He told her to write to the local newspaper, the New York Sun. This is what she wrote:

Dear Editor: I am eight years old. Some of my friends say that there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in the Sun it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

The answer from the Sun reads:

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy! Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias...

he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.