Those who use long periods of flowered prolixity and pretentious phrases—­who write in complicated form with meaningless flourishes, do not make an impression of elegance and erudition upon their readers, but flaunt instead unmistakable evidence of vainglory and ignorance.

The letter you write, whether you realize it or not, is always a mirror which reflects your appearance, taste and character.  A “sloppy” letter with the writing all pouring into one corner of the page, badly worded, badly spelled, and with unmatched paper and envelope—­even possibly a blot—­proclaims the sort of person who would have unkempt hair, unclean linen and broken shoe laces; just as a neat, precise, evenly written note portrays a person of like characteristics.  Therefore, while it can not be said with literal accuracy that one may read the future of a person by study of his handwriting, it is true that if a young man wishes to choose a wife in whose daily life he is sure always to find the unfinished task, the untidy mind and the syncopated housekeeping, he may do it quite simply by selecting her from her letters.

=HOW TO IMPROVE A LETTER’S APPEARANCE=

Some people are fortunate in being able easily to make graceful letters, to space their words evenly, and to put them on a page so that the picture is pleasing; others are discouraged at the outset because their fingers are clumsy, and their efforts crude; but no matter how badly formed each individual letter may be, if the writing is consistent throughout, the page as a whole looks fairly well.

You can make yourself write neatly and legibly.  You can (with the help of a dictionary if necessary) spell correctly; you can be sure that you understand the meaning of every word you use.  If it is hard for you to write in a straight line, use the lined guide that comes with nearly all stationery; if impossible to keep an even margin, draw a perpendicular line at the left of the guide so that you can start each new line of writing on it.  You can also make a guide to slip under the envelope.  Far better to use a guide than to send envelopes and pages of writing that slide up hill and down, in uncontrolled disorder.

[Illustration:  FACSIMILES, REDUCED IN SIZE, OF LETTER AND ENVELOPE GUIDES]

=CHOICE OF WRITING PAPER=

Suitability should be considered in choosing note paper, as well as in choosing a piece of furniture for a house.  For a handwriting which is habitually large, a larger sized paper should be chosen than for writing which is small.  The shape of paper should also depend somewhat upon the spacing of the lines which is typical of the writer, and whether a wide or narrow margin is used.  Low, spread-out writing looks better on a square sheet of paper; tall, pointed writing looks better on paper that is high and narrow.  Selection of paper whether rough or smooth is entirely a matter of personal choice—­so that the quality be good, and the shape and color conservative.