merate them here, but whatever form you may use must be- gin a little below and to the right of the final line of your letter, while below this, and to the right again, comes your signature — that is, your name, either written at length or with merely the initials of the Christian name or names, and the whole surname. Your sheet of paper must be neatly folded to fit the envelope, and the stamp must always be placed in the upper right hand corner where it will not cover any portion of the direction. In writing the direction you must • remember that post office officials, in distributing letters, always read first the name of the State, then the city, then the street, and last of all the name of the person, for it is in that way that a mail is made up, the letter being first sent to the destined State, and then to the local postmaster, who finally gives it to the person for whom it is intended. Your direction, therefore, should not be so written as to crowd the latter part of it ; on the contrary, write the names of the village and of the State in a large and clear hand, and the name of the person in somewhat smaller characters. Very formal notes, notes of invitation, etc., are fre- quently written in the third person, as, Philadelphia, May 10th. Mr. Smith regrets to inform Mrs. Allen that he is unable to give her the information she desires, but believes that she can obtain it from Miss Jay, to whom he encloses a letter of introduction. ON HABITS AND MANNERS 85 Now a letter of introduction is usually given by a mu- tual friend to one of two individuals who are strangers to each other (the bearer of the letter presenting it to the per- son to whom it is addressed), and would run somewhat as follows, varying of course according to the facts of the case : 19 Columbia St., Washington, [ December 6th. ( My Dear Mr. Turner : I take pleasure in introducing to you Mr. Henry Otis, a friend and neighbor of mine who is intending for the present to reside in Washington. Any kindness which you may have it in your power to show him, will be a personal favor to me, while I am sure that you yourself will enjoy his society. Hoping to see you soon, I remain, Very truly yours, Samuel Warner. Notes of invitation in the third person admit of little variation, the usual form being : Mrs. Jones requests the pleasure of Mr. Knox's company, on Wednesday evening, June 2d, at 3 o'clock. Regrets and acceptances are framed in the same way* Business men use certain forms of correspondence which presuppose familiarity with, and are only used in business circles, but every young man, at least, ought to be able to write a fair business note according to established form, and although one example does not by any means cover the ground, it will enable you to understand the usual form : 86 ON HABITS AND MANNERS New York, May 4, 1875. Messrs. Brown, Jones & Co., Chicago. Gentlemen : Yours of the 30th ult. received and contents duly noted. In reply to your enquiries in regard to sales of cotton we would say that there is little demand for high grades at present, the market being dull and season late. We shall do nothing without further orders from you. Your obedient servants, John Smith & Son.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

merate them here, but whatever form you may use must begin a little below and to the right of the final line of your letter, while below this, and to the right again, comes your signature — that is, your name, either written at length or with merely the initials of the Christian name or names, and the whole surname. Your sheet of paper must be neatly folded to fit the envelope, and the stamp must always be placed in the upper right hand corner where it will not cover any portion of the direction. In writing the direction you must • remember that post office officials, in distributing letters, always read first the name of the State, then the city, then the street, and last of all the name of the person, for it is in that way that a mail is made up, the letter being first sent to the destined State, and then to the local postmaster, who finally gives it to the person for whom it is intended. Your direction, therefore, should not be so written as to crowd the latter part of it ; on the contrary, write the names of the village and of the State in a large and clear hand, and the name of the person in somewhat smaller characters. Very formal notes, notes of invitation, etc., are frequently written in the third person, as, Philadelphia, May 10th. Mr. Smith regrets to inform Mrs. Allen that he is unable to give her the information she desires, but believes that she can obtain it from Miss Jay, to whom he encloses a letter of introduction. Now a letter of introduction is usually given by a mutual friend to one of two individuals who are strangers to each other (the bearer of the letter presenting it to the person to whom it is addressed), and would run somewhat as follows, varying of course according to the facts of the case : 19 Columbia St., Washington, [ December 6th. ( My Dear Mr. Turner : I take pleasure in introducing to you Mr. Henry Otis, a friend and neighbor of mine who is intending for the present to reside in Washington. Any kindness which you may have it in your power to show him, will be a personal favor to me, while I am sure that you yourself will enjoy his society. Hoping to see you soon, I remain, Very truly yours, Samuel Warner. Notes of invitation in the third person admit of little variation, the usual form being : Mrs. Jones requests the pleasure of Mr. Knox's company, on Wednesday evening, June 2d, at 3 o'clock. Regrets and acceptances are framed in the same way. Business men use certain forms of correspondence which presuppose familiarity with, and are only used in business circles, but every young man, at least, ought to be able to write a fair business note according to established form, and although one example does not by any means cover the ground, it will enable you to understand the usual form : New York, May 4, 1875. Messrs. Brown, Jones & Co., Chicago. Gentlemen : Yours of the 30th ult. received and contents duly noted. In reply to your enquiries in regard to sales of cotton we would say that there is little demand for high grades at present, the market being dull and season late. We shall do nothing without further orders from you. Your obedient servants, John Smith & Son.

On habits and manners