In Roman times, carnelian was popular for making signet rings used to imprint seals on wax for important documents, as wax doesn't stick to it. Thousands of years later carnelian still gets the job done. Around 1820 a French person used this to express their desperation for a reply: it says 'Une lettre adoucit les peines de l'absence' / 'A letter softens the pain of absence'. The French are dramatic like that.