thanks Barb; that quote is a good ways away from the oft-cited quote circulating on the web (and the one in Karr's book) -- imagine my surprise. And MT's version is just so much better. It also has the advantage of sounding like MT, which for readers of this LIST is certainly a plus! -hb On Sat, Oct 31, 2015 at 8:32 AM, Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hal, > > Here is the source in context: > > > The most useful and interesting letters we get here from home are from > children seven or eight years old. This is petrified truth. Happily they > have got nothing to talk about but home, and neighbours and family--things > their betters think unworthy of transmission thousands of miles. They write > simply and naturally, and without straining for effect. They tell all they > know, and then stop. > - "An Open Letter to the American People" _New York Weekly Review_, 17 > February 1866 > > > Barb > -- Prof. Harold K. Bush Professor of English 3800 Lindell Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>