Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-12-29
l,-on, yor,, Evening Post.)

"Nobodv writes letters" sneered zen
Rhodes before the parliamentary LII.
mission. He meant, OF course, ~ tesman
lie nan-especially no Imperial sIa .t,,, tha
lilo himself at one moment dictating tue
fate OF the Matabele TO MS SPSr,andiy
the next ordering rald OH o.. that
state in Stockholders cipner; out aoc,are
he asserted OF his Tx others u V &c
mournfully to be the case with an Iiis
world Even professional writers no lon .esS
write letters. An edition OF elshSee ~ q |
century letter-writers Is ahnouH .,ou,
reprint in a kind of literature that u ~"
a lost art in English. Even from the ,sn
of Madame de Sevigne comes lne p,aans
that the epistolary style Is no ilioi opp,,ic-
ticed. In fact, so universal Is tne ~" hos
ton that the art Of letter-writlng . noSo
gone out that no one stops 10 quesuoh
the fact; all the dispute Is over lhe eNp
nations Of the fact 1900 has
These are various. Cheap postage mas
wrought the ruin, say some. M nsn h ave-
knew that your correspondent would nave
TO pay a shilling or Is pence TOT your Ie.
ter. you were in duty bound 10 give i tha
AT least his moneys worth. NOV VIC
eynend hut cents. and thinks any curt
stupidity will do. This doctrine OIL ~, .nr
cheap postage making the cheap ae..
will not. we fear, satisfy the truly iris.nu
Gus inquirer. He will point out rue nos
that IL, in the eighteenth century, pos
ta9e was at q high rate, the FRANK waS
common, and that some or the most u
lightful letters in the language Were VIII WIZ
ten under frank. Costibg hoSnls ~ eio other
make them worth nothing. ON the o,ne'
hand. IL wits have not cheapened as pos,
age has why should we not jump at the
opportunity to shower lively letters on an
our friends, when Il can oe 4, 1 tHa trouhle
were to be located in the Skull la'"e'
| than in the pocket. ,,-,.,,.,
| Well hut there are our demorallzlng ana
| dissipating mental habits. we I'VE III SUIT
| IL hau
And ON yes there Is the diHuslon VI
popular knowledge, the daily and perlou,-
! cal press-really, you know, with 80 muIh
| thought at everybody's disposal, IL WIN
| he very like an impertinence for MAJ.
| 80 sit down 10 compose an instructive OF
amusing letter. The fact Is. the telesiapn
| has KILLED letters II telegraph, therefore
am" has. as a witty French writer say >
raken the place of the Cartesiah Cosi.y,
| ergo sum" IL we have not teiesrdPn
| bisnL or q code handy we instinctVely
| make our letters as short and crypto-
| eraphic as possible. But even TINS eA-
| Dlanation does not pierce 10 tne GENTRY 6,
| Here are but ways of thought-sayihs az -,
| the business of life; why shoulu my
! Leave ms with less thought TO bestow on
| fine aesthetics OF life? Does copy Oh
| daily paper, even OF our own SO III III"
| souls thirst for literary joys that
vvittv letter from a brilliant friend wouia
| seem a great falling off by comparison!
| To a candid judgment the common l.et ~
t,,re of The day leaves plenty OF room Tor
| the uncommon literature of good Iet ts
instead of putting fatal eAlins ere
on them. II we perforce telegraph NOR
than our ancestors. IL does not io,iow
| that we should less enjoy letter 1uh VI
wise amenity and flashing inslght-n W.
could only get some one TO write IL 10 uo'
As fo~ the growing tendency oa h msJ
rarv men 10 make their letters mere p usI-
ness scratches or formal notes OF tha i.s
the reason for this is more eviuene'
Literature is now more Oh as ~
the one thing man does, IL n ,ean must
well and as Merimee says, q man mus
he rather stupid who does only one Ihlhs.
How can | write letters, ctleo orrac,
Hugo. when / have proofs 10 cor :.
%rits and business affairs TO look al
zero" Then there is a subtler FORCE d,
work Why waste on @ Dr
would easily make salaple copy 49,,
HoImes iokingly remarked on tne I'M,
niroohnijttv M an authors squanderinR
IN conyersati ton or in letter WHAT IL
Gould YET $50 for from pubiishef' anu III
himself certainly did little sucn sq ,his
daring in his letters. Apart from TINS,
there e. a feeling that writer VINO h ~.
mt his hest into his books can nave ~. u,
lie hut remnants 10 oHer IN prlVa'e,; $780,
letter." exclaimed Gautler, "n .s,,o, q 90,
urged him TO correspond; 'woulo yo'
usseo a Arr TO send you some sha
vingsY ,,,o literary re-
pute may in the long run osPeihu h nj
mon a rnan's letters than upon MS DOORS
NJ Rene Doumic has lately salu lna
Werimee's volumes of letters are aeJt, :
CARRYING better than his otner Wo iIN,
Nfre CARLYLE published nothing, puI 100,
~ her letters Edward Fitz Gerald per
s,stad I'm the pride of printing no Dook
, except privately, but he went on "l w.,
| letters 10 all the best Of his time, wniS me-
are among the raeiest eyer Tr pear,e onpear
| .uie nye heen an inferior letter-writer
Wattbew Arnold was dull enough III M
letters. But 1t may well be tnat man ~
, an author filed WIN INC aon immortal dea,
yonid be given a much more proniiheLl
| mart In that posthumous chorus II ~
would suppress his books ara W snise si,"
1 saIS on letters. Letters 'end tnemseI'sl
1 so much more easily TO preserving-or u
4 All this brings US to what might hav'
I been said earlier, that explanations W. ~
letter-writng Is a,etft osr sr is not
b. LIST art Some of the names aireao.
: cited show that It at least ana no. x
out with the eighteenth en- hmo oGf5prS News
a letter. Mrs Browning's letters only nov
J, | ,',hiished bring the succession near on
4 pvpn day and Motley's and Lowers pro
fuse flnging about OF ms ineht ,ho i gSe,
: nearer still. who can DOUBT tnat wiz wiz
2 GIadstone's biography comes TO De pup .
! Hshed we shall see noble series VI ne, &c,
; ters spanning almost the entire f ts bas
!, THE long and tiresome letter, us pae
: in1 ~" tS,ith the weight OF humdrum
: ettempts to carry, may have gone and
a GOOD riddance it IL. But the letter "a a
the choicest vehicle OF Se
Ing impossiple) for the eonssy, ni1d ~ IN m
: S asss as the true receptacle for the In
( r 1gsiv' comment and the witty fling ina
q cannot be spoken or printed; the , ie fro1
e ~ sn,end as iron sharpeneth iron, In whie
g lliead are shared, Judgments ex
ccSanged, the form and impress Of n =,
v near rar cultivated by the dlscernin
5 no Iohs So FOR our part, fatty refuse {