Page:Theory and Practice of Handwriting.djvu/101

Rh safety is in pooh-poohing the necessity of any rule at all. Hence we have had the convenient “carte blanche” system insisted upon for years by numerous exponents of the caligraphic art, scattering dismay through the ranks of all law-abiding teachers, and destruction through the masses of victimised pupils, whose misfortune it has been to come under their jurisdiction. This trilling with serious matters is not to be tolerated, it is unique in the whole range of Instruction and Education. In no other domain of Literature Science or Art is such a state of things permitted or even mooted.

Robust bodies and reckless minds may ignore and even deny the evil effects of bad postures, but in these days it can only be at the sacrifice of either veracity or prestige.

The straight upright position of the body then must be insisted upon, the arms of the writer being freely and equally placed on the desk–at what distance from the sides the elbows are to be, will be regulated by the relative heights of the desk and seat–the left hand steadying the book or paper in use. Every advantage must be taken of the back-rest (where it exists) as it is calculated not only to yield support and diminish or prevent weariness, but also to impart confidence to the writer and strength to the writing. Make the posture as natural and easy as possible, and the healthier it is, the better for both writer and writing. The head should not remain stiffly erect in a constrained manner, but should incline forward sufficiently to command the most perfect view of the writing, the feet being supported on a footrail or drawn up somewhat under the body.

Crossing the legs or sprawling them about is both undesirable, and injurious to the cause of good writing.

In the act of writing the body should be well braced up and held together; laziness and looseness of posture beget looseness and slovenliness in the caligraphy. A distance of from twelve to twenty inches or even more will thus be maintained between the eyes and the book, varying of course in accordance with the heights of the writer and of the desk.

If the opinions concerning bodily posture in writing have been