ever is interesting to you will be interesting to your friends, however trivial it may seem to a stranger. Business letters should be brief, and the sentences short, concise, and to the point. Repeat nothing and omit nothing needful. Official letters and formal notes should be more stately and ceremonious. In formal notes the third person is generally used instead of the first and the second; there is no Introduction, no Conclusion, no Signature, only the name of the Place and the Date at the bottom, on the left side of the page, thus: Mr. & Mrs. A. request the pleasure of Mr. B.'s company at a social gathering, on Tuesday evening, Nov. 15th, at eight o'clock. 32 Fifth Ave., Nov. 5. Mr. B. accepts* with pleasure Mr. & Mrs. A.'s kind invitation for Tuesday evening, Nov. 15th. Wednesday morning, Nov. 9th. THE CONCLUSION Parts. The Conclusion consists of the Complimentary Close and the Signature. The forms of the Complimentary Close are many, and are determined by the relations of the writer to the one addressed. In letters of friendship you may use, Your sincere friend; Yours affectionately; Your loving son or daughter, etc. In business letters you may use, Yours; Yours truly; Truly yours; Yours respectfully; Very respectfully yours, etc. In official letters you should be more deferential. Use, I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant; Very respectfully, your most obedient servant; etc., etc. The Signature consists of your Christian name and your * Or regrets that a previous engagement (or illness, or an unfortunate event) prevents the acceptance of -; or regrets that on account of he is unable to accept surname. In addressing a stranger write your Christian name in full. A lady addressing a stranger should prefix to her signature her title, Mrs. or Miss (placing it within marks of parenthesis), unless in the letter she has indicated which of these titles her correspondent is to use in reply. How Written. The Conclusion should begin near the middle of the first line below the Body of the Letter, and, if occupying two or more lines, should slope to the right like the Heading and the Address. Begin each line of it with a capital letter, and punctuate as in other writing, following the whole with a period. The Signature should be very plain. Direction. Write two formal notes - one inviting a friend to a social party, and one declining the invitation. Direction. Write the Conclusion of a letter of friendship, of a letter of business, and of an official letter, carefully observing all that has been said above. Direction. Write a letter of two or three lines to your father or your mother, and another to your minister, taking care to give properly the Heading in its two parts, the Introduction in its two parts, and the Conclusion in its two parts. Let the Address in the letter to your father or your mother stand at the bottom. Parts. The Superscription is what is written on the outside of the envelope. It is the same as the Address, consisting of the Name, the Title, and the full Directions of the one addressed. How Written. The Superscription should begin just below the middle of the envelope and near the left edgethe envelope lying with its closed side toward you and should occupy three or four lines. These lines should slope to the right as in the Heading and the Address, the spaces between the lines should be the same, and the last line should end near the lower right-hand corner. On the first line the Name and the Title should stand. If the one addressed is in a city, the door-number and name of the street should be on the second line, the name of the city on the third, and the name of the state on the fourth. If he is in the country, the name of the post-office should be on the second line, the name of the county on the third, the name of the state on the fourth. The number of the post-office box may take the place of the door-number and the name of the street, or, to avoid crowding, the number of the box or the name of the county may stand at the lower left-hand corner. The titles following the name should be separated from it and from each other by the comma, and every line should end with a comma except the last, which should be followe by a period.* The lines should be straight, and every part of the Superscription should be legible. Place the stamp at the upper right-hand corner. * Some omit punctuation after the parts of the Superscription. Direction. Write six Superscriptions to real or imaginary friends or acquaintances in different cities, carefully observing all that has been said above. Direction. Write two short letters one to a friend at the Astor House, New York, and one to a stranger in the country. STAMP E E Master H. Beekman, Mass. Ithaca, NY Aug 18,1909. My dear Friend, You tell me that you begin the study of English litera ture next term. Let me assume the relation of der an older brother and ten you a word of counsel. Study literature, primarily for the thoughts it contains. Attend to these thoughts until you under stand them and see their connection one with another. Accept only such as seem to you just and true, and accept these at their proper value. notice carefully the words each |