“How frail and ephemeral is the material substance of letters, which makes their very survival so hazardous. Print has a permanence of its own, though it may not be much worth preserving, but a letter! Conveyed by uncertain transportation, over which the sender has no control; committed to a single individual who may be careless or inappreciative; left to the mercy of future generations, of families maybe anxious to suppress the past, of the accidents of removals and house-cleanings, or of mere ignorance. How often it has been by the veriest chance that they have survived at all.”
![“[On newspapers:] A first draft of history.” quote by Elizabeth Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f4f/elizabeth-drew-27945_firsts_on-newspapers-a-first-draft-of-history-1_1034520.jpg)
