3. One consonant between two vowels is to be joined to the latter syllable; as, _ta-lent_, _fa-tal_; _me-lon_, _le-ver_; _spi-rit_, _si-lence_; _cy-nic_, _ty-ro_; _le-ga-cy_, _mo-no-po-ly_. Except _x_, and single consonants when they belong to the former portion of a derivative word; as, _ex-ile_, _ex-ist_, _ex-amine_; _up-on_, _dis-ease_, _circum-ambient_. 4. Two or more consonants belong to the latter syllable, when they are capable of beginning a word; as, _ta-ble_, _sti-fle_, _lu-cre_, _o-gle_, _mau-gre_, _stro-phe_, _de-stroy_. 5. But when the consonants cannot begin a word, or when the vowel preceding them is short, the first should be separated; as, _ab-bey_, _ac-cent_, _vel-lum_, _ab-ject_, _gar-den_, _laun-dry_, _pam-phlet_; _blas-pheme_, _dis-tress_, _min-strel_. It is desirable that compound and derivative words should, at the end of lines, be divided in such a manner as to indicate their principal parts. Thus, _school-master_ is preferable to _schoolmas-ter_, _dis-approve_ to _disap-prove_, _resent-ment_ to _re-sentment_, _ortho-doxy_ to _or-thodoxy_; though, as regards the analysis of words into syllables, the latter mode is unobjectionable. From the narrowness of the printed line, however, in some books, the principle recommended cannot always be adhered to. The terminations _tion_, _sion_, _cial_, _tial_, and many others, formerly pronounced as two syllables, but now only as one, must not be divided either in spelling or at the end of a line. A syllable consisting of only one letter, as the _a_ in _cre-ation_, should not commence a line. This word would be better divided _crea-tion_; and so all others of a similar kind. A line of print must not end with the first syllable of a word when it consists of a single letter; as, _a-bide_, _e-normous_; nor begin with the last syllable when it is formed of only two letters; as, _nation-al_, _teach-er_, _similar-ly_. For regard should be had to the principles of taste and beauty as well as to the laws of syllabication. [12] The Hebrew alphabet is almost identical with the Phœnician. [13] Chambers’s Encyclopædia, published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia. [14] Bell’s Greek Grammar. [15] See pages 318-332. [16] The following epitaph was no doubt written by a printer after performing the most disagreeable task attendant on his profession:— No more shall copy bad perplex my brain, No more shall type’s small face my eyeballs strain; No more the proof’s foul page create me troubles, By errors, transpositions, outs, and doubles: No more my head shall ache from author’s whims, As overrunnings, driving-outs, and ins; The sturdy pressman’s frown I now may scoff, Revised, corrected, finally wrought off. [17] We are indebted to a friend for the following sketch of the origin, progress, and present condition of the world-famous house of R. Hoe & Co.