acteristics of another individual, still retains certain
personal peculiarities of which he is himself unaware and which render
it impossible for him to completely disguise his own individuality.

The introduction of cheap postage and the immense increase of
every-day correspondence has ruined handwriting and banished forever
the art of composition. The short, modern, business-like letters of
to-day will not bear comparison with the neat, voluminous letters full
of graphic scenic descriptions, which our forefathers were wont to
compile, and were worth keeping and rereading. Now, when similar
correspondence is undertaken, it is dictated to a stenographer, copied
on a typewriter, or printed, for few people will take the trouble to
read manuscript composition of any kind. Looking backward, we find a
marked paucity of ideas and carelessness of writing in correspondence,
getting worse the farther back we go. Few letters are preserved these
days, except those on business, which is a pity, for a letter is
always a unique production, being a correct reflect of a writer and
his times.

There are always two divisions of handwriting, the formal hand
employed for clerk's work, and a freer, less mechanical, less careful
style, used for private correspondence. Writing was a profession only
understood by a few, and as late as the sixteenth century, when it was
necessary to communicate with persons at a distance, a professional
scribe was employed to write the letter. But letter-writing was rare
and did not become general till after the close of the sixteenth
century, and even then it was restricted to the upper classes of
society.

Fashion changes in everything. Every generation had its own particular
type of writing. Compare, for instance, any bundle of letters taken at
random, out of an old desk or library. It is quite easy to sort them
into bundles in sequence of dates, and also guess accurately the age
and position of the writers. The flowing Italian hand, used by
educated women early in the nineteenth century, has now developed into
a bold, decisive, almost masculine writing.

It will be found that most professions have special characteristics in
writing and these are all liable to change, according to circumstances
and writing is the clearest proof of both bodily and mental condition,
for in case of paralysis, or mental aberration, the doctor takes it as
a certain guide.

The most noticeable movement by which cultured peop