simple and reasonable.
Isaac Pitman's duodecimal system required two new figures
for 10 and 11, and after many experiments he selected Z for 10
DECIMAL VS. DUODECIMAL. 189
and € for II, and had punches cut, matrices made, and type cast
for Minion, Brevier, Bourgeois, and Small Pica fonts. He advo-
cated the adoption of the scheme in the Phonetic Journal, which
was paged in accordance with this scheme. He kept his private
accounts; and the account of the Phonetic Journal Fund, given
in the pages of the Phonetic Journal, were in accord with the
new method. He seemed for jears almost as hopeful of the
adoption of the duodecimal scheme as of the success of the
Writing and Spelling reform ; and of its ultimate general accept-
ance and use, he entertained no doubt. The ** three R's, read-
ing, riting, and reckoning," he urged, would then become so easy
and natural that their acquisition would indeed "come by
nature."
I do not think many converts were made ; if so, I never
heard of them. My brother's best friends generally thought
that the advocacy of the decimal system would have been
a more judicious effort, especially in view of the fact that con-
siderable attention had been given to the subject in England
about that time, and a committee of the British Parliament,
after a patient consideration of several schemes, all based on
a decimal division of money values, had actually recommended
an initial step by taking the English sovereign, or pound ster-
ling, — originally a pound of sterling silver, — as a unit of value,
and to divide the sovereign into ten florins, the florin into
ten cents, and the cent into ten mills. A new coin called the
Florin, equal to two English shillings, was designed and minted
under the superintendence of Prince Albert, who showed his
good taste in giving the English people their first artistically
modeled coin. To provide a coin representing a cent, equal
to two pence and a half of English money, presented a difl&culty.
In silver it would be too small, in copper too large. The
English penny of the period was a copper, or rather bronze
coin, as large and heavy as the American silver dollar. Nickel
for coinage was then unknown. Though this metal had been
discovered nearlj^ a century before, it was not obtainable in
sufiicient quantity for coinage till about twenty years ago.
The * nicker is probably the most used of any American coin,
for no other is so interwoven with the daily necessities of life.
Nickel bronze is admirably suited for coinage. Pure nickel
does not tarnish by exposure any more than gold, and as an
I90 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
alloy, the American coin being three parts of copper and one
of nickel, it makes a thoroughly convenient and unobjectionable
coin, besides being profitable to the Government, for twelve
nickels can be minted for the face value of one.
After five or six years Isaac Pitman ceased the advocacy
of the duodecimal system. His efforts to perfect Phonography,
the preparation of new phonographic books, his weekly Phonetic
Journal, monthly Phonographic magazines, correspondence, and
the furthering of the interests of the Spelling Reform, required
all his time and energies, and he appeared willing to leave his
superior scheme of numbers to be resurrected by some future
generation, if an improvement on the English system should
be generally demanded.
My brother, however, never abandoned his conviction that
the duodecimal system was the one most worthy of adoption
by the English people. In July, 1896, only a few months
before his death, he says in the Speller \ "Reading and writing
by sound, and reckoning and writing by dozens instead of by
tens; then elementary education will become ^child's play.'
My hope for the reckoning reform, counting by dozens instead
of tens, has been quickened in the past month by Herbert
Spencer's letters on it in the London Times. I formulated
the reckoning reform, on the basis of twelve, forty years ago ;
used it for three or four years, advocated it in my Phonetic
Journal, kept my accounts in it, and paged the Journal in it.
The phonetic alphabet was then on the anvil, and as I could
not do justice to both reforms, I let the reckoning reform
slide. A goodly portion of the brain of the English Nation
has now taken it up, and I hope we shall hear no more of
changing our money, weights, and measures, which are mostly
on the twelve basis; but instead of intolerable confusion of
altering the value and name of every coin, weight, and measure,
we shall merely change our mode of writing them, and intro-
duce a few new coins, measures, and weights on the present
basis of values, and give them Saxon names."
FOR nearly thirty years my brothers life was a struggle
with poverty and limited means. As long as he con-
tinued his costly Phonotypic experiments he was kept
poor. The income derived from the sale of his Phonographic
works and a great deal which he borrowed, besides liberal
subscriptions from friends of the Phonetic Reform, went to
pay for new phonotypic punches, matrices, types, and for the
paper and printing of books for which there was but little
sale, and a great portion of which were gratuitously supplied
to teachers who were willing to experiment with them. A sum
exceeding one hundred thousand dollars was expended on these
phonotypic experiments from 1843 to 1859, exclusive of forty
thousand dollars generously invested by Dr. A. J. Ellis. When
this outlay ceased, as it did when my brother became con-
vinced that his extended alphabet would not be accepted in
his day, and that the first and, indeed, the only Typic reform
possible must be a phonetic use of the letters of the Koman
alphabet — that is, a gradually Amended Spelling — then Phonog-
raphy, secured as it was by copyright, began to yield its author
an ample revenue. But he continued his untiring labors, and,
almost for the first time in his active life, he allowed his
thoughts to be diverted for a time to home affairs. He bought
land and built a fitting home for his family in a suburb of Bath.*
After two or three times enlarging his business premises, he
took his two sons into partnership, bought land, and an entirely
new printing establishment was built, and presses and machinery
of the most improved kind were purchased for his now
192 Sf/a ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
extended business. But wealth to him was without its usual
significance. It came unthought of, unsought for, and, as it
proved in the end, uncared for. About seven years before his
death, he was induced, at the solicitation of his wife and his
two sons, to make over to them his entire business, buildings,
presses, machinery, stock of books, printing material, his weekly
Phonetic Journal, and afterwards, to his Junior partners, the
copyright of all his works, which secures the exclusive right
to publish during the author's life and for seven years after
his death. He was allowed an income which was thought
sufl&cient for his limited needs, though after-events and his
letters show that he was doomed, at an advanced age, to feel
again the sting of debt and suffer from the restrictive bitter-
ness of straightened means.
The first intimation I received of this strange affair was
communicated to me by Isaac's most intimate and long-trusted
friend, Mr. John Bragg, of Birmingham, my brother-in-law, who,
under date of 17th February, 1891, wrote : "Last autumn I was
in Bath and saw a good deal of Isaac. I fear his too-easy
nature has suffered the younger ones to nearly strip him of
his hard-earned estate. From his own lips I heard enough
to show me that he had given up to them and his wife by
legal deed nearly everything of future income, reserving only
such a modest share as was shown by them would be 'quite
sufl&cient for his wants.' . . . Other people who know more
about it are savage over it. The family intended to prevent
him giving, as he wishes, to the church or other uses, and
they have succeeded, I fear. . . . Some of his relatives will
feel the deprivation, and do so now. . . . Meantime, Isaac goes
on working as hard as ever."
This disposition of my brother's publishing business,
copyright, and estate, revealed an unhappy and unlooked-for
state of aflfairs, being wholly contrary to his often expressed
intentions and repeated assurances in his letters to me. The
unavoidable inference was that my brother had yielded to influ-
ences he could not escape. He sought to purchase peace;
but it came not. The fruits of the transference of his property
and rights were not long in manifesting themselves. Sir
Isaac was soon made to feel that he was not desired at the
Institute, and he therefore consented to work at home, but the
HIS LAST A TTEMPT A T IMPROVEMENT, 193
sons continued to hand over to him all the correspondence
requiring knowledge and thought. Notwithstanding that by the
deed of transference he had reserved the right of the general
direction of the affairs at the Institute, he found that those
who handled the funds and paid the wages were the only
ones whose orders were obeyed, and Sir Isaac's wishes and
orders were henceforth systematically disregarded. The fol-
lowing is one of many instances which might be given. He
wished to publish in phonetic print a portion of Mrs. Barbauld's
"Evenings at Home," for which Miss Rosie Pitman, my brother
Henry's artistic daughter, had made original illustrations.
Under date of 7th July, 1893, Isaac wrote, **I ordered the fore-
man at the Institute to get the three books made up from
'Evenings at Home* and put to press three weeks ago, and
have heard nothing about it since. Neither of my sons
cares a fig about the Spelling Reform, and as the Institute is
a mile away from me, I cannot work at it as I did when I
went there everj'' day. I have so much work in the way of
correspondence that it has been impossible hitherto for me to
lithograph the first number of the Phonographer [devoted to
the 'Improvements* under discussion]. I will, however, again
urge the forwarding of these Phonetic Readers." Probably he
did, but no regard seems to have been paid to his wishes, for
nothing resulted, and the beautiful illustrations were unused.
It was not long after this transference of the usufruct of
Isaac Pitman's life's labors, together with the literary and
business accumulations of more than half a century, that cer-
tain improvements in Phonography presented themselves to
the inventor's mind as necessary to the completion of the sys-
tem. Much thought, innumerable experiments, and extensive
correspondence with teachers of the art, had convinced him
that the alteration he had incorporated in the English text-
books of '62, and in accord with which a whole generation
of phonographers had been instructed, was a great mistake,
and the so-called "improvements" he now sought to introduce
were, in fact, the undoing of the change of '62, and a return to
the system as it previously existed.
The determination of the author to complete . his system
gave rise to an unlooked-for crisis. Isaac Pitman, it is true,
had invented and nearly perfected his system of brief writing;
194 S//^ ISAAC PITMAI^'S LIFE AND LABORS.
its development had required the unceasing activities of more
than sixty years; it had been welcomed as a much-needed
art throughout the English speaking world; it had brought
honor and wealth to the inventor, and his unquestioned
leadership, it might be supposed, included his right to improve
his system in accord with his long and varied experience.
But now, when he wished to give the finishing touch to his
beloved art, and employ the necessary agencies to carry his
views into effect, he found himself beset with most untoward
obstacles. The elder son antagonized Sir Isaac at every point,
and the younger son, wholly under the influence of his elder
brother, joined in thwarting his father's cherished wishes.
To American phonographers and to the majority of the
older and more experienced English writers of the system, the
changes of *62 seemed unwise and undesirable, and in America
they were not adopted. The attempt of the author now to undo
a "not-sufficiently-considered" change, and to remove what he
termed "a blot upon the system," proved the one serious trouble
of his life. It shortened and embittered his latter days, and there
is probably not to be found in the annals of literature a more
pathetic episode than that recited by my brother of his inef-
fectual attempts to remedy a former mistake, which he now
believed would restore his system to an ideal completeness,
and make it coincide with what had been found so admirable
and satisfactory to American phonographers.
The author's two sons determinedly opposed their father's
views. The proposed changes could not be introduced into
the publishing system without being first submitted to the
phonographic world; this it was thought would give rise to
endless discussion, and the introduction of the changes into
the Text Books and other publications would be attended with
considerable trouble and expense. These were considerations of
less than a feather's weight to the inventor, when set against
an admitted improvement of the system; but to the Junior
partners, who bad never done anything, either to improve or
spread the art, and whose views of Phonography were purely
commercial, they appeared so formidable that they resolved
if possible to avoid the issue.
Sir Isaac's presence at the Phonetic Institute was now no
longer desired. He was denied any of the facilities of his
H/S LAST A TTEMPT A T IMPRO VEMENT. 195
printing establishment, and found himself unable to control a
line of explanation or comment in the weekly Phonetic Jour-
nal, which he had established and conducted for fifty years.
The inventor had improved his system, but he could not revise
his books ; he had a message of interest to deliver to his
thousands of adherents, but he was forbidden to speak through
the only organ that would reach the phonographic world.
The improvements which had been thoroughly discussed and
approved by leading phonographers during three years* corre-
spondence, he now wished to present to the great body of
writers of his system for their approval or rejection ; but the
facilities of his ofl&ce, which had grown large and efl&cient by
more than half a century of his personal labor, were closed to
him. The new conditions, however, were quietly but decisively
met. In his eighty-second year, the venerable author opened
a new printing ofl&ce! To a conscience as sensitive as my
brother's, and to energies as limitless as his, conviction made
action a necessity. Denied the use of his own Journal, he
established a new one. He printed and scattered tens of
thousands of explanatory documents, and opened an extensive
correspondence with teachers the land over ; his chief concern
being not so much to change the individual practise of phonog-
raphers, as to improve and simplify the art for the benefit of
countless thousands who should hereafter learn and practise it.
The story of the author's attempt to introduce his improve-
ments and embody them in the Text Books is told in the
twenty-five monthly numbers of his Speller, beginning January,
1895. He calls it a battle, and a pathetic and tragic interest
attends the narration of a contest, bravely and perseveringly
continued, and as unceasingly thwarted by his sons, till the
day he died. Hundreds of approving and encouraging letters
are given month after month in the Speller. Among other
leading phonographers, Mr. T. A. Reed, who stood in the front
rank, strongly indorsed the improvements and urged their
general acceptance. He writes, "They are .but a return to
a safe, convenient practise which I never abandoned." He
adds: "I do not wish to enter upon a question of the painful
family feud to which this matter has given rise. It grieves
me not a little. Sir Isaac Pitman has parted with his copy-
right and all interests in the phonographic business to his sons.
196 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS,
Probably if he had foreseen how he would be handicapped by
such an arrangement, and be deprived of the control of the
development of his own system, he would have hesitated before
resigning his position at the helm."
The Speller for November, 1895, contains, among numer-
ous approving letters, an interesting communication from Dr.
Walsh, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, highly
approving the proposed changes. He writes r "I beg to con-
gratulate you on the success that has at length begun to
reward your patient efforts to secure the general acceptance
of the great reform in Phonography, for which you have been
laboring so perse veringly, and in the face of harassing obstruc-
tions, for the last three years. The October number of the
Speller gives abundant evidence of how notable the advance
is that has been made. The reform which you are so heroic-
ally struggling to get introduced into the Text Books aims
primarily at the removal of what is, undoubtedly, a most serious
defect in the system, as we have it in the Text Books — an
insuperable obstacle to the progress of the learner." The
venerable Archbishop thus closed his letter:
**Allow me to add that I write this letter in the spirit of
the closing words of Mr. Thomas Allen Reed's admirable letter
in the October Speller, 'Everyone who wishes well to Pho-
nography should throw the weight of his influence, however
slight it may be, into the scale, and protest against the Inventor
having his closing years clouded by the reflection that he is
not allowed to present the product of his brain and the object
of his solicitude in what he conceives to be its best (because
most useful) form.* "
The Speller, during the two years of its existence, con-
tained extracts from hundreds of letters, mainly from teachers,
expressive of approval and hopes that the improvement would
at once be incorporated into the text books. Yet month after
month the aged inventor while writing words of encourage-
ment to those who approved of the changes, speaks of the
hindrances the firm put in the way of their adoption, and of
their continued efforts to keep from the great body of phonog-
raphers all knowledge of the improvements the author had
made in the Phonographic system. The Speller for October,
1896, contains, in addition to a series of letters welcoming the
HIS L.AST ATTEMPT AT IMPROVEMENT.
improvements, a numerously signed appeal Irom teachers to
the firm urging that a supply of books containing the improve-
ments should be prepared for the approaching winter classes.
The appeal concludes, " Hundreds of teachers and thousands
of pupils now write the New Style, and it is due to their
conviction of its advantages that the teaching books should
contain them, at least so far as to give them as an alternative."
Isaac Pitman states that he forwarded this appeal to the firm
asking the favor of a reply on or before the loth of Septem-
ber, and adds, "On the nth of September I was taken ill, and
I have been confined to my bed till today, 2nd of October.
Thus extra time has been given to the firm to consider their
reply to the teachers' simple request- It is an emphatic 'No.'
Any further reference of this subject to the publishing firm
is unnecessary." This was only a few months before he died.
"These improvements," writes Sir Isaac, "have been elaborated
by infinite thought, consultation, and practise, since March,
1892 . , . The amount of change in the writing of Phonog-
raphy caused by the improvements is very small indeed, but
the effect in simplifying the system, and the advantage to both
teacher and pupil, is great, making the art easier for the learner,
shorter for the writer, and more legible and symmetrical."
It seems incredible to American phonographers who have
always written in accord with the suggested "improvements,"
that their recommendation should have given rise to any con-
troversy, much less any determined opposition ; and it is
apparent throughout the author's recital of the Firm's refusal
fairly to consider the results of their father's thought, time,
198 S//^ ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
skill, and patience, that he is chiefly moved and incensed by
what he terms "the sluggishness that refuses to test the pro-
posals, and the indolence that will not even look at them."
The approaching end of an heroic career is dimly fore-
shadowed in the November number of the Speller, The author
quotes from the letter of an old friend and teacher, "Most
earnestly do I trust that your valuable life may be long spared,
and that its close may not be disturbed by annoyances and
dispute in connection with the great work which is due to
your untiring energy and genius." Sir Isaac adds: "The
congratulations I receive on my 'recovery' lead me to think
that phonographers, who all regard me with paternal affection,
would be interested in knowing how I am, and what brought
me down. I am recovering, but not recovered. This is my
seventh week of confinement. I am as weak as a baby, except
in my head, jp the power to guide my limbs consciously, and
in possessing a sound bodily constitution. I am greatly dis-
tressed, but without pain, by shortness of breath, especially
after the slightest exertion, such as eating, getting up from my
chair to reach a book from the bookcase, and sitting down
again. I then pant for five minutes and cannot write until
the heart-throbs are equalized. The mitral valve of the heart
does not fulfill its duty and allows the blood to leak back,
and thus the contraction of the lungs has to force out this por-
tion of the blood twice. The cause of my illness must be
traced back to March, 1892. I then commenced a series of
experiments and correspondence with the best phonographers
with reference to the improvements. Denied access to my
own Journal for the interchange of ideas with the best writers,
I was thrown back on my pen and the postoffice, and for four
years and a half spent the whole day writing to phonographers
and pressing my correspondents, especially teachers, to try the
New Style, so advantageous to learners. On the nth of Sep-
tember I took to my bed. On Sunday, 4th of October, my
nurse dressed me. • From that time I have been gradually
but slowly recovering. Without Shorthand t could not have
carried on my business during these seven wee;ks. I am able
to keep on the Speller y but can no more correspond with
phonographers. I have only strength enough to write two
or three lines, and then sit up and rest. In this slow work
HIS LAST A TTEMPT A T IMPRO VEMENT, 199
I occupy about four hours a day. Occasionally, for a day, I
am too weak to read or write."
The December Speller contains many additional letters of
encouragement and approval, and has the following significant
words from this sadly worn but unyielding leader : "I regret
that I am unable to report favorably of my health, 14th of
November. Since the last bulletin, 30th of October, my strength
has not increased, and my breathing has become more diflScult.
On Monday I dictated a portion of the Index of this volume
to my clerk, and finished it on Tuesday. The eflfect of this
slight exercise of the lungs was that on Wednesday I was
too weak to be dressed." Not one of the "seventy assistants"
of his Phonetic Institute could be spared to relieve the vener-
able Father of Phonography, in his great debility, from this
clerical drudgery. After the preparation of "copy" for the
December, 1896, Speller ^ Sir Isaac, evidently feeling that his
diminished strength would not enable him to continue its
publication, wrote and sent a brief notice for insertion in the
Phonetic Journal of 5th of December: "I shall be obliged if
you will inform the subscribers to my monthly periodical.
The Speller^ that with the December number, now ready, the
work will cease as a Monthly, and will appear occasionally, as
I have strength to bring it out." (Signed) Isaac Pitman.
The notice was not inserted.
To keep faith with his friends and followers of the New
Style, and to avoid disappointing them. Sir Isaac braces up his
declining energies and prepares copy for a new number. The
January Speller appears, and it is the last. Commenting on the
non-appearance of the notice in the Phonetic Journal, Sir Isaac
says : " I have been quietly dropped from a share in its man-
agement . . . My notice was received by the firm with appar-
ent approval, and the reply [sent by the younger son] was, *It
is all right.' I interpreted this to signify that the letter would
be inserted. Great was my disappointment, on receiving a
copy of the Journal, to find that it was not inserted. This
means a continuance of the war of the two styles. For two
years the firm has persistently suppressed the mention of the fact
in its Journal that there is a Monthly publication called The
Speller \ and especially have they, for nearly five years, pre-
vented the vast body of phonographers from knowing that
200 SIR ISAAC PITMAN'S LIFE AND LABORS.
a great improvement has been made in the system, simplify-
ing it, and reducing the labor of learning and teaching it about
one-half. The Speller was established to advocate this great
improvement in Phonography. Every obstacle was raised to
its publication. I have carried on the battle against my part-
ners for nearly six years, and now devolve it on the large
body of progressive phonographers. Since March, 1892, neither
of the Junior members of the firm of 'Sir Isaac Pitman and
Sons* has spoken to me — the head of the firm — on the sub-
ject of the 'Improvements.'* They say *it is not a subject
of discussion,' which, I suppose, means that they will continue
printing the present big hooks and the double forms of /r, vr,
thr^ dhr, etc. It is for phonographic teachers to say they will
not teach these principles, but cross them out in the Instruc-
tion Books." To a teacher who writes, "I trust you will have
your way eventually," Sir Isaac adds, " I shall work at it till
I get it. The Speller will be carried on till the improvements
appear in the Instruction Books, if I live so long. And if I
leave this world before that time, everyone who learns the
system, and is a New Style writer, will prefer it to the Old
Style, write it, disseminate it, and fight for it." These striking
prophetic words in reference to his cherished hopes appear on
the last page of the last number of The Speller^ and were dic-
tated the day before he died.
Two years before, my brother gave promise of a life of a
hundred years; But opening a printing office at his advanced
age, establishing The Speller, — the only means left him to bring
his improvements before the phonographic world — and the
strain necessarily attending an unequal and ungracious con-
test, taxed but too severely an organism accustomed to work
in an atmosphere of peace. A slight cold was followed by a
bronchial attack, making breathing, after the slightest exertion,
exceedingly difficult. At length one of the valves of his heart
burst. He still worked ; when he became unable to write, he
dictated, sitting in his chair wrapped in blankets. Writing to
his brother Henry a week before his decease, he said: "I get
weaker continually. Today I have not been strong enough
to be dressed, and have sat in my armchair wrapped in Arctic
♦The nature of the opposition with which my brother had to contend, is shown
when he writes, "Alfred nrver speaks tome."
HIS LAST A TTEMPT A T IMPRO VEMENT. 201
■
blankets. As there is no possibility of getting at a broken
valve of the heart, the cause of my weakness, I must expect
a continual decrease of strength until the heart gives its last
pulsation, and the angelic messengers who wait on the dying
draw out the spiritual bod}'^ from this one. Then I shall have
a sound heart, and get to work in my new sphere of life.
Don't give yourself any trouble about me. Your affectionate
brother, Isaac." The day before he died, the physicians' bul-
letin read, ''Sir Isaac Pitman was much worse yesterday, and
his end is almost daily expected. Yesterday the veteran pho-
nographer wrote for his spelling reform publication. The Speller^
that his life's work was over."
Then came welcome peace and rest, with full assurance
of a continued existence where his life's love of usefulness
would find corresponding activities in an atmosphere of recip-
rocal service; where he would not be denied fair play, and
where the chilling blight of selfishness and ingratitude would
be all unknown. Unusual honors were paid the departed
veteran, if silmultaneous press laudations the world over, wher-
ever Anglo-Saxon civilization prevails, may be so interpreted.
His body was taken to Woking, 28th of January, 1897, ^^^ cre-
mated, according to his wish, attended by his younger son.
Simultaneous commemorative services were held in the vener-
able Bath Abbey Church, at the principal New Church in
London, and at his home New Church at Bath. A notable
event it was for a reformer and a '* Dissenter " to be consid-
ered deserving a commemorative service in an English Cathe-
dral. In due time a mural tablet was placed by the city on
the house in the Royal Crescent, where he lived and died, to
help preserve the memory of an inventor, whose system of
writing had been adapted to fourteen European and Oriental
languages, and whose life's work, in simple "love of use," had
proved him a time and labor-saving benefactor to his race.
;'>
%.*
This book should be retumra
Librarv oa or before the last dale stamped
below.
A fine of five cents a day is incnrrcd by
rrtaining it beyond the specified time.
Please return prompdy.
3 2044 055 059 281
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