WOMEN AND LETTERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19169, 7 November 1925, Page 6 (Supplement)

WOMEN AND LETTERS.

Dr. Jefferson, in his newly published book on St. Paul, advises all who wish to understand the Apostle's heart and mind to begin with an attentive reading of the Epistle of Philemon. A few times only, out of the deeps of history, ■fra»nieirts of correspondence are thrown up n which bear the words " private and confidential," in ink, now faded for ever, above the greeting. There is a letter ot Luther, covering less than twenty lines, which biographers regard as a treasuie of the early Reformation period, says a writer in an exchange. Written bv him at the age. of thirty-five, it merely invites a fellow-professor to attend the supper he was giving to a newly-promoted doctor of Wittenberg University. "Mmd von are there; don't let me down; bring a couple of (named) friends with you. That is all the substance; but the note reveals as with a searchlight the cheerful fellowship, the gay and jocular mood ot these young scholars who were changing the destinies of Europe. The purpose of letter-writing is to convex- news and give pleasure. How clear that double object is in St. Paul's short letter! Though' he wrote it from prison, aid might well have insisted on his own ■sufferings and sorrows, his mind, is occupied with others. He has things to tell and a loving message to write. When we sit down to answer a friend's .letter wo should have that letter beside us, and deal first with points raised and questions asked by our correspondent. Is it not an elementary duty to read over again the letter we are* answering? If the post came in as we were tear.ng off to business, and a hurried glance was all we could spare, is there not time in the luncheon hour to examine that letafresh, and set our minds to helpfulness ; _ Women's letters, in literature and in daily affairs, 'are much concerned with dress and household matters. Thackeray is never more himself than when hedictates the letters of Becky Sharp, the penniless governess, to Amelia, the daughter of a'London stockbroker. Becky is full of news and flattery. Ihe closing paragraph of her letter sinks to the beggar's strain, that " hinting for presents " which she manages so cleverly through all her career. " Your India muslin and your pink silk, dearest Amelia, are said to become me very well. They are a good deal worn now; but you know we poor girls can't afford des fraiches toilettes. Happy, happy you! who have bat- to drive to St. James' Street, and a dear mother who will give you anything you ask." There was no kindness in Becky's nature, and the lack o? it sometimes betrays her into gross stupidity. Amelia must have read with startled eyes this reference to Mrs. Bute Crawley: " The recto* - '? wife paid me a score of compliments about the progress my pupils made, and thought, no doubt, to touch my heart—poor, simple, country soul;-—as if I cared a fig about

my pupus! It was in this strain, as Thackeray fancied, that a working woman devoid of principle would address a wealthy friend.