The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1895-07-19
MODERN EPISTLES.
Difference Betwe on Letter Writing
Past and Present.
Cenciseuess and Brsvity Now the Rule.
Whereas In Times Gsne BY Pso-
pie Wrote More for
Postority.

The letter writing OF to-day bears lit
tie or no resemblance TO letter writing
Of other days, and Mr.. Andrew Lang
In an interesting paper in the Illus
trated London News discourses on the
letter writer's OF the past, and says that
1.-The lack of good letters in modern
life" Is not so much from the lack Of
writers" as from the ''lack of readers, I"
and long letter, say from Australia,
is perhaps never read at all, and that
we have become so frivolous "a man
as far away as Samoa will write note
as IL TO friend in the next street"
The pace at which we live, the rush
and hurry of each day, are answerable
in a measure for this change in our
style of correspondence; but, above all,
is IL not the result of the food of jour
nalism which sweeps all before it? The
letter writer's of the past wrote for pos
terity, it is true, but also to keep their
friends in touch with the topics of the
day, political and social, says London
Queen. Our newspapers do this for us
to the fullest extent, and only the
most private matters remain for the
letter writer to record, matters OF so
private nature that were such letters
given to posterity a discreet editor
would at once erase these condolences
from his MS. The letter writer of to-
day, unlike his predecessor, does not
confide his experiences-whatever form
they may have taken-to his friend and
correspondent; and il he has anything
worth saying on any particular subject
he rushes into print forthwith, into the
pages of one or other of the many mag
azines, or into the daily or weekly
newspapers. Women are not one whit
behind men in this respect, and news
paper and magazine readers are the re-
cipients of their condolences, and what
they have seen and done becomes at
once public property.
The admirable diction, the vigorous
English, the polished periods, the tell
ing epigrams in the careful and we'll
thought-out essays of the day are not
10 be found as heretofore in private
correspondence, but in magazine and
journalistic literature. Mr.. Lang re-
marks that the fear or hope" of hav-
ing their letters published inspired
many of the old eminent hands" TO do
their best for fame and posterity, as
well as for their correspondents. Miss
Austen kept her wit for the world"
and gave flat gossip" to the worthy,
dull ladies" with whom she corre-
sponded. OF literary letters none ex-
eel Shelly's." SCOTS are simply nat
ural, business-lille and unpretentious;"
Thackeray, though he lived in our
railway days." and should have writ
ten few letters" yet for tone, style,
wit and loving kindness" his are among
the best in the world
The points in the notes of the day
which have superseded letters-are con-
ciseness and brevity to write without
preamble of any kind and to go to the
root of the matter at once. Formerly,
if anything in the way of a request was
made, a suggestion as regards plan to
do something, or any one of the thou
sand social trifles that fill up leisure
and life, it required lead of some lines
TO introduce it, and oftener than not
an apology also. But now almost tel
egraphic conciseness is the mode
adopted, and aught else would read
out of date; in truth, kilograms have
not a little TO do in forming the present
form of letter writing, and have taught
economy in the use of words. 1t may
be said that the letters of to-day are
the direct antithesis of those of yore
Then too many subjects could not be
preached and commented upon; now
the reverse is the rule, and to keep TO
one subject only and that in the
fewest words, is what society affects,
hence the brief notes we all receive and
write; yet, brief as they. are, clever
man or talented woman conveys in a
sentence or two the gist of the whole
matter, epigrammatical in neatness and
subtly humorous-a compensation small
in it's way, perhaps, for the lengthy
epistles Of the past, but all this worka-
day world has time either to write or to
read.