Reverend and Worthy Pronoters of the several

Charity-Schools in Great-Britain and Ireland.
GENT LE MEN,

HE tender Regard, which You have
always shew'd, and still continue, for
the Salvation of Souls, is eminently
discovered in Your Care for the Edu-

cation of Children. To You it is, that the poorer Sort of People owe their Obedience, and indeed these Kingdoms their Thankfulness, for Your endeavouring to rescue so many poor Creatures from the Slavery of Sin and Satan.

Thus, GENTLEMEN, it is Your Happiness, that You are at the same time promoting the Glory of GOD, by Your careful Undertaking to fave these little Ones from utter Destruction.

Your Preference of the Protestant Religion is herein gloriously discovered by those Principles of that best constituted Church, as professed in the Church of England, which You cause to be taught, and ingrafted in the tender Age of Your Pupils. Therefore,

Go on, WORTHY SIRS, with Your wonted Zeal for the Glory of GOD, and the Public Good of these Nations, united in the true Faith of Christ: and that Your pious Endeavours may always obtain their desired Success, and you that Reward which is promifed to those that convert a Sinner from the Evil of his Way, is the earnest and earty Prayer of,

GENTLEMEN,
Wappin-School, Your most obedient, and humble Servants

THO. DILWORTH.

Jure 14. 1740.

.

T has been a general and true Observation, that

with the Reformation of these Realms, Igno-
rance bas gradually vanished at the increase
of Learning amongst us, who take the Word

of God for a Lantern to our Feet, and a
Light to our Paths. Thus,

They who grop'd their way to Virtue and Knowledge in the Days of Darkness and implicit Zeal, were taught little more okan to mumble over a ferv Prayers ly Heart, and never called upon to read, much less permitted to enquire into the Truth of what they professed. But

Since the Sunshine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has risen amongł us ; since we are loosed from the Bands of Ignorance and Superstition ; since every Protestant believes it to be his Duty to promote Christian Knowledge ; certainly it will be confefed, that all Improq'ements in Learning ought to be incouraged; and consequently that they deserve our particular Regard, who ftudy to make the first Steps thereof

firm and easy. For buman Prudence teacheth, That a good Beginning is the most reafonable Prospect of a good Ending. Therefore,

As we boast of greater Advantages than our Forefathers, let us take care, left we frustrate that great Work begun amongst us, by a negligent Prosecution of our Duty : For I would have you evell asured, that it is as bad to learn the first Rudiments of Literature under wrong and depraved Habits, as not to learn them at all. For, the Man seldom clears himself of those ill Faculties, which he contratted in his tender Age : So, lays Solomon, Train up a Child in the way he should

go, when he is old he will not depart from it. And,

As all Learning gradually ascends from the first Knowledge and use of Letters, Syllables and Words, what better Work can the Instructor of Youth undertake, than endeavour to pro

and

pagate the Knowledge, prevent and reftify the Mistakes, and root out the ill Habits contrafted by many in a wrong Method, or thro' the Ignorance or neglect of the Teacher. Therefore,

As to Letters, we are to objarve that they are the Foundation of all Learning, as being those Parts of which all Syllables, Words, Sentences and Speeches are composed. As 10 their Shape or Form, those commonly used in the Englii, Latin, German, French, Spanilh, Portugueze and Italian Languages, are described in the first Page of this Book. As to their Number, in English they are Twenty-fix. "As to their Division, they are naturally divided into Vowels and Confonants : and again into single and double Letters.

As to Syllables: A Syllable is the uniting one or more ConJonants with a Vowel, by which each Letter receives its perfekt Sound in Pronunciation; as you may find in the Examples of the second and third Pages.

As to Words ; they confift of one or more Syllables, and are given us by the alwise God, as a Means by which not only one Man niay, make his own Thoughts known to another, but that we thereby may also arrive to the Knowledge of the Will of Him our Creator, revealed in the sacred Oracles of his Divine Word. Wherefore,

Seeing that the Use of Letters, Syllables and Words, is of so great Consequence to human Creatures, what Care mould be taken to thew that we have acquir'd a true Knowledge thereof, by giving each Letter its proper Place, each Syllable its right Division and true Accent, and each Word its natural Sound; which will certainly guide every one to a juft Cadence of their Sentences ; without which no one can pretend to write or read intelligibly to others. And

Yet by daily Experience it is found that even many, who bave attained to the Art of writing a good Hand, are so un. fortunate in Spelling, that neither themselves, nor the mor: knowing, can guess at the Meaning, couched under fusha preposterous jumble of Letters set for Words. Because, bading never been taught the general Force or Power and Sound of the English Letters, nor the customary and various Use of Diphthongs ; not to mention their total Ignorance of the Derivation of Words, they neither spell according to Custom, Sound, nor Derivation. Wherefore, for the sake of such unhappy Scholars, and as much as in me lies, to prevent the Groeuth of such an Evil,

I have in the following Sheets, collefted as many different Forms of Spelling, as the English Tongue affords in common

Practicea

A 3

Przelice. And as Monosyllables not oxly wake the greatest
part of our Tongue, but nre the substantinParts of all Words
of more than one Syllable, I have been the more particularly
careful to reduce them into such an Order, as at the same
time to take of much Trouble from the. Teacher, and to be of
milore general Advantage to the young Beginner. For tho it be
true that other Perforinances of this Nature have pretended to
proceed Step by Step ; yet it is true also that none of them have
provided those gradual Paces for their Scholars to afcend 15, till
they arrive at the Perfection of Spelling. For,

In the several Praxes or Lesions of Monosyllables, hitherto
published in our Mother Tongue, instead of rising Step by Step,
Chrildren are taught to jump before they can go ; and if they
prove uncapable to take such long Strides, as reach sometimes
from Monofyllables of two, to others of seven or eight Letters,
before they are informed of those that come between, they mus
be thump'd and lugg'd forward, without being once instructed
in the right Knowledge of the most common and useful Parts
of our Tongue. Certainly this is as barbarous in Literature,
as it would be cruel in Behaviour, to bid a Child take care

how it comes up Stairs, and then to beat it because it cannot
Stride up seven or eight Steps at once.

Again : If it be reasonable, in the order of Words, to be
gin with those of one Syllable, as all Spelling Authors agree :
it must be allo granted as reasonable, that Monofyllables,
which confift of various Quantities of Letters, should be taught
in the same order, proceeding gradually from Words of two
Letters, to Words.

's. of three, four, five, &c. Letters, as ex-
emplified in the following Tables. Besides, Experience,
which must be allowed to be the best Master, will soon declare
in Favour of this Method. Therefore,

I have firft collected only Words of two Letters ; then
Words of three Letters ; after that Words of four Let-
ters, &c. with short eafy Lessons between each Table of
Words, adapted in such À Manner, that no Lesson contains
any one Word which does not belong to a preceding Table. And
tbo? I am apprehensive that jume may objekt against the Short-
ness of these Lessons, it is without Judgment ; for any one
that instručts Children, will. readily grant that it is better for
the Learner to read a mort Lesson twice or thrice over at one
Reading, than a long Lesson but once. But,

By way of Apology, it is hoped the skilful Teacher will
pardon the Change of some Words in these Lessons taken from
Scripture, when I declare, it was with this View alone, for

the

the Ease of rbe Scholar, that I have substituted an easy Word in the place of one of more difficult Pronunciation; where neevertheless, I have always kept up the true Sense, tho' I have taken the Liberty to alter the Expression.

Again : It muk be acknowledged that the first Six Leffon's do but just make English: 'yet, I hope, whoever confiders the Difficulty of composing Sentences to be read in Lessons, wherein each Word is confined to three Letters, will readily overLook the baseness of the Language, it not being our Province to teach the Politeness of Stile, but only to provide proper Mate. :rials, of which all Diction is composed. Yet great Care is taken to avoid all such Words in every. Part of this Book, which might tend to excite. Loofe and diforderly. Thoughts, cr put Youth or Modesty to the Blush, and all my Tables are filled with the easiest Words in our Language ; even YuchAs a Child may have some Idea of at the firf Pronunciation. Moreover, as we have many Words in English which agree with Orthography, but differ in Sound, I have adinonihed the Learner thereof, by inclosing such Words within a Parenthesis, tbui, (dóne) (gone) (none) as at the bottom of Page 10.

Having tbus with muth Pains colleated Monofyllables, which are the most useful part of our Language, and reduced them into such order, as seem'd to me, to serve the Purposes of An easy Instruction, much better than any of those Colle&tions published before this Time ; I muft afure yoll, i hat my Care bas been equally as much concerned how to facilitate the compounding and dividing such Words as confift of more Syllables tban. one. For this purpose, I have consulted the Method of Spelling or dividing Syllables. in long Words, both necording

to their Sound, and to the Rules of Grammar : And therefore in the perufal of this Ejay towards.' Spelling, you will find

that quhenever a Word occurs that may be divided one way by Sound, and another by Grammar, the Scholar is directed bow to understand the doubtful Division by this Mark (") over the right side of the Vowel, which according to the Sound, cught to be joined with the following Consonant, which is neverthe-lejs contrary to the Rules of Grammar ; and therefore divided | in fuch a manner as you find abem printed.

And as to the Leffons proper to each Table of Words of many Syllables, the same. Carei has been continued, not to admit any Word to be read in the same, but fich only as fall belong to some of the foregoing Tables. And I hope it will be efteemed a Perfection, that I have omitted all superfluous Hebrew and obsolete Names, and not detained the

Learner

A4