The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1868-10-30

one Of these letters to you and you say
with natural surprise, II am disappointed
This is only strange, foolish letter"
reply :: SIT is the exact reflection of my
friends thoughts, fancies and sentiments
1t is her written conversation, such as
have often listened to with intense amuse.
ment. would not have one line omitted
or one inserted, for this is model of an
interesting letter. 1t is my friend speaking
to me in her usual style. The stream Of
written talk is so limpid and clear that ]
can look far down and see the bed which
it has followed out for itself. !. If l found
this letter on the highest peak of the An.
des, or in the most arid and desolate spot
of the Great Desert of Siberia, without the
name, / should recognize the spirit and be
refreshed with its familiar tome"
What strange hieroglyphics are these
next come across. This friends hand
writing is study for the lover of natural
curiosities, or genius who is given to de-
ciphering outlandish Inscriptions. Iremem-
Der our old postmaster. Peace to his ashes.
He rests from his labors, which he adorned
by his undertaking honesty and impartial
ty. remember our old post master taking
a letter of this friend and holding it be-
tween his front and middle finger for he
was a stickler for the. old economy of
things, including large sized envelopes,
having great contempt for the trifing
style adopted by we moderns.) | remem-
Der our old postmaster turning letter of
this friend all around to obtain some en-
lightenment to its direction, while look
ed on knowing we'll whose it could alone
be. Our old post master looked at the
seal, it did not clear his doubts. He look
ed at the post mark, that did not elucidate
the mystery. He held it afar off and
scanned 1t with half contemptuous, half
puzzled look. He held it close to his eyes
there were dashes discernable but nothing
conclusive. ..
At last 1 took pity and explained how
those queer marks signified my name, He
delivered the letter, but if correctly read
our old postmaster; grave doubts as to the
correctness of that delivery haunted him to
the tomb. For our old post master was a
fine old obstinate character, having great
faith, with good cause for it, in his own
integrity of motive and grave suspicious in
regard to the integrity of all other men,
Perhaps his discipline in the school of ex-
perience had been so severe that it produced
this impression of doubt on his mind
For my part never objected to this lido
snycraoy. These ebullitions Of character in
terest me and heighten the general effect on
my mind. The very best Of men have had
their peculiarities, and why should not our
old postmaster, who belonged to this class,
have his eccentricities dealt with lenient-
ly3 Yes, the strange writing, so mysteri-
GUS to our old postmaster, is always under
stood by me. love its mazes and trace
with pleasure (if with difficulty the wind
ings of that hand which, like o tortuous
stream, sometimes takes SO crooked path
that it is quite an employment to follow it.
These letters are always like this friend,
Gentle, sweet, tender, pensiye. They are
letters to be read only by those to whom
they are addressed, for they are utterances
of the heart,
"And not to be dwelt on in the common day."
But here / find q letter written in the
model and the modern hand. Whose can
it be2 Why, it could be--anybody's.-
All the girls who have finished school with
q finished hand can justly say, This letter
I write.'' 1t is what some call the running
hand, and as a general case, either the
hand or some other motive power runs
away with the writer's ideas. For this let
ter is absolutely "a repetition, stale and
Of the same writer and compa-
ny's usual form of letter writing. We all
knew this epistle, before reading, by the
We all are intimate with
this scribe. She never pens o letter when
she can help it, does it as duty or task
nv an oha owl Joo he LA
she loses, when thus engaged, her thoughts.
No trace is discovered in her letters Of the
gay, bright girl, whose genial talk has often
entertained you. In turning over my cor
bundle Of letters tied care
fully together, drops out, and falls away
from the other letters as if claiming sep
arate existence. Yellowed with age, the
hand that wrote them,
la richer need shall claim
Than all that waits on wealth or fame"
Sickness made those characters so faint, so
tremulous, but mothers love breathes in
and hallows them. Who but mother
would say SO tenderly words of advice,
carefully avoiding the wounding OF feeling
or Notifying the pride9 Who but
mother would have 30 deep concern for
the welfare and happiness Who but
mother would with sweet unselfishness be-
stow kindness SO delicately that the sense
Of obligation is swallowed up in the sweet
well spring of never dying gratitude p
Quickly let me replace these memorials of
q mothers love, for they fill the heart with
longings and sorrows which it is not good
to indulge too frequently or too much. 1t
is enough for thee to know a
"one lamp, thy mothers love, amid the stars
Shall lift Its pure flame changeless and before
The throne Of God burn through eternity,
Holy as il was lit and lent thee here"
From what has been said it is apparent
that a letter to be interesting must be
natural. We must write as we talk, or
our letters will be mere formal ceremonies,
with no interest in them. Egotism, in it
self is never disagreeable, except when it
trespasses on the attention of those who are
Indifferent to US, or where it intrudes itself
in the form of vain glory. But our letters,
if written in the vein of conversation, need
not be altogether egotistical. 1t is to be
we occasionally talk on some
other theme than SELF so then it is well &C.
to write on other subjects.
have spoken entirely of letter writing, as it
appertains to friendly intimacy. OF course,
q business letter, to be model, should be to
he point, and in as few words as will con-
vey our meaning. M.