Daily American telegraph., 1851-12-22
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH,
From Dickenss Household. Words. u
THE BIRTH AND PARENTAGE OF LETTERS.


| In SO far rs the perfection of materials fol
writing and the facility of means for sending
latters are concerned, we may have little more
to hope for in this country Our paper and ink
are materials so perfectly adapted for their pur-
pose, that it is difficult to imagine in what way
| they can be substantially bettered by inventors
that shall be hereafter. Quill pens to be sure,
have to be superseded; but in order that this
their destiny may be accomplished, steel or me-
tallic pens have to be very much improved They
are improving steadily. In the matter of trans
mission, though there isscarcely grander civil
institution in the world than our English postal
system, we dare still rely upon the march Of
science for increased rapidity Of transit; and
consequently, increased Frequency of commune
cation. Letters will hereafter be absolutely
sent more rapidly from hand to hand, and, what
is more Immediately practicable, the powers Of
tho electric telegraph, from being rare luxury,
have to become vulgarized and pressed into SER
vice for the important correspondence of the
million. Then, too, we nray have, some ofthese
days, that is to say, in athe good time coming
an ocean penny post
Il is a terrible thing, however, to remember
that while paper, pens; and ink, are placed in
such perfect state beside the fingers of the
every man incredible facility for the transmits
sion of his bit of mind to distance when he
has written it, yet millions among us cannot
grapple with a pen, and are but dimly con-
scious even that they have a bit Of mind where
from they could indite a letter. 1t is as bad
with them as it was with the whole world thou
sands OF years ago, in those very prime Old
Times which are laid up in Bin No of History
We should respect those little scraps which
men who have been educated to the handling
of pen are daily sending abroad, and receiv.
ing from the hands of postmen-in London
hourly-at their doors we should respect those
little scraps which are called letters, if they
were not SO thoroughly familiar that we can
scarcely conjure up notion Of the difficult and
slow degrees through which the power of thus
speaking to the absent was attained by man.
1t is marvel of art which has become, like
natures marvels, part of our daily life; thing
that seems almost more necessary to us in q
civilized condition, than our legs, though, by
the-by, if the whole community were legless,
we should soon find out that what can be dis
penscd with by an Individual may nevertheless
be essential to a race Few OF us. then, can
even by an effort abstract in our minds the art
OF letter-writing from all its familiar relations,
so as to obtain full sense of its being marvel
lous, Let us help the imagination by an anec-
dote. In the Brazils, a slave was sent once by
a gentleman to his friend with basket of figs
and a letter. he'bearer was of course illit-
erate-for those who enslave the bodies of men,
make it rule to keep the light of tie con-
tanned mind from being kindled. The slave
liked figs, and ate a number of them, but his
theft was detected when he reached his desti-
nation, because the accompanying letter told
exactly what the basket should contain. The
thief was greatly puzzled to conceive by what
spell the letter was enabled to tell tales about
him; but the next time he went with fruit, and
his mouth watered for share of it, he deter
mined that the paper should not tattle; so he
put 1T underneath large stone, and then sat
upon the stone there he was safe against the
spy, and having taken his refreshment, he re-
leased the letter, and completed the remainder
OF his duty. To his dismay, again the talisman
testified against him, and brought down the
whip upon his back. Now let us 90 back and
briefly trace the origin of this tale-bearing in
vention; let us inquire what were the first
letters like, and who were the first of the letter
writer's
Let us take a voyage to some far isle in the
Pacific Ocean, where the savages are perfectly
untutored They may resemble civilized men
as they were in the best or oldest of Old Times
Do they write letters to each othera Not ex-
actly, but they write The first writing is never
private and confidential; it is Know all men
by these presents" scratched upon some rock.
These men have minds yet utterly uncultvated;
they cannot advance far in cultivation, for no
written records give to their present the vantage
ground of true knowledge of the past. Ex-
cept some vague traditions, and some rough
practical knowledge that has been perpetuated
by familiar use the knowledge of one man con-
sists in just so much as he can discover for him
self during the period which elapses between
the first day on which he can totter in his in
fancy, and the last day on which he can tottcr
in his age. The material universe prompts his
idcas--there is nothing transcendental in his
humor his supernatural ideas are only of rocks,
waterfalls, and storms, and men, magnifed and
distorted by the play Of an unframed imagina-
ton. He can talk about nothing or almost
nothing but trees, huts animals things Visible
in form. Of such things the idea can be COM
municated without speech, by scratching their
outline on tree or rock. Does he hold any
animal sacred, and has he devoted any seques-
tered corner Of the forest to the purposes OF
worship he will naturally Indicate that fact to
himself and all whom it may concern, by rude
figure Of the god upon the nearest surface suit
able for the reception of drawing. Stone
a rock-he would choose naturally as having
a smooth, hard surface, as being fixed and du-
rable. If anywhere in the wilds he should dis
tinguish himself as a warrior or a hunter, he
would desire to make his mark against the
place for a perpetual memorial of the achieve
ment, Men, weapons, and animals, would thus
come to be scratched upon the rocks in figure
somewhat similar to those which the young
gentlemen and ladies at preparatory school
are in the habit of eliminating on their states.
Such marks-not symbols, but in all cases
direct attempts at the imitation of some visible
object which the artist had in his mind--such