64 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR 



/ 





LESSONS IN PENMANSHCR XXVIII. 



OFFICIAL HANDWRITING. II. 



IN our last lesson we spoke of peculiarities that lend a distinc- 

 tive character to handwriting, and which combine to form what 

 may be properly termed a writer's peculiar style of writing. 

 These peculiarities into which every one instinctively falls when 

 he has no longer a copy-slip before him, which he is compelled to 

 imitate in every 

 minor detail, 

 consist chiefly of 

 the peculiar mode 

 of formation 

 adopted for some 

 of the letters and 

 the general ap- 

 pearance of the 

 writing as a 

 whole, which last 

 will depend in a 

 great measure on 

 the temperament 

 and habits of the 

 writer. On this, 

 indeed, hinges the 

 whole system of 

 those persons 

 who seem to pos- 

 sess the power 

 of minutely de- 

 lineating a man's 

 character from an 

 inspection of his 

 handwriting. It 

 is unlikely that a 

 slovenly person's 

 writing will pre- 



of as peculiarities in the formation of certain letters peculiari- 

 ties so called, because they differ from the ordinary method 

 adopted for forming the letters in question. 



Of the four specimens of approved official handwriting that 

 we have given, these peculiarities are least noticeable in Speci- 

 mens No. 2 (page 33) and No. 3, and most conspicuous in Speci' 

 mens No. 1 (page 33) and No. 4. In Specimen No. 3 there is 

 not a single letter, except perhaps the letter T at the commence- 

 ment, which de- 



/n^tsv-Cs V^L/ cu^r* 



&**- 



GLJ 



*hi4Aec 





^i^C^L 



Jp 



^V-tA^ 



sent a series of 



clear and neatl SPECIMEN OF HANDWRITING APPROVED BY HER MAJESTY s CIVIL SERVICE 



formed letters^ COMMISSIONERS.-NO. 3. 



or, vice versa, that 



any one who is neat in his person and precise in his habits will 

 write a coarse, sprawling hand, stretching across the page in an 

 irregular line of thick and heavy up-strokes and down-strokes. 

 The writing of a steady, resolute, self-reliant man will, in nine 

 cases out of ten, show the character of the writer by the firm- 

 ness of the down-stroke, and the sharp, clean manner in which 

 each letter is defined; while a nervous, timid, irresolute man, 

 who is 

 always 

 ready to 

 be led by 

 others in- 

 stead of 

 taking 



a. 



/vLe- ^Mjt^u^*-A 



betrays 

 his consti- 

 tutional 

 failings by 

 the irre- 

 gularity of 

 his writ- 

 ing,which, 

 however, 

 must not 

 be con- 

 founded 

 with the 



irregularity caused by impetuosity of temper or rapidity of 

 thought, either of which will make a man write at such speed 

 that his letters seem to run into one another, and are jumbled 

 together in an almost indistinguishable mass. 



We place before our readers, in the present lesson, two more 

 specimens of official handwriting approved by Her Majesty's 

 Civil Service Commissioners, and an inspection of these may 

 enable us to point out examples of what we have already spoken 



SPECIMEN OF HANDWRITING APPROVED BY HER MAJESTY'S CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONERS. NO. 4. 



parts from the 

 normal form ot 

 the letters of the 

 writing alphabet. 

 In Specimen No. 

 2 the chief de- 

 partures from the 

 usual form are 

 found in the let- 

 ter k in the word 

 acknmvledge, and 

 the letter p in 

 the word receipt. 

 In Specimen No. 

 1, the letter g in 

 the words give 

 and large shows a 

 considerable de- 

 parture from the 

 usual mode of 

 making this let- 

 ter, while the let- 

 ter s, thrice re- 

 peated in the 

 word successful, 

 in each case looks 

 more like the 

 symbol $ in writ- 

 ing than the let- 

 ter it is intended 

 to represent. In 

 Specimen No. 4, 



in the word easily, the letters e and i/ present differences of for- 

 mation, as well as the g in given and the a/ in formality. 



From what we have pointed out, it will be readily seen how 

 these peculiarities combine to give a distinctive character to 

 handwriting. On a further inspection of the specimens before 

 us, especially Specimen No. 3, it will be notic3d that the writing 

 is beautifully straight and regular in the first place ; that the 



letters 

 are well 

 shaped 

 and clear- 

 ly defined 

 in the next 

 place;. 

 and, third- 

 ly, that 

 compact- 

 ness and 

 neatness 

 are im- 

 parted to 

 the writ- 

 ing by the 

 shortness 

 of the 

 loops and 

 the tails of 

 the letters 

 that 



ex- 



tend above or below the body of the letters in the centre of each 

 line. In these three points lie the principal requisites that the 

 Examiners will look for in the handwriting of candidates for the 

 Civil Service, and our readers may rest assured that no candi- 

 date who, in forming his handwriting and acquiring a style 

 peculiarly his own, has succeeded in making it compact, clear, 

 and legible, need entertain the slightest fear of rejection as far 

 as his writing is concerned. 



