Mrs. H. D. Spencer Tells of the Art of Letter Writing

OF UNUSUAL interest to Decatur people was a paper read before the Bloomington Woman's club, last week by Mrs. Henry D. Spencer, formerly Miss May Rogers, daughter of the late Hon. Jason Rogers of Decatur. She is often in Decatur and has as large a circle of friends here as in Bloomington where she has made her home since her marriage to Attorney Henry D. Spencer.

"Of all arts none is more satisfactory, more comforting, more delightful than letter writing," said Mrs. Spencer. "It is founded on a need as old as humanity, the need of one human being for another. The French were the best letter writers in Europe some generations ago, and in no other country have letters formed so large a proportion of published literature."

FRENCH WRITERS

Particular reference was made to the letters of Madame Sevigne, beautiful, rich, cultured, and admired in the most exclusive circles of France. She became a widow early in life and her letters to her daughter who for several years was separated from her, were models of elegance and wit. An earlier French writer was Jean Louis Balzac, royal councilor under Richelieu.

Mrs. Spencer quoted one of those letters as an example of the stilted, ceremonious and fulsome style in which letters of that day were written. It was of date 10 March, 1624.

FROM ENGLISH WRITERS

"If the French of the early days excelled the other nations as letter writers, what cannot be claimed for the English in the art of correspondence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? Horace Walpole was the king of English letter writers, but Lamb, Cowper, Gray and Carlyle rank very high as such. Walpole's letters to distinguished people of his day have survived time's influences and are still read with interest.

A FAMOUS MODEL

"Of course, Lord Chesterfield must be reckoned with every list of English letter writers. He belonged to an exalted social station and his letters to his son are models of elegance, good sense and wit, but are not of a moral tone that one would expect from father to son. They began when his son was 7 years old and first treated on simple facts of history and mythology and then as the son grew older, upon political and social philosophy, anecdotes, criticisms and comments.

LOVE LETTERS

"The love letters of Browning, Hawthorne and Hugo have found their way into print, and although they are delightful, many of you will share with me a feeling of sacrilege in reading epistles meant only for the eye of those long passed away.

"The letters of our American ancestors are of a stiff and ceremonious style and not particularly interesting." A letter was read by Mrs. Spencer written before Washington had appointed a regular Thanksgiving day.

BEFORE THANKSGIVING

This missive was dated at Westfield, Dec 7, 1783, and begins thus

"Dear Miss--How do you stand affected toward Thanksgiving? I begin to hear much talk about it, and guess that will be all." In another place he says, "I've been trying for many days to get a spark for Thanksgiving, but they all say they are engaged, so that I almost despair of success."

OLD SCHOOL GIRL LETTER

Mrs. Spencer then quoted a selection from a letter by a boarding school girl at South Hadley, Jan 1, 1783. It was addressed to the man whom she afterward married, and begins thus

"Sir - I am retired from the busy crowd in order to solace myself by writing to a friend, and what shall be my theme? Shall it be virtue? Alas, then, my pen will fail. Virtue deserves the most exalted name; it is a native of heaven, a mother of friendship and friendship constitutes the greatest part of human felicity." This young lady closes her letter by saying, "I am, sir, your humble servant."

THEY'RE A RELIEF

"While these letters may seem exceedingly stiff and formal," said Mrs. Spencer, "I think they are a very agreeable change from the silly, sickening, slushy, breach of promise letters which too frequently flood the twentieth century newspaper."

Mrs. Spencer exhibited a letter which she secured on a trip to old Kaskaskia in this state, which was written by once Governor Pierre Menard to his son Edmond. It was dated in August, 1884, and was written in French.

PRAISES CELIA THAXTER'S

The letters of Celia Thaxter written from her lonely home on the isle of Shoals were enthusiastically praised by Mrs. Spencer.

"Celia Thaxter continued writing poetry and charming letters to the end of her useful sixty years, after she had become a grandmother several times, and so indeed she 'slipped away' from those who loved her, leaving suddenly this beautiful sorrowful world wherein she had loved and rejoiced with the children of men. No letters, no record, no description can express adequately the richness and tenderness of her nature."

MODERN LETTER WRITERS

C. L. Dodgson, whose nom de plume was Louis Carroll, was the most famous as the author of "Alice in Wonderland," but he too, was a charming letter writer. He wrote many letters to children, sometimes about his three cats and all full of quaint humor. He hated publicity and "Alice in Wonderland" was a tabooed subject when he was present. The many letters of Richard Mansfield as lately published by William Winter, were referred to by Mrs. Spencer who closed her paper with a quotation from a letter once written by Sir Henry Sidney to his son Philip: "There is nothing that winneth so much with so little cost, and we know in times past how a kind and courteous letter has won almost everything from a heart to a kingdom."

--The Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois, February 20, 1910, page 7.

Comment: I left Lewis Carroll's name as spelled in the original article.