THE LOST ART OF LETTER-WRITING.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XIII, 28 March 1896, Page 349

THE LOST ART OF LETTER-WRITING.

Letter-Writing, as understood by our forefathers, is rapidly becoming a lost art. We write letters still, it is true —though in the immediate future typewriting will probably entirely supersede the use of the pen, as it is already said to have done in America, even for private correspondence—but we write them curtailed as much as possible, in the style of a postcard or telegram, and generally because we are obliged to communicate some information, not because we take pleasure in exchanging ideas with our correspondent. The days when people sat down leisurely to impart the news of the day to a distant friend, turning their sentences carefully, and expressing as many fine sentiments as could be got into the allotted space, are for ever gone by. Nobody has time for writing or reading fine sentiments nowadays ; our very handwriting has undergone a remarkable change, and the delicate' Italian hand ’once in fashion has given place to the bold, dashing caligraphy characteristic of modern bustle, for among the many advantages of our time one privilege enjoyed by former generations has been hopelessly lost. The privilege of leisure hours have disappeared with travelling by coach and making fire by means of a tinder box. Our very amusements partake of the restless spirit of this crowded century ; we live in an atmosphere suggestive of perpetual attempts to catch a fast train, and in such an atmosphere it would be impossible to compose one of the longwinded epistles dear to a bygone generation.