Acknowledgment for the use of material is hereby made to Charles Scribner's Sons, for the use of the letter of Robert Louis Stevenson; to The Macmillan Company, for the use of the two letters of Edward FitzGerald; to Houghton Mifflin Company, for a letter from their office files; to Hart, Schaffner & Marx, for a business letter; and to Dr. Charles W. Eliot, and Dr. Henry van Dyke for letters taken from their private correspondence. The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS U.S.A CONTENTS I. WILLIAM PASTON, JUNIOR, TO HIS BROTHER, JOHN II. SIR HENRY SIDNEY TO HIS SON, PHILIP SIDNEY III. SIR FRANCIS BACON TO SIR EDWARD COKE. IV. DEAN SWIFT TO ALEXANDER POPE V. JOSEPH ADDISON TO CHAMBERLAIN DASHWOOD. VI. RICHARD STEELE TO MARY SCURLOCK IX. LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU TO MRS. S. C- X. THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD TO HIS SON, PHILIP XIX. ROBERT BURNS TO THE EARL OF GLENCAIRN XX. SIR WALTER SCOTT TO GEORGE CRABBE XXIII. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE TO WILLIAM GODWIN XXIV. CHARLES LAMB TO WILLIAM WORDSWORTH. XXV. BENJAMIN ROBERT HAYDON TO MISS MITFORD XXVI. LORD BYRON TO THOMAS MOORE. XXVII. LORD BYRON TO JOHN MURRAY XXXV. JANE WELSH CARLYLE TO MRS. WELSH XXXVI. JOHN STERLING TO THOMAS CARLYLE XXXVII. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER TO LUCY LARCOM. 66 XXXVIII. ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO HORACE GREELEY XXXIX. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES TO JAMES T. FIELDS 69 XL. EDWARD FITZGERALD TO JOHN ALLEN. XLIV. ROBERT BROWNING TO MISS EUPHRASIA HAWORTH 80 XLV. CHARLOTTE BRONTË TO ROBERT SOUTHEY XLVI. EBENEZER ROCK WOOD HOAR TO JOHN M. FORBES 85 XLVII. HENRY DAVID THOREAU TO HORACE GREELEY. 86 BERRY LIII. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TO SIDNEY COLVIN LIV. LAFCADIO HEARN TO JOSEPH TUNISON . 94 LVII. CHARLES W. ELIOT TO INTRODUCTORY SINCE the letter is the one form of writing which everybody finds it necessary at one time or another to use, it shows perhaps a wider range and a greater diversity than any other literary type. As an aid to business or as a convenience in polite society, it is, of course, indispensable and universal in our modern life, although when employed for these purposes it is bound by rules so fixed that individuality has seldom chance for play; on the other hand, as a means of friendly communication, a substitute for familiar talk, it is governed by few, if any, restrictions, and may thus, in style as well as in substance, become a free expression of the moods and personality of its author. In the first case, however great may be its immediate and practical usefulness, it is, as art, usually undistinguished and ephemeral; in the second, it has boundless possibilities, and may, when handled by a master, become autobiographical writing of high excellence. So many letters being of the transitory character represented by this former class, any discussion of the letter as literature must begin by eliminating the large proportion of everyday correspondence which has no permanent value. A further limitation arises from the fact that because the most spontaneous and genuine letters are ordinarily composed without any thought of publication, only an insignificant number, probably, are preserved. Unless there is some definite reason for keeping them for future reference, or unless the recipient has a ready sense of literary appreciation, many valuable letters inevitably disappear. Even if not actually destroyed, it has been, until recent years, only in exceptional instances that they have found their way to publication. It is certain that through carelessness, accident, or the natural reluctance of men to give their own or |