Omaha daily bee., 1916-03-18
Waning of
the LOVe
Letters
By MARIE DE PnRROT.

ny aAAAM IN EHNhAOb'
All through life l havee been a great
friend of letter-writing and have treas
ured letters. some sparkling with wit OF
sad with pathos, others full OF true de-
votion.
How the love-letters in Richardson's
Pamela" and "Sir Charles Grandson
delighted our grandfathers and grand
mothers. They wept bitter tears over
the misfortunes Of their heroes and hero
ines. Their own long iove-epistles were
full of small details. for nothing is too
small for great love. They would feel
surprised that we have so terribly ne
elected the art which delighted them.
The most famous love-letter writer's of
the time were French women. though the
art came to us from England. Madam
oiselle de -yesslnasse spent ten days shut
in her room writing love-letters to the
Comte de Mora, who sent back twenty
two replies. Horace walpole. writing
about his stay in France. tells us about
people who wrote to one another four
times a day and also married
couple so bent on writing love-letters that
they had a screen put up in their draw
The sweet message of old Is supplanted
by the petit bleu-short and terse. blown
through a tube, for the world has i'm
vented marvellous things.
To me a love-letter full OF Joy and ex-
quisite delight. seems sacred and mystic
rious. Who of US does not remember
the moment when - sight OF the we'll
known writing and the touch of the pa
per thrilled US? Did we not linger over
every line? Did we not read in it
thousand meanings? It brought the be-
loved so close to us, almost within our
touch!
Those lovers Of old had so much time
on their hands and the sheets of paper
are covered closely, sheet following
sheet. Distance and the motonony of life
was great and the means OF transport
slow. but wonder IL all our daily tele-
grams and notes give half the pleasure
of one of those long letters.
Distance nowadays no longer exists.
When we are wild with longing and de-
spair at being separated from those we
| love, we take a steamer, an express or
| a motor, we send a telegram and tomor-
row we may fly in an aeroplane.
Our life has grown too busy 1t is so
much easier to buy a picture postcard
than to spend time and trouble and pos
| sibly even to sacrifice rest, to send the
beloved best the picture Of ones self.
drawn from life with pen and ink. We
no longer write about ourselves, because
this hurried twentieth century has no
time to reflect seriously and there is so
much outside excitement to write about
THE kings horse has won the derby,
''Paulhan has made the French forget
the defeat Of Waterloo"
Every moment Is taken up. And how
| will It be when we women sit in Par
lament to improve the affairs of the
nation7
Letters. even love-ietters, are short and
terse. All this is progress and am
afraid you will think me old-fashioned
and out OF date when tell you that |
miss. between lovers of today. a some
thing, certain timidity. perhaps, which
pervades those love-letters of old. ad-
rnire men and women. boys and girls.
who are strong and brave-the world
needs them, too, but love is timid. Strong
love Is always afraid that it will never
be great. good. pure enough for those
other eyes to dwell upon with pleasure.
II is not bold. and takes refuge In let
ter to express with trembling what 1t
wishes to convey.
1t is fortunately no longer fashionable
to indulge in sentiment 1t is called SEN
timentality. and is often considered not
merely weakness. but inslncerity.
The greatest qualities, however. are the
qualities of the soul, and II the heart
furnishes more in conversation than In
mind" as a profound French thinker
once said, how truly this applies to the
art of writing love-letters in their in
finite varieties.