Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-02-14
On the findings Of Letters. !

That the end crowns the work is 81
true saying, and nowhere is its truth
more apparent than in the matter OF
ending letter. The most bald, dis
iointed epistle is sometimes ra sed from
the low level of the commonplace by .
felicitous and smooth-fiowing termina-
ton. while, on the other hand, really
admirable piece of epistolary compost
ton may be mulcted in half its effect it
the writer ends up with 81 must now
conclude, as the post is going out "
Apropos of this particular termina-
ton, we may remark that we ourselves
should be disposed to warn our readers
against ever saying anything about
'.now concluding"
In all letters Of form or courtesy they
should strive so to frame their commu-
nications that their signatures should
sentence, and this final sentence be in
timately connected with the body of the
letter.
The following Instances, taken at ran
dom from some of the best letters ex-
tant in the English language, will ex-
emplify our meaning.
Samuel johnson, IN that famous let
ter to Lord Chesterfield in which he SO
Indignantly denies that he is under any
obligation to the noble lord, ends thus:
Having carried on my work thus far with
shall not be disappointed though I should
conclude tiff less be possible-with less; for
have been long wakened from that dream of
hope in which once boosted myself with SO
much exultation, my lord. your lordship's
most humble. most obedient servant,
SAMUEL JOHNSON"
Walter Savage Landor, in an irate
letter to Lord Normandy, concludes
thus:
1--WE are both of us old men, my lord, and
are verging decrepitude and imbecility,
else my note might be more energetic am
favor of q minister are Marquis of Normandy,
by the grace OF . God am am asrn~
Then again, Pope, writing to Mrs.
Arabella Fermor about his poem the
Grape of the Lock-" winds up thus:
IF this poem had as many graces as there
en- ~o
half so uncensured as you have done: But let
its fortunes be what it win, mine Is happy
surfing you that am, with the truest esteem,
madam, your most obedient. humble Servant,
Turn also to that remarkable speci-
men of irony, the letter sent to Oliver
Cromwell by the author of ''Killing no
Murder" The whole of this curious
epistle is devoted to painting out the
various benefits which will accrue to j
the nation on Cromwelrs death, and it
closes thus:
'sThat your Highness may be speedily in this
security is the universal wish of your grateful
country; this is the desire and prayer Of the
thing ns ali and
agree in their devotion, and it is our only COM
n%s a tn PIT tas
speedy deiiveranee from all earthly troubles,
none is more assiduous nor more feryent than
honor to be tmay it please your Highnesst
your Highness's present slave and vassal.
In every one of the above instances
the letter runs on naturally to this con-
clusion, and the impression is given that
the writer has finished saying all that
he wants to say.
Now, in writing to strangers, whether
in the spirit of friendliness or of anger,
this is just the sort of impression we
wish to convey. In letters, therefore,
to persons with whom we are not intl-
mate we should aim at endings of this
of this sort. When, however. we are
writing to near friends, and our letter
may be one of an Intern nab1e series,
we can be far more careless about the
way in which we end it. We may
break off as abruptly as we please.
passing from the most stirring MARIA
tive of public events to simple good
by, goodnight, farewell etc. This is
What Horace Walpole constantly does
in his correspondence with Sir Horace
Mann. isa
''Old Marlborough tsarah, Dowager Ouch
essl is dying-but who can tellI Last year she
had lain a great while i'll without speaking; her
physician said, She must be blistered or she
viii die She called out, I won't be blistered.
luton now, don't believe she viii. Adiel.
my dear child; have but room t3 say, yours
aver HORACE WALPOLE." -
It will be seen that we have drawn
the above instances from the correspond
ence of past age, but we have done !
SO because it is among by-gone genera
tons that we look for the greatest ex-
cellence in the art of epistoIary compo-
sition. At the same time we must cau-
ton our readers against slavish imita-
of such models For instance, it is now
old-fashioned to sign your
self, in an ordinary letter. 'tYours ODE
IDENTITY" or .'Your obedient servant
When you are addressing strangers.
even though they be superior in social
position, "Yours faithfully is the cor I
rect thing to- put; while, should you be-
with some one with whom
you are slightly acquainted. Yours
or "Yours truly will be
most appropriate. Should you wish to
infuse shade more warmth into your
ending, this can be effected by trans !,
position of the adverb and pronoun you
employ, Every sincerely yours" being
a degree more genial, because less
than .'Yours very sincrely.'
-Harper's Bazaar.
"A Buffalo wholesale fish firm does
a local business amounting to 5000, 900
q year, and it has branch houses in va
,so,,o n ooo <,f <ha JI~:<oJ Cx-<1. -