Roundabout Papers - Penn State University

are only to be sent to Messrs. Smith, Elder and Co., andnot to the Editor’s private residence.” My dear sir, howlittle you know man- or woman-kind, if you fancy theywill take that sort of warning! How am I to know,(though, to be sure, I begin to know now,) as I take theletters off the tray, which of those envelopes contains areal bona fide letter, and which a thorn? One of thebest invitations this year I mistook for a thorn-letter,and kept it without opening. This is what I call a thornletter:—“Camberwell, June 4.“Sir—May I hope, may I entreat, that youwill favor me by perusing the enclosed lines,and that they may be found worthy of insertionin the Cornhill Magazine. We have knownbetter days, sir. I have a sick and widowedmother to maintain, and little brothers andsisters who look to me. I do my utmost as agoverness to support them. I toil at nightThackeraywhen they are at rest, and my own hand andbrain are alike tired. If I could add but alittle to our means by my pen, many of mypoor invalid’s wants might be supplied, andI could procure for her comforts to whichshe is now a stranger. Heaven knows it is notfor want of will or for want of energy on mypart, that she is now in ill-health, and ourlittle household almost without bread. Do—do cast a kind glance over my poem, and ifyou can help us, the widow, the orphans willbless you! I remain, sir, in anxious expectancy,“Your faithful servant,“S. S. S.”And enclosed is a little poem or two, and an envelopewith its penny stamp—heaven help us!—and the writer’sname and address.45