accurate, his
historical and biographical statements careless, and his chirography
frequently very bad. In such cases the proof-reader is sorely tried;
and unless he is a man of much patience, well versed in the art of
deciphering incorrigible manuscripts, and supplying all their
deficiencies, his last state will, to speak mildly, be worse than
his first.

It is said that, when Charles Dudley Warner was the editor of the
"Hartford Press," back in the "sixties," arousing the patriotism of the
State with his vigorous appeals, one of the type-setters came in from
the composing-room, and, planting himself before the editor, said:
"Well, Mr. Warner, I've decided to enlist in the army." With mingled
sensations of pride and responsibility, Mr. Warner replied encouragingly
that he was glad to see the man felt the call of duty. "Oh, it isn't
that," said the truthful compositor, "but I'd rather be shot than try
to set any more of your damned copy."

As an example of what I mean by bad MS. I take the liberty of showing
you one page of a work which, unfortunately, I had agreed to print. This
is a sample of one half of a work of 1000 MS. pages. When the author
offered me, a few years later, another work similarly prepared, I
declined, with thanks, to accept it.

[Illustration: Handwritten copy.]

Another illustration of careless writing I copy from "Harper's Young
People":--

A Massachusetts clergyman nearly got himself into a peck of
trouble because of the bad quality of his handwriting. It was
more than a century ago that he had occasion to address a letter
to the General Court of Massachusetts upon some subject of great
interest at that time. When the letter was received, the court
ordered the clerk to read it, and were filled with wrath at what
appeared to be these words in opening: "I address you not as
magistrates, but as Indian devils."

"What!" they cried. "Read that over again. How does he address
us?"

"Not as magistrates, but as Indian devils," repeated the clerk.
"That's what he says."

The letter was passed around, and the judges were by no means
pleased to see that the clerk had apparently made no mistake.
Very angry at what they believed to be an insult, the judges
passed a vote of censure upon the clergyman, and wrote to him
demanding an apology. He came before them in person, when it
turned out that where the judges had read "Indian