Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1858-03-12
ANY LETTER FoR ME TO-DAYt

nAs 4Sas AiS ios eSs Aacc
AMY LETT ER FOR ME TO-DAYi
With how much hidden emotion is this
question asked at the post office. Many a
time, after receiving our own letters, have we
stopped and watched the faces of the throng
who were waiting their turn to ask the COM
mon question, ssAny letter for me to-day!''
and we were always thus led to more serious
: reflection upon the joys and sorrows of life,
Z and made more sensible TO realize the pow
aer of LITTLE THINGS over human happiness
II is little thing to ask for letter, and the
answer ssyes" or "no' is bu. little thing;
the letter itself is but small package, in
appearance unimportant and valueless; and
when passing the post Office, as we cas-
uaily glance at the people who have come
for these little messages we deem it very
little affair-an every day occurrence Of no
special Specification. But could we see the
expectafion, the desire, the trembling hope anG
fear, smothered beneath the simple question,
q Any letterfor met then should we know
that it is not little thing to the heart in
terested. There is no other place in the
world where the strong feeling, genuine
heart emotion, is SO Immediately aroused as
at the post office. 1t may be subdued, it is
true, or hidden, from the common eye, but
it is felt there. Nowhere else can SO great
variety of feelings be called into exercise;
for here all come, all ages, classes and con-
! ditions of men, hoping and fearing.
Any letter for me to-day! asks the man of
business. Yes-he takes it, opens il, and
reads notice of a protested note; or of
: failure; or of some calamity from which he
must date his own ruin. Perhaps he reads
of rise in real estate, in stocks or of the sue
cess of some grand mercantile speculation,
by which he is suddenly released from some
embarrassment, and made rich. Oh, what
an electric touch to his whole being is that
: letter.
Amy letter for me to-day! asks the aged
mofher; her voice trembles, and her heart
ihrobs heavily while the clerk turns to Look
! for the expected message. Her children are
scattered over the world--have been gone
from her for many years. but she still feels
the same love for them she did when they
were s.wee darlings," nestled safely under
one roof, and letter of good news from
either of them thrills her heart with the
same old JOY which their smiles and merry
giee brought to her long years ago.
Any letter for me to-day! asks The young
man who had been but few months from
home seeking employment in the city,. His
countenance indicates quick alienation
Of hope and fear; and when the answer is
given, sNo letter, SIR he turns away, as he
has many times before, struggling to sup
press tears and sighs. He had been unsuc-
.r..n L
given him by bis father when he started to
irv the world for himself, we're exhausted,
and weeks before be had written, ili:.alorlng
further aid. Thus. without money, without
work. In want and aisne in a great city.
what home yearnings arise in his heart, and
upon that little expected letter hangs his
whole life destiny.
Any letter Tor me to-day! timidly inquiries
the mniden, her face eufused with the blush
: of FIRST love. The clerk knows that it is
/. her heart which speaks in those low. soft
tones, and little Joy touches his own, it
may be from sympathy. or the awakening OF
some cherished memory, as he discovers her
name SO prettiiy written upon an embossed
envcloped. So he places it ia her hand with
cheerful smile, and with joy5eaming ey yes
she hurries away.
Any letter for me To-day, asks the wife
whose husband is away to California, seeking
gold He could not be content with the
..slow and sure'' growth which honest labor
invariably secures; but he must amass wealth
quickly, make fortune in two or three years,
~then he will return TO live ia splendid style.
This dream of greatness was worth more to
him than all the comfert aad endearments
of home, and so he made the sad exchange.
During four years has he cnly written as
many letters to his wife, and sent her money
barely Sufficient to procure the necessaries of
Hfe. But her love towards hia did not fal
test reached all the way to that distant
land, and brought him nearer to her. The
few lines received at these long intervals
are read with fearful eyes, many times over,
aud sacredly treasured as mementoes of her
husbands love. But to-day she receives a
letter bordered with black. and the hand-
! writing is not his. How like lead it falls up
on her heart. The dream of her husband
Is ended--the delnsive gold vision has faded,
and he has passed away to the possession of
immortal riches. That little folded sheet
] brought to her hfe long woe.
= And thus, one after another the great
human throng come up to the post office,
with the same inquiry upon their lips, ,"Any
letter for me to-day!'' The rich and poor,
the joyful and sorrowing. the learned and ig-
norant. the good and the depraved, all, al
have friends somewhere in this wide world
and what blessed thing it is through this
medium they can hold communion. Letters
are the winged messengers of the heart tina
go ont every day from thousands of homes
There is mors truth IN them than in spoken
o. printed words, foI' their literature is no
studied. bat felt. They are mostly the IS
sues OF affeciion--the utterance o. me IN
"a, .,. .,. aud the fullest representations OF tht
various phases of our conln.on nnmnh''y'
Ayfbur.s Home Magazine.
PLAY.
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