The complaint is not the less just for being old, that the degree of attention usually bestowed, and of stress laid upon the acquisition of a neat or elegant hand, is far from being such as we might expect, from its utility and pleasantness. In regard to this point, Mr. Rand makes some observations, which we transcribe with satisfaction since they are very well expressed, coincide perfectly with our own ideas, and deserve especial attention. 'As the object of writing is, to record our thoughts, to transcribe and multiply copies of them, &c. our first grand aim should be legibility, that they may be read without difficulty; the second, elegance, that the characters used to express them may, by their beauty of form, be pleasing as well as useful; and the third, despatch, that the man of business may be relieved in transacting his affairs. 'It is a lamentable fact, that professional gentlemen have too often neglected this part of education themselves, and, in some instances discourage it in others. The consequence is, that an illegible and inelegant hand-writing, has, like many vices of the present day, received the sanction of fashion. 'How embarrassing, and even insupportable it is, to be under the necessity of spending more time in deciphering a word or paragraph, than it would take to write it legibly a number of times! Why should elegance in writing be entirely neglected, while that of composition, reading, musick, &c. are attended to with so much care and expense? It is to be hoped that this work will have a tendency to remove all prejudices against good writing, and place this art in that respectable light which its importance demands. 'There are many persons who are excessively fond of good writing, but still write very indifferently themselves. They really think that they possess no natural talent for the art, therefore consider it useless to make any attempts towards acquiring it; such persons by frequently examining the best specimens of penmanship, and with the assistance of a good teacher, would generally be convinced that the taste and talent of which they supposed themselves destitute, only required cultivation, to make them tolerable, and in many cases, excellent penmen.' At certain periods in our history, and that of England, a great indifference prevailed, respecting a handsome and legi. ble penmanship; particularly for the ladies, whose proficiency in orthography was, at the same time, miserably neglected. In both respects, there is a salutary change of opinion, and a considerably improved practice; but it is as yet too common, to find females of the educated ranks, capable only of scratching with the pen; and members of the learned professions, not to say heads of counting houses, and public offices, whose lines can with difficulty be deciphered, and constitute a most unsightly assemblage of 'pot-hooks and hangers.' Some of the causes of this very inconvenient state of things, are accurately explained by Mr. Rand in the following paragraph. 'The advantages of the best instructions are often entirely lost, by a practice very prevalent in many of our first schools and academies; it is that of giving the pupil, before his hand is perfectly formed, long exercises in the different languages to be written in a time quite too limited. This custom is often attended with very pernicious effects, as it regards his style of writing. Finding that the length of his exercise precludes the possibility of his attending to the style of writing, as well as to the grammatical construction, he is obliged to hurry on without any regard whatever to the proportion of the letters. It is generally found more difficult for the teacher to correct bad habits contracted in this way, than to form good ones in those just beginning to write. And again: 'One of the greatest obstacles to the acquisition of this art, has been the want of a proper standard for imitation: this is severely felt where scholars are in the habit of frequently changing schools, in which the teachers have adopt ed no definite style, or what is equally pernicious, each has a different one, which he has adopted as a standard rather from its being accidentally his own hand, than from any investigation of its merits. Scholars who attempt to acquire writing under teachers who differ in their instructions, will find themselves compelled to change their hand as they change their schools, learning and unlearning with every removal which chance or caprice may dictate, till the few correct ideas they may have acquired, become so confused with incorrect ones, that they are unable to make the proper distinction between them: it is owing to this, perhaps, more than to every other cause, that so few write elegantly; scholars become weary of endeavouring to harmonize contending rules and systems, and, without being able to judge of the merits of any, they catch at the peculiarities of all, and incorporate them with their own hand, till ease and proportion are entirely lost.' We trust that the great obstacle described in the last paragraph, will not long continue to exist. Mr. Rand has, in our opinion, supplied a standard for imitation which should be every where adopted. It is worthy, we think, of being introduced into our public eleemosynary schools, if it be not already used there; and we should hope that it might be furnished at so cheap a rate, as to obviate any difficulty on the score of price. The fundamental rules of the art of penmanship, are intelligibly and briefly expounded in it; the examples are judiciously chosen, and executed with much precision and beauty; and it presents, in an adequate measure, one advantage which we consider as of no small consequence, and which has been but too much neglected: We mean that of conveying moral instruction to children, as they are exercising their fingers. The frequent transcription of sound maxims of human conduct, of pregnant aphorisms in natural and revealed ethics, must fix them in the memory, though they may not immediately excite the heart and judgment. What is thus deposited, sprouts and brings forth fruit in due season. We are entitled to bestow every commendation upon the 'select sentences,' and the poetical quotations to serve as exercises, which are found in the system under review. 'Το teach the young idea how to shoot,' is evidently one of the aims of Mr. Rand, as it will be of every sensible man, engaged in the instruction of youth, in whatever province of art, whether merely mechanical, or partaking, like that of penmanship, of science and liberal accomplishment. ART. VII.-Letters from Asia, written by a Gentleman of Boston to a friend in that place. New York published by A. T. Goodrich. Small 18. mo. pp. 60. price 50 cents. LETTERS from Smyrna, or from the Levant would have been a more appropriate designation to this little volume; for the scope of the writer's observation took in but a very inconsiderable portion of the continent of Asia. The Island of Melos, the town of Smyrna and its immediate vicinity, with the ruins of Ephesus comprise the whole subject of his descriptions. The letters were probably not composed with any view to their publication, therefore we shall not stay to quarrel with his style which is quite inelegant, nor complain of the paucity of facts related as within his own knowledge and observation-from which his readers might draw their own inferences of the character of the people-but proceed to abstract the information such, and so much of it as there is, to be gathered from the book. Nothing strikes the reader more forcibly in perusing the letters nor appears more extraordinary, than the repeated and hearty encomiums lavished by the author upon the morals, refinement and religion of the Turks. Certainly the Mahometans seldom receive such high praise from their christian acquaintances. Thus, he informs us, 'The unhappy prejudices of the Christian world against the professors of Mahomet's creed, which had been instilled into my mind, led me to fear a thousand dangers where none existed. On the African shores-from Cape Spartel to the bay of Tunis, and in fact to the coast of Assyria-shipwreck would be attended by death or slavery; but when the seaman approaches that part of Asia inhabited by Turks, he may with safety bury all alarm, and rest satisfied, that although he is not near a Christian country, still he will find among the inhabitants, all the virtues possessed by Christians, with but few of their vices.' And again, speaking of Smyrna. 'The Bazars occupied by the Turks, are in that part of the city called Turktown; and as the votaries of our religion have not been suffered to reside in that quarter, neither has our vice of dishonesty made its appearance there. Riches in equal profusion are displayed in their shops, frequently unattended by the owners, and exposed to the multitude, unguarded, with the exception of a chair, placed with its back to the door, to signify that the owner is not at home. I questioned one of the Turks, through my interpreter, on the policy of leaving property thus exposed, it being, as I considered, an encouragement to dishonesty. His answer, although severe, was just We have no infidels among us!" Even the administration of justice which we are apt to suppose is brought to considerable perfection among us by the institution of the trial by jury, our Boston traveller thinks is on quite as good a footing among the Turks. 'Justice of some kind,' we are told 'may always be obtained in this country,' [he writes at Smyrna,] an advantage that he is by no means willing to concede to his own nation-and 'although,' he feels himself obliged to admit, ' it is doubtful whether a loser ever recovers his stolen property,' ' still,' he adds, as if anxious for the reputation of Turkish justice, 'he may rest assured that the thief, if discovered, will meet his reward.' And this must be taken for decided eulogium, when we find close at hand that ' it is a melancholy fact, notwithstanding all nations boast of their justice, that it cannot be |