The person cannot
think of that which he wishes to write, and at the same moment guide the
hand in writing; in the same way, and for the same reason, that a child
cannot answer a question and yet continue his play. By the use of the
paraphrastic exercise, however, the pupil will soon be enabled not only
to concoct in his own mind what he intends to write, during the time he
is writing; but the faculty may, by the same means, be cultivated to
such an extent, that he may at last be able to dictate to two clerks at
a time, and sometimes perhaps, (as it has been affirmed some have done)
even to three.

A similar collateral advantage, which will arise from the persevering
use of the paraphrastic exercise, deserves a separate consideration.--It
will gradually create a capacity to take written notes of a subject,
either in the church, the senate, or the lecture room, during the time
that the speaker is engaged in delivering it. It is in the ability to
hear and concoct in the mind one set of ideas, while writing down an
entirely different set, that the whole art of accurate "reporting"
consists. The writing part of the process is purely mechanical; the
perfection of the art consists chiefly in the command which the reporter
acquires over the powers of his mind. The person while so employed has
to hear and reiterate the ideas of the speaker as he proceeds; these he
must remember and arrange, selecting, abridging, condensing, or
abandoning, according to the extent of his manual dexterity in writing.
But it is worthy of remark, that if the person be able to think,--to
exercise his mind,--and to continue to write without stopping while he
does so, the _amount_ of what he writes is a mere accident, and depends,
not upon the state of the mind, but upon the mechanical part of the
operation, which is aided by the arts of stenography and abbreviation.
This mental capacity is most likely to be acquired by the regular and
persevering use of the paraphrastic exercise. It will train the pupil to
that command over his thoughts, which, with a little practice in this
particular mode of applying it, will soon enable him, with perfect
self-possession, to hear and to keep up with a speaker, while he
continues without a pause, to write down as much of what has been said,
as his command of the pen will allow. Without this mental ability, he
could not while listening write at all; but when it has been
sufficiently acquired, there is no limit to his