It is obvious, therefore, that the controversy turns upon, whether there be, or be not, an _a_ introduced in the second syllable of the last signature of the poet. Mr. Malone, on the suggestion of an anonymous correspondent, thinks that there is not, this gentleman having clearly shown him, "that though there was a superfluous stroke when the poet came to write the letter _r_ in his last signature, probably from the tremor of his hand, there was no _a_ discoverable in that syllable; and that this name, like both the other, was written _Shakspere_."[18:C] From the annexed plate of autographs, which is copied from Mr. Chalmers's Apology, and presents us with very perfect fac-similes of the signatures, it is at once evident, that the assertion of the anonymous correspondent, that the last signature, "_like both the other_, was written Shakspere," cannot be correct; for the surname in the first brief is written Sha_c_kspere, and, in the second, Shakspe re. Now the _hiatus_ in this second signature is unaccounted for in the fac-simile given by Mr. Malone[18:D]; but in the plate of Mr. Chalmers it is found to have been occasioned by the intrusion of the word _the_ of the _preceding line_, a circumstance which, very probably, might prevent the introduction of the controverted letter. It is likewise, we think, very evident that something more than _a superfluous stroke_ exists between the _e_ and _r_ of the last signature, and that the variation is, indeed, too material to have originated from any supposed tremor of the hand. Upon the whole, it may, we imagine, be safely reposed on as a fact, that Shakspeare was not uniform in the orthography of his own name; that he sometimes spelt it _Shakspere_ and sometimes _Shakspeare_; but that no other variation is extant which can claim a similar authority.[19:A] It is, therefore, nearly a matter of indifference which of _these two_ modes of spelling we adopt; yet, as his last signature appears to have included the letter _a_, it may, for the sake of consistency, be proper silently to acquiesce in its admission. FOOTNOTES: [2:A] Communicated to Mr. Malone by the Rev. Mr. Davenport, vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon. [2:B] Vincent, vol. clvii. p. 24. [3:A] See the instrument, at full length, Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 146, edit. of 1803. [3:B] The History of the Worthies of England, part iii. fol. 131, 132. [3:C] See Shakspeare's coat of arms, Reed's Shaksp. vol. i. p. 146. [4:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 58, 59. [4:B] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 133.