Additional Abbreviations

An abbreviation is usually formed by taking the first letter, the first and last letters, or the first syllable of a word,

followed by a period.

A. or @. To or at.

A. B. Bachelor of Arts.

Acct. Account.

Adj. Adjective.
Adv. Adverb.

Aet. Aged.
Amt. Amount.
Anon. Anonymous.

Bal. Balance.

B. C. Before Christ.
Bu. or bush. Bushel.

C. E. Civil Engineer.
Chap. Chapter.

C. H. Court-house.

Clk. Clerk.

Co. Company; County.

E. East.

Ed. Editor, Edition.

e. g. (exempli gratia). For ex-
ample.

Eng. England, English.
Esq. Esquire.

et al. And others.

etc. And so forth.

Ex. Example, Exception, Exodus.

Fahr. Fahrenheit.
Fur. or fur. Furlong.

Gr. or gr. Grain or grains.

H. B. M. His or Her Britannic
Majesty.

Hhd. or hhd. Hogshead, or hogs-
heads.

C. O. D. Cash (or collect) on de- Hon. Honorable.

livery.

Cr. Credit, Creditor.

Cts. or cts. Cents.

Cwt. or cwt. Hundred weight.

D. C. District of Columbia; From
the beginning.

D. D. Doctor of Divinity.
Dept. Department.
Dict. Dictionary.

D. L. 0. Dead Letter Office.

Do. or do. (ditto). The same.
Doz. or doz. Dozen.

Dr. Debtor, Doctor.

D. V. God willing

H. R. House of Representatives.

Id. or id. (idem). The same.
I.e. or i.e. (id est). That is.
I. H. S. (Jesus Hominum Salva-
tor). Jesus the Saviour of Men.
in cog. Unknown.

inst. Instant (the present month).
Int. or int. Interest.

It, or Ital, Italic, Italian.

Jr. or jr. Junior.

L., 1., or £. Pound sterling.
1. c. lower case.
LL.D. Doctor of Laws.

Dwt. or dwt. Pennyweight, or long. Longitude.

pennyweights.

L. S. Place of the Seal.

M. Marquis, Monsieur, Thousand, Pub. Published, Publisher.

Language Lesson-THE MILLER OF THE DEE

There dwelt a miller, hale and bold,
Beside the river Dee;

He wrought and sang from morn till night;
No lark more blithe than he;

And this the burden of his song
Forever used to be:

"I envy no one-no, not I!
And no one envies me!"

"Thou'rt wrong, my friend," said old King Hal—

"As wrong as wrong can be ; For could my heart be light as thine,

I'd gladly change with thee.

And tell me, now, what makes thee sing
With voice so loud and free,

While I am sad, though I'm the king,
Beside the river Dee?"

The miller smiled and doffed his cap.
"I earn my bread," quoth he;
"I love my wife; I love my friend;
I love my children three;

I owe no one I cannot pay;

I thank the river Dee,

That turns the mill that grinds the corn

To feed my babes and me."

"Good friend," said Hal, and sighed the while, "Farewell, and happy be;

But say no more, if thou'dst be true,

That no one envies thee.

Thy mealy cap is worth my crown ;
Thy mill, my kingdom's fec.

Such men as thou art England's boast,
O miller of the Dee."

1. Have the poem carefully read aloud in the class.

2. Draw from the pupils as far as possible and develop the meaning of the words: hale, bold, wrought, blithe, burden, envy, light, sad, doffed, earn, quoth, sighed, crown, fee, boast.

Have the pupils make oral or written sentences, using each word correctly.

3. Develop the plan, incidents, and moral of the story, and impress them clearly on the minds of the pupils, mainly by questions touching every important point, as follows:

How many stanzas, or paragraphs, in the story? The first paragraph is about whom? What three words describe him? What is said about his industry? Repeat his song.

In the second paragraph, who speaks to the miller? What does he say about the miller's song? What would he gladly do to have a heart as happy as the miller's? What does he ask the miller to tell him?

In the third paragraph, what does the miller do at first? How does he say he gets a living? He loves whom? What does he say about his debts? He thanks what, and for what?

In the fourth paragraph, what does the king do that shows his sadness? What does he say in his first sentence? What does he say about the miller's mealy cap? About his mill?

Tell what you know about millers. Tell what you know about kings. Why was the miller happy and the king sad? What is the moral of this story?

4. Have the substance of the entire story reproduced orally in the class without questions or assistance from the teacher.

5. Have the pupils make brief notes of the points or topics of the subject. Let these be well considered in the class, and the pupils, under the guidance of the teacher, select the important ones, write them on the blackboard, and then re-arrange them methodically. It is of the first importance that the pupils shall learn to note and arrange their own topics. In doing this they should indicate the paragraphing.

Notes or topics suggested for the reproduction of the poem above:

The miller: Described. What he did. His song.
The king: Said about the song. So light a heart.
The miller: Did what? Loved whom? His debts.

Tell him what ?

Thanked,

The king: Expression of sadress. Said first. His request. Said about the cap. About the mill. Men like the miller.

Something about millers. About kings. The moral lesson.

The basis of every good composition is correct and clear thinking, and with young pupils the thought requires more attention than the expression.

Dean Stanley says of the famous teacher, Dr. Arnold, that it was his practice to teach, not by down-pouring, but by questioning, and his questions were of a kind to call the attention of the boys to the real point of every subject.

This subject having been taught as indicated above, let the pupils deliberately write out the story in their own language, and state its moral lesson. Those who have a more fertile imagination, and greater facility of expression, should be allowed to make additions in keeping with the original. Do not expect, much less require, all to conform exactly to one pattern. Nature abhors such mechanical sameness. Searching questions should be prepared in advance of the teaching. No lesson should be so long as to weary the pupils. There is sufficient work in this exercise for four lessons.

Such lessons are interesting and valuable exercises both in composition and spelling. Only a few selections for this purpose are suggested here, as teachers can readily find suitable ones in readers and other books:

The Sad Little Lass,
Farmer John,

A Legend of the Northland,
The Three Copecks,
Abou Ben Adhem,

King Solomon and the Bees,
Nauhaught, the Deacon,
Legend Beautiful,

The Four Sunbeams,

Margaret Johnson.
J. T. Trowbridge.
Phoebe Cary.
Paul H. Hayne.
Leigh Hunt.
John G. Saxe.
John G. Whittier.
H. W. Longfellow.
M. K. B., St. Nicholas.