CHAPTER II.
HANDWRITING.
Many books have been recently published on the subject of ‘Character by Handwriting,’ but they are not very descriptive in detail, although the theories and rules for character-describing by this means are both clear and decided.
It is now no longer the rule to teach children to write entirely by the aid of set copies, as was the case with our forefathers, who wrote after one approved pattern, which children copied as nearly as possible from the original set for them; therefore characteristic peculiarities were longer in asserting themselves, and what is now considered a ‘formed’ handwriting was not developed till late in life.
There were, and still are, two divisions or classes of handwriting—the professional and the personal; with the first the action was mechanical, and exhibits few, if any, traces of personality. Yet even in the oldest manuscripts there are certain defined characteristics plainly shown. The handwritings of historical and celebrated personages coincide to a remarkable degree with their known virtues and vices, as criticised and detailed by their biographers.
As the art of writing became general, its form varied more and more, becoming gradually less formal, and each person wrote as was easiest to himself. Education, as a rule, has a far from beneficial effect upon handwriting; an active brain creates ideas too fast to give the hand time to form the letters clearly, patiently and evenly, the matter, not the material, being to the writer of primary importance.
So, as study increased among all classes, writing degenerated from its originally clear, regular lettering into every style of penmanship.
Of course a child’s writing resembles only the copy-book, of which it is supposed to be an exact imitation; soon, however, the round curves sharpen, the disconnected letters join without any breaks in the words; the even lines and distances are no longer so carefully measured and considered; eccentricities of style creep in, with sundry loops and twirls, giving the whole a grown-up appearance—a decided individuality of its own.
If the subject of handwriting as a test of character is carefully studied it will be found that immediate circumstances greatly influence it: anxiety or great excitement of any kind, illness or any violent emotion, will for the moment greatly affect the writing. From handwriting the doctor can hazard an opinion as to the mental state of his patient. In all cases of paralysis the writing is temporarily affected, and the patient is usually at first deprived of the power of writing; when the mind recovers its consciousness and the muscles their strength, the power returns, but with a feebleness not formerly observed. Writing depends upon so many things—a firm grasp of the pen, a pliability of the muscles, clearness of vision and brain-power—even the writing materials, pens, ink and paper, all make a difference. It is not strange, then, that with so many causes upon which it depends, writing should be an excellent test of temperament and bodily health.