THE 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE, 
No. 102. | 
JULY 1, 1803. 
| No. 6, of Vou. 15. 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
To the Editor of the Monibly Magazine. 
SIR, 
NE of the ftrangeft of the many in- 
confiftencies obfervable in our way of 
thinking and acting, appears to me to be 
the negle& with which the mechanical art 
of writing is treated by men of letters.— 
The inability to read and write, places a 
man proverbially among the moft unin- 
firuéted of his fpecies ; yet how many 
deep fcholars have we, whofe fkill in writ- 
ing is fo imperfest, that they may be faid 
to be deftitute of the faculty of making 
themfelves intelligible upon paper. If 
we reflect a moment upon the vatt im- 
portance of fuch a facuity, we fhall be 
aftonifhed at the indifference with which 
the want of it is habitually regarded.— 
Perfons who would think themielves inde- 
libly difgraced by the wrong pronuncia- 
tion of a Greek or Latin word, are not 
afhamed to acknowledze that they cannot 
write a note to a friend, or a letter upon 
neceflary bufinefs, with any certainty. of 
having their meaning comprehended.— 
Nay, they fometimes take pride in their 
unfkilfulnefs, asif it denoted that their 
heads had been fo much occupied as to 
allow no exercife to their hands. The 
truth is, that bad writing is in fome fort 
a prefumption of a claffical education ; 
for fuch is the admirable conftitution of 
our grammar-{chools, that few of them 
have any provifion for learning the ule of 
the pen, any more than the practice of 
the common rules of arithmetic ; and the 
neceffity of {crawling exercifes foon de- 
ftroys any proficiency a boy may have 
_ already made in the art of penmanthip.— 
I know learned authors whofe manufcripts 
are as dificult to make out as the legend 
of an ancient medal, to the utter defpair 
of prefs-compofitors, wio can make no 
pregrefs without a decypherer at their el- 
bow. No wonder if errata abound in 
their publications ; of which it would be 
but juft for themfelves to take the blame, 
initead of throwing it upon the poor prin- 
ters. I fancy, Mr. Editor, from the nu- 
merous corrections I fee occafionally made 
iN your articles, you have fome corre- 
fpondents of this clafs. I revere their eru- 
Gition, butam not inclined to admit, like 
Montury Maa, No, 102. 
what is faid of phyficians, that ** the 
worle the fcrawl, the dofe the better.” 
Lord Chefterfield, I think, has faid, 
that any man may write wellifhe pleafes, 
IT am not fure, that every man, with any 
degree of pains, could write elegantly ; 
but I dovbt not that he might come to 
write legibly, and this 1s the real obje& to _ 
be aimed at. There are hands which 
look very well, yet are extremely illegible ; 
which is often the cafe with free running 
hands, when written carelefsly. And it 
appears to me a fault in modern penman- 
fhip, that freedom and expedition are fo 
much more in requeft than diftinétnefs.— 
The tiffer, more upright, hands of our 
anceftors were more eafily read ; and I 
repeat, that legibility is the fundamental 
quality of good writing, to which every 
thing elfe fhould be facrificed. 
Iam, Sir, your's, &c. 
GraPHICUS. 
a 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N addition to the fhort fketch of Bifhop 
Smallbrock’s Life, which appeared in 
your Milcellany for lait March, p. 143, it 
may be proper to fay, that after his Lord- 
fhip was tranflated tothe See of Litchfield 
and Coventry, he publithed two Charges, 
addrefled to the Clergy of that diocefe ; 
in which he difplayed his temper and 
character as a churchman, and endeavour- 
ed to ftimulate his clergy to the defence of 
epifcopal claims, and of the eftablifhed 
church, ** againft the open attacks and 
dark defigns of its adverfaries, of what- 
ever denomination.” Tie publication cf 
thefe Difcourf-s drew from the pen of the 
Rev. James Owen, a Diffenting Miniiier, 
afterwards of Rochdale, in Lancafhire, 
‘© Remarks; wherein the Danger of the 
Church, trom the Progrefs of Liberty, 
and its Indeperdence upon Civil Govern- 
ment, are confidered.”” 1738. - This traé& 
was written with much keennefs and wit, 
and gave the author celebrity. It came 
to a fecond edition in 1740; and was ree 
printed by Mr. Baron, in ** A Cordial 
for Low Spirits.” 3 vols. 12mo, 1763.—— 
But the irony and fatire of tt offended nis 
Lordfhip, who,.on the occafion, wrote a 
3U letter 
