Particularly poignent are some of the surviving letters from young soldiers from the great war.
As you say, excellent handwriting and wonderful use of language.
Many of the examples of which were from perfectly ordinary private soldiers who probably worked in a factory before they joined up.
Wouldn't happen today, these sorts of skills simply are not taught any more.
Yes, I have had the privilege to read some of those letters and as you say what really stands out is the quality of both the handwriting and use of language. A great many of these letters (again as per your comments) were from ordinary working class soldiers.
Goodness only knows what a similar letter written in 2016 would be like.
I have always thought I had reasonable grasp of english language until I tried to play 'the minister's cat'. We have had a few friends round for drinks this evening, so I suggested we play this game. There were six of us and although it was fun (we ended up roaring with laughter) we were pretty useless at it.