Frazer.] 



440 [Jan . 16, 



well-authenticated documents in existence which bear it ; but it has 

 proved to possess otber advantages which were not known when it was 

 selected. As in everything else, Washington was deliberate, pains- 

 taking and uniform in his method ot writing his signature and the conse- 

 quence is that it makes an excellent composite for illustration. 



In writing his signature Washington put pen to the paper five times. 

 First he wrote the "GW" in one connected line. Secondly, he raised 

 his hand and made the small "o " between the upper parts of the G- and 

 W, and the two dots which appear in all but signature No. 7. Thirdly, 

 his hand and arm were placed in position to write "ashing," these six 

 letters occupying a breadth of almost exactly If inches in every signature 

 except the third, when they are extended to 1|| inches. This is about as 

 much of the arc of a circle (of which the centre is the elbow pivoted on 

 the table) as one with a forearm of average length can cause to coincide 

 with the tangent, or the straight line across the paper which the lower 

 parts of the letters follow, unless unusual effort be made and a great deal 

 more movement be given to the fingers. The "g" ends in a curved 

 flourish, of which the convex side is turned upwards below the right cen- 

 tre of the name. [Note. The lower loop of the " g " in all the signatures 

 and in the composite was cut off in preparing the plate.] Fourthly, he 

 wrote the final " ton." Fifthly, he added the very peculiar flourish above 

 the right centre of the name, with the object of dotting the " i " and cross- 

 ing the "t" at the same stroke. 



In examining the composite, the effect of these various separate move- 

 ments becomes manifest in its strengthened portions. It is hardly possible 

 that any one during the period of sixteen years, which these signatures 

 represent, or from 1776 to 1792, should have so schooled his hand to write 

 a long name that the first inch or so of the writing should always occupy 

 the same relative position to the body of the signature. It would take at 

 least that much action for the hand and arm and pen to be brought into 

 normal signature-writing condition ; and especially is this so when this 

 part of the writing is accompanied by flourishes as it is in the case we are 

 considering. The "GW" and the little *'o" and the dots at the top were 

 the prelude, after which the arm was moved into position to write the main 

 body of the signature or the " ashing." Of course, from the manner of 

 making the dots, and the extremely small space they cover, their re-enforce- 

 ment of each other in the composite was almost impossible, and, in fact, 

 like other subordinate characters, they disappear almost completely. This 

 latter is the part of the name which one would have expected to exhibit 

 the greatest amount of uniformity, as in point of fact it does, with the 

 exception of its terminal "g," which shows more variation than any of 

 the other letters, because at this point the limit ot coincidence between 

 the tangent line of the writing and the curve, of which the right forearm 

 was the radius, had been passed, and a freer movement of the fingers was 

 compensating for the increasing divergence. [Note. It is likely that 

 Washington sometimes raised the hand between the end of the long " s" 



