THIS little book, though expressly compiled to assist candidates who intend to present themselves before the Civil Service or other Examiners, will, it is believed, be found of use to the more advanced pupils in elementary and higher schools. As it gives almost all the words of common use in our language which exhibit orthographical difficulties, School Inspectors will find it convenient as a means of testing the proficiency of children in the still much-neglected but most useful Art of Spelling. Appended are sixteen DICTATION EXERCISES recently set by the Civil Service Commissioners, all taken from the best writers, and affording good specimens of English Composition, worthy of study, and even of being committed to memory, as examples of classical purity of style and accuracy of expression. These are followed by ten sets of ORTHOGRAPHICAL EXERCISES of equal excellence as compositions, but with the spelling completely falsified in order that the pupil may shew his knowledge by rectifying it as fast as he can reduce the matter to fair copy in his own handwriting.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

THE sale of one thousand copies, of which the first edition of this book consisted, in less than four months, is a sufficient proof of the want of such a compilation. This edition has been carefully revised, and about one thousand additional words inserted in their respective classes. Specimens of Examination Papers have also been added, which were set by the Examiners just before we went to press.

In the FOURTH EDITION numbers of Dictation exercises have been inserted written on the progressive principle so as to suit the proficiency of every learner.

INTRODUCTION.

SPELLING is the art of expressing words by their proper letters.

WORDS are articulate sounds, used by common consent, as signs of our ideas.*

A SYLLABLE is a distinct sound, uttered by a single impulse of the voice.

A word of one syllable is called a monosyllable; a word of two syllables a dissyllable; a word of three a of four or more syllables, a

We consider it quite sufficient for the presen book to give the long and short sounds of the vowels, which will be found at page 21.

The following remarks will be found useful :

B is silent when it follows m in the same syllable; as, dumb, lamb.† It is also silent when followed by t in the same syllable; as, doubt, debtor.

* Words of the same sound are called paronymes; words of the same meaning are called synonymes.

It is sounded in rhomb and succumb.