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HANDWRITING

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 917 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HANDWRITING . Under See also:

PALAEOGRAPHY and See also:WRITING, the See also:history of handwriting is dealt with. Questions of handwriting come before legal tribunals mainly in connexion with the See also:law of See also:evidence. In See also:Roman law, the authenticity of documents was proved first by the attesting witnesses; in the second See also:place, if they were dead, by comparison of handwritings. It was necessary, however, that the document to be used for purposes of comparison either should have been executed with the formalities of a public document, or should have its genuineness proved by three attesting witnesses. The determination was apparently, in the latter See also:case, See also:left to experts, who were sworn to give an impartial See also:opinion (See also:Code 4, 21. 20). See also:Proof by comparison of handwritings, with a reference if necessary to three experts as to the handwriting which is to be used for the purposes of comparison, is provided for in the See also:French Code of See also:Civil See also:Procedure (arts. 193 et seq.); and in See also:Quebec (Code Proc. Civ. arts. 392 et seq.) and St See also:Lucia (Code Civ. Proc. arts.

286 et seq.), the French See also:

system has been adopted with modifications. Comparison by witnesses of disputed writings with any writing proved to the See also:satisfaction of the See also:judge to be genuine is accepted in See also:England and See also:Ireland in all legal proceedings whether criminal or civil, including proceedings before arbitrators (See also:Denman See also:Act, 28 & 29 Vict. C. 18, 55. 1, 8); and such writings and the evidence of -witnesses respecting the same may be submitted to the See also:court and See also:jury as evidence of the genuineness or otherwise of the writing in dispute. It is admitted in See also:Scotland (where the See also:term comparatio literarum is in use) and in most of the See also:American states, subject to the same conditions. In England, See also:prior to the See also:Common Law Procedure Act of 18J4 (now superseded by the act of 1866), documents irrelevant to the See also:matter in issue were not admissible for the See also:sole purpose of comparison, and this See also:rule has been adopted, and is still adhered to, in some of the states in See also:America. In England, as in the See also:United States, and in most legal systems, the See also:primary and best evidence of See also:hand-writing is that of the writer himself. Witnesses who saw him write the writing in question, or who are See also:familiar with his handwriting either from having seen him write or from having corresponded with him, or otherwise, may be called. In cases of disputed handwriting the court will accept the evidence of experts in handwriting, i.e. persons who have an adequate knowledge of handwriting, whether acquired in the way of their business or not, such as solicitors or See also:bank cashiers (R. v. Silverlock, 1894, 2 Q.B. 766).

In such cases the See also:

witness is required to compare the admitted handwriting of the See also:person whose writing is in question with the disputed document, and to See also:state in detail the similarities or See also:differences as to the formation of words and letters, on which he. bases his opinion as to the genuineness or otherwise of the disputed document. By the use of the magnifying See also:glass, or, as in the See also:Parnell case, by enlarged photographs of the letters alleged to have been written by Mr Parnell, the court and jury are much assisted to appreciate the grounds on which the conclusions of the See also:expert are founded. Evidence of this See also:kind, being based on opinion and theory, needs to be very carefully weighed, and the dangers of implicit reliance on it have been illustrated in many cases (e.g. the See also:Beck case in 1904; and see See also:Seaman v. Netherclift, 1876, 1 C.P.D. S40). Evidence by comparison of handwriting comes in principally either in See also:default, or in corroboration, of the other modes of proof. Where See also:attestation is necessary to the validity of a document, e.g. See also:wills and bills of See also:sale, the See also:execution must be proved by one or more of the attesting witnesses, unless they are dead or cannot be produced, when it is sufficient to prove the See also:signature of one of them to the attesting clause (28 & 29 Vict. C. 18, s. 7). Signatures to certain public and See also:official documents need not in See also:general be proved (see e.g. Evidence Act, 1845, SS.

1, 2). See See also:

Taylor, Law of Evidence (loth ed., See also:London, 1906); See also:Erskine, Principles of the Law of Scotland (loth ed., See also:Edinburgh, 1903) ; See also:Bouvier, Law Dicty. (See also:Boston and London, 1897) ; See also:Harris, See also:Identification (See also:Albany, 1892) ; Hagan, Disputed Handwriting (New See also:York, 1894); also the See also:article IDENTIFICATION. (A. W. R.) HANG-CHOW-FU, a See also:city of See also:China, in the See also:province of Cheh-Kiang, 2 M. N.W. of the Tsien.tang-Kiang, at the See also:southern See also:terminus of the See also:Grand See also:canal, by which it communicates with See also:Peking. It lies about too m. S.W. of See also:Shanghai, in 3o° 20' 20" N., 12o° 7', 27" E. Towards the See also:west is the Si-hu or Western See also:Lake, a beautiful See also:sheet of See also:water, with its See also:banks and islands studded with villas, monuments and gardens, and its See also:surface traversed by gaily-painted See also:pleasure boats. Exclusive of extensive and flourishing suburbs, the city has a See also:circuit. of 12 m.; its streets are well paved and clean; and it possesses a large number of See also:arches, public monuments, temples, hospitals and colleges. It has See also:long ranked as one of the See also:great centres of See also:Chinese See also:commerce and Chinese learning.

In 1869 the See also:

silk manufactures alone were said to give employment to 6o,000 persons within its walls, and it has an extensive See also:production of See also:gold and See also:silver See also:work and tinsel See also:paper. On one of the islands in the lake is the great Wen-lan-ko or See also:pavilion of See also:literary assemblies, and it is said that at the See also:examinations for the second degree, twice every three years, from ro,000 to 15,000 candidates come together. In the See also:north-See also:east corner of the city is the Nestorian See also:church which was noted by Marco See also:Polo, the See also:facade being " elaborately carved and the See also:gates covered with elegantly wrought See also:iron." There is a Roman See also:Catholic See also:mission in Hang-chow, and the Church Missionary Society, the American Presbyterians, and the See also:Baptists have stations. The See also:local See also:dialect differs from the See also:Mandarin mainly in See also:pronunciation. The See also:population, which is remarkable for gaiety of clothing, was formerly reckoned at 2,000,000, but is now variously estimated at 300,000, 400,000 or 800,000. Hang-chow-fu was declared open to See also:foreign See also:trade in 1896, in pursuance of the See also:Japanese treaty of Shimonoseki. It is connected with Shanghai by inland canal, which is navigable for boats See also:drawing up to 4 ft. of water, and which might be greatly improved by dredging. The cities of Shanghai, Hang-chow and Suchow See also:form the three points of a triangle, each being connected with, the other by canal, and trade is now open by See also:steam between all three under. the inland See also:navigation rules. These canals pass through the richest and most populous districts of China, and in particular See also:lead into the great silk-producing districts. They have for many centuries been the See also:highway of commerce, and afford a cheap and economical means of transport. Hangchow lies at the See also:head of the large See also:estuary of that name, which is, however, too shallow for navigation by steamers. The estuary or See also:bay is See also:funnel-shaped, and its See also:con-figuration produces at See also:spring tides a " See also:bore " or tidal See also:wave, which at its maximum reaches a height of 15 to 20 ft.

The value of trade passing through the customs in 1899 was £1,729,000; in 1904 these figures had risen to £2,543,831. Hang-chow-fu is the Kinsai of Marco Polo, who describes it as the finest and noblest city in the See also:

world, and speaks enthusiastically of the number and splendour of its mansions and the See also:wealth and luxuriance of its inhabitants. According to this authority it had a circuit of Too m., and no fewer than 12,000 See also:bridges and 3000 See also:baths. The name Kinsai, which appears in Wassaf as Khanzai, in See also:Ibn Batuta as See also:Khansa, in See also:Odoric of See also:Pordenone as Camsay, and elsewhere as Campsay and Cassay, is really a corruption of the Chinese See also:King-sze, See also:capital, the same word which is still applied to Peking. From the loth to the 13th See also:century (96o-1272) the city, whose real name was then See also:Ling-nan, was the capital of southern China and the seat of the Sung See also:dynasty, which was dethroned by the Mongolians shortly before Marco Polo's visit. Up to 1861, when it was laid in ruins by the T'aip'ings, Hangchow continued to maintain its position as one of the most flourishing cities in the See also:empire.

End of Article: HANDWRITING

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