Page images
PDF
EPUB

Crossed Letters.

7

Crossing and Postscripts.

It must, however, be admitted that, in addition to certain other blemishes, ladies' letters frequently exhibit two highly objectionable features, in the shape of Crossing and Postscripts. Except, perhaps, in the case of a wife or lover -whose expression of affection is, of course, quite inexhaustible-the practice of crossing letters ought to be universally condemnedmore especially in these days of cheap paper and postage; and when occasionally resorted to, a different coloured ink from that in the body of the letter ought invariably to be used. I believe there are many persons who entertain such a wholesome aversion to crossed letters that they frequently cast them aside without attempting a perusal of their contents.

In his Weekly Register for January 7, 1826, Cobbett beseeches a correspondent not to write across his writing,' which he pronounces to be a practice of female origin; and Byron, by the way, in his Don Juan, is not very complimentary to ladies' letters :

'The earth has nothing like a she-epistle, And hardly heaven-because it never ends.

[blocks in formation]

I love the mystery of a femalé missal,
Which, like a creed, ne'er says all it intends,
But full of cunning as Ulysses' whistle,
When he allured poor Dolon :-you had better
Take care what you reply to such a letter.'

The following brief effusion from a French lady to her husband may be given as a remarkable exception to the general rule. I do not, of course, venture to recommend it as a model to the affectionate wives of Great Britain and Ireland :

-

'Je vous écris parceque je n'ai rien à faire ;
Je finis parceque je n'ai rien à dire.'

Postscripts, again, have been somewhat severely described as embracing the chief point of a lady's letter; but be this as it may, it cannot be denied that they might generally be rendered unnecessary by the exercise of a very small amount of previous reflection.

I must candidly acknowledge, however, that the ladies are not the sole offenders in the matter of postscripts. I once met with an official letter, extending to about eight lines, from the pen of a learned Scottish lawyer, who held a distinguished place in the literary world. The writer's signature at the bottom of the first page was followed by the words, 'Turn over ;'

Illustrative Cases.

9

and on the other side appeared no fewer than twelve lines in the shape of a postscript, in which the opinion given in the letter itself was completely contradicted!

A striking illustration of the saying that the pith of a lady's letter is in the postscript, occurred in the case of a young lady, who, having gone out to India, and writing home to her friends, concluded with the following words :'P.S.-You will see by my signature that I am married.'

The husband of a lady much given to the habit of postscribing, once laid a wager with her, on an occasion of his leaving home for a short time, that the first letter she wrote to him would not be without one of these codicils. Nothing seemed more certain than that the lady would win. The letter was written and signed, and about to be despatched, when she was tempted to add one line, forming the first postscript, 'You see I have written you a letter without a postscript.' This did not suffice, for there followed, as a P.P.S., immediately afterwards :— 'Who has won the wager-you or I?'

A certain class of peculiarly aggravating correspondents are not satisfied with a com

ΙΟ

Altered Character of Letters.

bination of the two evils under consideration. In addition to a lengthy postscript and a page or two of crossing, they actually contrive to find occasion for a few more 'last words' on the flap of the envelope.

Altered Character of Correspondence.

In the present age of bustle and excitement, the tendency on the part of the male sex to abandon the practice of friendly letter-writing is probably on the increase, and it is to be feared that the more artificial condition of modern society will ultimately exercise an unfavourable influence on the character, as well as on the scope, of even female correspondence. If our grandfathers and grandmothers had fewer subjects to write about, they had more time to discuss them; and the comparative smoothness and simplicity of their lives is most agreeably reflected in their letters. It cannot be disputed, moreover, that the individuality and originality of character which constituted one of the most striking features of their more primitive times, is rarely to be encountered in these later days, when no ordinary mortal

Principal Causes.

ΙΙ

ventures to exhibit the very smallest approach to idiosyncrasy, in deference to that inflexible standard of uniformity which the spirit of the age' is supposed to cherish.

The character of modern correspondence has, no doubt, been materially affected by the remarkable facilities for inter-communication afforded by our postal arrangements, as predicted by the son and biographer of Southey. In alluding to his father's later years, he says that with some of his friends his correspondence 'increased in frequency, and necessarily the interest of single letters diminished, as it was carried on by a multitude of brief notes; and this,' he adds, 'it seems likely will be so general a result of the new postage system, that in another generation there will be no correspondence to publish.'

Upwards of twenty years ago a writer in the Quarterly Review referred to another cause of the inferiority of modern letter-writing. It is not to be doubted,' he says, 'that the conversational power, as well as the graceful craft of letter-writing, for which the last century was famous, has waned. We believe that the result is partly attributable to the daily, nay

« PreviousContinue »