“A proof-sheet, having duly undergone this routine of purgation, may be supposed to be as free from errata as the nature of the thing will admit, and the word ‘Press’ may be written at the top of the first page of it. This is an important word to every reader: if he have suffered his attention to be drawn aside from the nature of his proper business, and errors should be discovered when it is too late to have them corrected, this word ‘Press’ is as the signature of the death-warrant of his reputation. A reader, therefore, should be a man of one business,—always upon the alert,—all eye,—all attention. Possessing a becoming reliance on his own powers, he should never be too confident of success. Imperfection clings to him on every side. Errors and mistakes assail him from every quarter. His business is of a nature that may render him obnoxious to blame, but can hardly be said to bring him in any very large stock of praise. If errors escape him, he is justly to be censured; for perfection is his duty. If his labours are wholly free from mistake,—which is, alas! a very rare case,—he has done no more than he ought, and, consequently, can merit only a comparative degree of commendation, in that he had the good fortune to be more successful in his labours after perfection than some of his brethren in the same employment.” The form being finally laid on the press, and a revise pulled by the pressman, he sends it to the overseer, who carefully examines whether all the marks have been attended to, and looks along the sides and heads of the respective pages, to observe whether any letter has fallen out, or there is any crookedness in the locking up of the form, any battered letters, or any _bite_ from the frisket. Should the revise prove faultless, he returns it to the pressman, with the word “Revise” written on the margin; if otherwise, to the compositor to whom the form belongs, for immediate correction. CORRECTING IN THE METAL. Correcting is the most disagreeable part of a compositor’s business, diminishing as it does his earnings, and causing great fatigue, and, by leaning over the stone, endangering his health. A foul proof, however, is a fault without extenuation, and seems to deserve some punishment. The noise and confusion which prevail in badly governed printing-offices, from light and frivolous conversation, not only retard business, but distract the attention of the compositor from the subject he has in hand, and cause him to make many mistakes. Some men, no doubt, can support a conversation and at the same time compose correctly; but their noise confuses those who are unable to preserve accuracy except by close attention to their copy in silence.