Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-10
LOYE.LETTERS.
Some Of the Pecu1iarities Of Men aud
Women Of Genius in Love.
How it Affects TheOlOgians, Lawyers,
Literary Men and SaYaIis.
Some illustrations from Life.

Love letters are about the only kind Of
literature in which most people indulge per
sUnally. Everybody has had his own ex-
perience in this sort of thing, and there is
usually, with maturer years aud other
thoughts, little disposition to go back to
them. But the love letters of men and
women OF genius introduce us into an inner
life that we can see, in no other way. In
one Of his celebrated essays, Lord Macau-
lay discusses the love letters Of Sir William
Temple. He says he would very willingly
exchange tons Of state papers for a very
moderate amount Of these love letters. The
interest which all people take in the love
letters Of the great seems to warrant the as
seTtloD.
HOW GREAT PEOPLE WRITE LOVE-LET-
TIERS.
But Commences" mostly write their love
letters before they achieve greatness or have
rrcainess fetcsd ltOn thefr. This IS great
consolation for the lawyer that can get no
briefs, the doctor that can get no practice,
the young politician who cannot get a. seat,
! and the young writer who has his articles
rejected. They can take it out in their love
letters. | am sorry for any eminent man
who has to engase, in this description Of cor
| respondcnoe. Acboraine 30 The old Joke the
! lawyer might tie up his letters With red
tape, and the physician may make muddle
in his prescription. Loye-letters must take
it out of a man, and, in point of fact, love-
making requiref on amount of time aud
| concentration O. purpose that can re IL
| spared from professional pursuits. Emin-
ence generally means effort, and man in
| full work cannot afford time for such Iudi-
briG Iulce. They form the glorious privi-
| lege of leisure and of youth,
ONE or LADY sCoTT's LETTERS.
As 4 rule, men of Penius write much bet
| ter letters thar they receive. The man Of |
genius generally exalts some women into |
divinity, and the creature Of bis imagination |
whom he marries turns out to be very |
human indeed. Hence the wives of literary |
men are not as a rule very interesting peo- |
pie. We have heard people laugh at Lady !
Scott because she said THAT she must get |
Sir Walter to write some more OF his rub !
Dish to get a new carpet. Yet his Char
lotte sent more exquisite love-letters to Sir
Walter than any which the great novelist
has produced in his novels. Was there
ever a more graceful lOve-letter than this
about fixing the day IguOte it, as owe
some amends to the wives Of literary men.
'If l could but really believe that my
letter gave you only half the pleasure you
express, l should almost think, my dearest
Scott, that | should get very fond of writing
merely for the pleasure to indulge you
that is saying a great deal. hope you are
sensible of the compliment ! pay you; l
don't expect shall dl1edgs be so pretty be-
haved. You may depend on me, my dear
est friend, for fixing as early day as pos
sibly can; and Il it happens to be not quite
so soon as you wish you must not be angry
with me. It is very unlucky you are such
bad hoUsekeeper, as l am no better. l
shall try. l hope to have very soon the
pleasure of seeing you, and to tell you how
much | love you; but wish the first fort
night was over. With all my love, and
those sort of pretty things, adieu!
CHARLOTTE.
"P. S. Etudiez r6trs FfdncriS. Remem-
Der you are to teach me Italian in return;
but | shall be a stupid scholar. AiRez
Charlotte"
THEOLOGICAL LOvE-LETTERS.
Let US take glance at the love-letters of
some men eminent in the professions. And
first of all Of diyines. Chalmers says in
his diary just before he vas married. obs
missing all anticipatiouS OF heaven upon
earth, may betake myself soberly and de-
terminedly to the duties of the married
state ~ We hope the good wife felt fat
tered by this expression of Christian resig-
nation. He was very different from anoth-
er Scotch divine of almost equal eminence,
who, during the honeymoon, so far antici-
pated events, as to date his letters from
"heaven." ThesioyeIetters of Whiteheld
are curious. He said in them
that, if he knew himself, he was
quite free from the giddy passion which the
world calls love. These eminent theologi-
ans were not al all unlike Racine. He mar
ried because his confessOT recommended !
him 10 marry, and thought that in this way |
he would best overcome his unfortunate
for making verses. "When he
was resolved to marry" says his son,
t'ueither love nor interest had anything to
do with his choice; aud in so serious an af-
fair he consulted reason only" His wife
did not know the difference between poetry
and prose, and never read line of her hus-
bands tragedies, except, perhaps, the titles.
One of the briefest of theological love-stO-
ries related to the marriage Of Robert Hall.
He made up his mind that he would marry
his servant. So he went into the kitchen
and said, "Betty, do you love the LOrd?'
eyes, sir" said Betty. "Betty, do you
love me?' he next asked. 81 hope so,
master" she answered, and they were hap
PLY married.
AMONG THE LAWYERS.
The lawyer, are a people who, as class,
seemed to have turned out very well in
their love affairs. We should like to have !
seen the letters which Jack Scott wrote to
Miss Surtees, or which that famous iuTist
III, 70 no Tvh hn ,
married when he was only IS. When
Charles Yorke, afterward Chancellor Hard
wick, asked Worcestershire squire for the
hand of his daughter, the old gentleman
politely asked him about his Tent-rOll. The
Young lawyer replied that his estate con-
sisted of ga perch of ground in Westmins-
ter Hall" Similarly, when Charles Abbot,
Lord Chief Justice Tenterden,
was asked by Kentish squire about his
estates, the young pleader showed him his
books in one room and his pupils in another.
Both Lady Scott and Lady Tenterden were
esteemed rather narrow in their hOusekeep-
ing. After all, the best kind Of lOve-letter
is that which a man writes to bis wife,
and there is at least one very sweet
love-letter which Abbot wrote to
his wife while on circuit, with lot of poetry
in it. We have one excellent example,
love letter, which Macaulay would probably
accept as an historical document, written
by that noble character, the first Lord Cow
per, to his sweetheart when young temp
lar. II is in statlier phrase than the present
familiar style, beginning, "dearest madam"
and ending 'your humble and affectiOnate
He tells her, 81 wish my
thoughts that are so often with you, when l
am not, were not invisible; then you might
save yourself the trouble Of reading such
like notes, and see at one view how discon-
tented and vexed they are when l cannot |
wait on you. You would see how forward
and impatient they grow under any other
business, and I'm sure, without further
apology, would excuse me and forgive my
absence for their very looks" This is GER
tainly very prettily expressed by the young
templar. This is the chancellor Of whom
Voltaire used absurdly to say that he de-
Tended and practiced polygamy. COwper's
letters TO his wife, and the journals he kept
for her, show him to have been a most ex-
cellent husband. So far as we are acquaint-
ed with legal biography, it must be said that
marriage answers very well for the lawyers.