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Ku'- '<I, accorotn g.to Acl ofCongrCEs, In tl1c ycnr 18ili, bf .
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•
lho Dlrlrlct Con rt or th o U nllo<l St&leo tor tl1e
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I

CIIESTERFIELD'S

l/;.)

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LETTER-vVRITING SIMPLIFIED.
Gooo letter-writing is one of the mainsprings of businrss,
and one of the strongest connecting links of common li fe.
T o wri te a business letter, u.nd to wri te a familiar one, require as different qualifications ns to enter a drawing-room
and to knock at one's own strcet-cl oor . Let 'tis try to point
ou t what. these qualifi cations arc.
'l'ar.t is equally necessa ry in both, bnt tact of a rlilfcrenl
character. In writing to a man of' business, brrvil!J beco mes
lil crnlly" the soul of wi t," a nd trnc ttict will teach us three
things ; firs t, never to 11'1.1stc time in more compliments tJmn
a rc dcnmnclcd by the common·cour tcs·y rhe from one m:i.n
to another; secondly, never to say a nyth ing that h~ nothing
to clo with the subj ect: and thirdly, always to say all thnt
the subject reall y requires, r.ml to say that clearly. A letter
of ten lines will often fulfill a ll tl1cse cornli tions, when a
leng thy epistle wi ll bring back an impa ti ent wish to "know
tb r. meau ing of you 1· commu nication of the -th. " 111
writiDg letters, we ought to consider that we may be wasting a uother person's time more precious tlin.u .our own, in the
mere operation of reading, to say nothing of' unclerstarnling
and replying to them. But let us always remember, th at it
is possible to be brief and to the purpose, without beiug
bearish or un courtcous.
·
'l'act iu fam iliar writing, a.nd in some h alf.bu sin ess-halt~
familiar correspond c n ~e (which euters co nstantly in to our
every-day li fe) consists in a clear am] ready in terpretation
of our thoug hts a nd wi shes, as well as in a promp t and
graceful und crnta wli•1g of th ose of another. H ere we a.re
less fettered by the rrP,ssiug calls of t ime already over-employed; wenrPe1J0blPd to speak on paper (whi ch is t he g reat
•md true pr,rfedion 1>f let.ter-writiag,) und we mingle t he
[l!]

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CUESTE!tFIEI.D 1S J.ETTF.R·IV !<inm.

gentler feel ings of home associations with the sterner calls
of <lnty. Bnt tact is LJO less wanting ut:rl cr these c ircmnslances. \Vli o 'lv ould write to a child at f>chool, to n. fri end
j11sl. mar ri l'cl, 01· fo a cl ig·ni f.ary of' the cl111ruh , a ll iu llte same
terms ? One mny be familiar with all f hree.
And even on lh e 'rnost familiar occa.~ ions, a nd in addrcS&
ing th e m os t fomi liar fr iencls, thi s tact will ai1l us iu not (!.
few materia l points. It wi ll prevent us mistak ing bois te rous
familiarity (ancl, too ol'ten, slang and Yn lgarity) fo r hcartiness-carclc.osness in grammar for freedom of style (a m istake, 11nltappily, not co n011 cll to let ter-w ri ters only), und
will g ive u refi nement uml grncef'uln ess wh ich enha nce even
the most tender pnssuges of lorn a nd fri cnclship.
Now it is cund idly to be confessed thut the urt of acquir ing this tuct, (wh ich is littl e else than t he whole urt of
letter-wrif ing,) is one of tim e, trouble, a nd difficulty. The
earlier it be commenced, the better; but there urc many,
whose acquaintan ce with the world :it large begins ln.tc in
life-per haps 11e\'C!r begins at all, and from snch persons
much can not he expccte<l. A rcguln.r correspondence with
those who th emselves write well is unqnestionably the surest
means of alfaining thi~ encl , and, nex t to it, the frequent
p eru sa l of such lcltPrs as form a part---an<l a clmrming
par fr-.-o f I.he wr il.ing·s of our best auth ors. To those who
p o~scss th e opport.unity of c ultivati ng b oth or eit her of
those rc.sonrccs, the exurnplcs contained in th e fo ll ow ing
pn g r s can teach little, excepting, p erhaps, the art of saying
pl ai n thiu gs in plain words, and being able to say no more
thun is n cccs~ary upon a tritling subjecfr-.-a matter which a
great ma ny very clever people fiml more difficult than they
are willin g lo confess.
As to letters on courtship, matrimony, a nd such like
matters, 1.hc edit.or cun<lidly conf'el;ses that he should feel little sympat hy with any gentleman who r eceived a printed
circular in answer to an address taken from a printed letter.
H ad he cons ulted hi s own inclinuti ons, he would probubly
ha1·c exclncled n.ny uttcmpts to deal with such matters (whero
betittiug writing can only spring fr om the deepest recesses
of the human heart) ; but, in deference to custom, he has
prepared s~me spec11ncns, and selected. a few others, which
he trusts will , at a ll eveuts, not lead l11 s readers to any of
the dis plays or folly or misplaced romauce, which too freq·1eutly fo rm painfully-ludicrous episodes in the earlier ao-

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TAO'r IN LETTEr\-\Vlll'fING .

5

qum'utance of the t wo sexes
\.
~u r -'af~;ia~ 1Y uad .hor:ozr~b lc feeliag towards the objects
hopc<l, ulways su ffice to
; cc rons wrl l, it is to bo
out rnnniug in to bo111 baI'tro~~L\~t~,;101~cs~ ex 1~rcss ion, w.thsonalile a nd abs urd pro•·~s'tai'· ', ouu a ula t10n, or unrea.
II
"" , . ion~.
. . owsoever humble, or elevated t i . .
.
.
life 111 whi ch th e" a r·t of 1 ttc
'. . ic. re rs no s1tuut 1on of
.
c r-wntr rw" m t
.~lly be fonud of vas t i111porta nce 'r"
ti us no~ ?eca81onfort, a solace a b lc · "' . .
• . •0 te p oor, 1t tR a comof society i't'.
s~ 11d1'? ' wrt 1t tbe nnddle ancl ltitrli
cr r.hsscs
0
·
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rs an 111 1spe11sahle u
·.
, ' •
less source of cnJ'oym cn t un<l 1, • c~uu e m cat--an exhau st·d d
·
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P ea.~ m c.
t ou.,ht to b
ga1 e. as a n essential part of ctln cat'1011
,,
.
c r·c·
arts, 1t mns t be taiio-Jr t 01• str111
13 u t, lrkc other
1.ct1 ,. 1.or ·w11·1tcvc
0
· aclvur ita•,.cs
ti ie sc Iio Iast1c
'
. <l' .d'
•
r mav IJe
'f
• 't> ' of t iJe· lll
I V! ll '\] 1't
'
1 ever, be possessed
iu tui tion. ·
· '
can rarely,
Do yon fer.I puzzled wbeu
't l
.
Are you in a fix how to bco··y~u s t c ow n to wr ite a lct.te r·?
mile to tell you r fric11d \vl1a" t'n - . WI ou ld you rnthcr walk a
.
. .)'OU mve to Sa ti
It a If
. . n cl ay rn \l'l'itiug to him or her? D
•.y, Jan spend
writmg of a Je tt.er because 1't . " · 1 o you postpone the
1
occasiou fo r writinrr ha~
. isb sue a bother' un t il the
fri end is exh•tus te<l "0 ,
gone y, or the pn.tien ~e of vom·
. J
•
• •
' t yon you rself " as! ,
, I 1·
it o(f so lonno?" • t •~ "
I.
r.ttne< o 1tav11w 11ut
.
·o •
.a <A:llu aw 11 1c anti yo
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pa111s uo more-y 0 11 slia ll
u
s
tu
cnt
urc
these
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11 0f 100°·er
suJfer
]·1e·,1cIac I1e or cramp
· the wris t nor ti 1
0
rn
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may be don~ in a Jc~n~1~ero ot atlu~ Ill accomplishing what
0
vcxatiou of not know in.,. how ~ e~! nor the .worry and
~ow to go on, or how t<flcave If · b ·o m, or, havrng-. begun,
mg fa ith with the bes t f' f~ ' nor the <laag-cr of breakwould if you cou ld ye t o i rcucls because, a lthoug h yo u
Can you write a 'iett .Y0'.1 cuunot, .can!1ot write a le t'tr r.
. ml without hes1t.:it1on, denm1· or diJT'1
ctLlty? Can ,
·
you seize t 1e pe,r1
l t
'
thonghts to paper as freely
' anc • ~ once, comm it yo1u·
you :· bu~incss proposa ls, yoL~~ Jl.~~Jt• cl sp.eak th em, stating
ulat10us, your con<lolence, yo ur love~ a~1~1 an ces, your grntguage of r eserved politeness c .' o1' Ill tlie formal lan'. onti ey your .accept a nce or
rcfusal of a n iovitatiori or
.
a p1 esen or your s 1 I
'[j
. t IQ Jt or acknowled.,.ement of u ~
t?' If
n1p e not1 1ca.
w1111t none of ouz'.' advices ~ud'IC . . ~ou can do this yo u
that we do not believe we izave w~ !fstre you at starti ng
the refore, if you read on it is
s~:". e i'.nt to _offer youBu~ we d.o olfer help to those
u. 11 II pe!·1I , not our;~.
name is legion. Persons who . o reta y want i lr-ancl the ir
aie no acr.ustolllcd to the uso

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USUAL STYLE OF COUPOSl'flON.

CUESTERFIF.LD's J,F:'l"l'ER-WRl1'Jm.

G

of the pen find it a tou(;h task t? wri te . a _Jette~, _and the
rlilTicul ty is 1.he g1·ea1.cr m proporhon to the 1_11sufhc1cncy ~ f
tn eir ctln cation. l\fany, evc11 among sc11s1ble ai~d. w..,Jlinform etl people, a rc bu t poor hands at lcttcr-wri trn g, or
evc 11 in t he di ction of a sim ple note, a n<l they wonder how
in the world it is t ha t other~ of 110 better educa t_1 on than
themselves arc so re[l,dy in the use o~ t he pen, so ht.Ue emha rrnsscd in the composition o~ sensib le a nd ~ven l? ng lett cr8. so· lmppy in their expres.>1 ons, so clear rn their sta~­
mcnts, t heir sentences so brief, so well mrangcd , a.nd t rn
whole to ne of their correspornlencc charncten zcd b.Y good
sense, good feeling-, and true poli teness. .It seems as if there
were a mystery about it which onl y a g ifted few can un\l: r·
staiHl · 1~hercas there is no mystery whatever ; comparatively. ~pe~kin g , nothing to be learn t.; for whoso?ver can ma1mgo
to scrawl with a pen, n.ml spell tl!c wo rds. 111 common use,
• J· t v"•·1 11,·e exPrcise of a htt.le pn.l1cnt perseverance,
ITII [\' I , 1 1" 1 ,
.
•
l
k
\Hl le dow n their thoughts as easily as t icy can spca

ship, or business, we milst trace out t he route correc tly with
the pen in our own hand.
Let ua take the general ca1:1c of letter-wr iting us practised
by uneducated persons. Whatever be the su bject of tho
letter on the occasion of writing, it is pret ty sure to beg in
thus :
"This comes hopping to find you all well, ns it Jenvee us at
present, thank God for it."

In the next letter the wri ter varies the commencement for
the sake of change, and begins :
" I tak o up my pen to write you these few lines."

th~~;t, says the reat1er, " T his is n?~ ex?ctly true ;

for I have
ierscvcrc(l fo r years, my ha nd-wr1t111g 1s re.all y resp.cctable,
can spell correctly, a n1l I know so~1cth111g o~ g 1~rum~r ,
anrl vet it cost.Q me much lab or to wri te a l ~tlc1 , a_nJ, alt er
all , ] sckl1im wri te <'DC tl ,at pkases me, im<l (rn cod1llcnce) I
3 88 nro you, T. frequentl y write half a dozen, rmd say t he same
t hiner in lmlf a 1lm:cn diflcrcnt w[tyB, anc~ then destroy them
all l~ccttuRc there is not one that I consider fi t ~or the occa. " ' Vhat of that ? Th e most accomplished scholar
~;~~~- 0 ,·cr li ved, the most fin ished i!luitc~ of a model letter ,
fou nd a little dilTicnlty at first , and no lit~rary man ever acqu ired the free and ready use of the pen without some ~tumb­
lings at starting, and yon have 01~ly t? persevere JU the
righ t rlirectio 11 , to attain excellence JU tills necessary, useful,
and on rn.mcntal t1ccomplishmcnt.
.
A well -wri tten let ter has opened the way to prosperity for
many n one, has led to many Lt lmp py marriag:c a:1d C?nstant
fri endship, u.nd ha>i secured mnny a good serv ice. m t1me. t~ '.
need · for it is in some measure a photograph of ~he ~vri e1,
and ~1 ay inspi re love or hat rcu, regar? or avcrs1011,. m the
reader, just as the glimpse of a por trait often dctcr mmes us
in our estimate of the worth of the person rcpresen~cd.
'l'hereforc, one of the roads to fortune :uns th;-ough the. rnkhottle, and if we want to a ttain a cert.'1.JO end m loYe, fri end·

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Ily-and-by the wri ter begins to suspect that such a mode
of beg inning a letter is not very elegant, and eigh.tcen centa
are expended on t ha t verl+ emarkab le work, "The Lady's and
Gentleman's Complete Letter Writer, 90t11 edition." The
ti.me comes for anothedetter; the " Complete Letter vV r iter"
is d ragged out from the darkness of the drawer in whi ch it
bad hoped to conceal itself for ever, and a n hour is spent in
the search for a model letter tha t will j ust ex press t he wri- .
ter 's feelings and ideas. Ilti t, alas ! among the three hundred
and forty-seven specimens of every style of correspondence,
there iH not one in whi ch J ames is poli tely requested not to
forget the boots, or Eliza is reminded that Waller still hopes
to meet her , wi th sentiments un changed, when next she visits
N ew York ; there is nothing in t he " domesti c letters" to
meet the case of baby's teeth, or Snsa n ·s blistering, or J ercmi ab 's illne.."l! and recovery, or the death of Mrs. J ones.
'l'be " business letters" say not a word ab out the administrati on of J ones's will ,. they do not even mention the appren.
ticcship of young W aggles. A s to the "love letters," t ho
wri ter thereof has marle no provision for J emima's acceptance of J oseph on condi t ion t ha t be will nt once shave off
hi s moustache, a nd take t o all-round coll ars, and give up
pu nning at the d inner-table. 'I'he "complimentary letters"
are cer tainly very pretty, but they don't help one to present
compliments to Mrs. Popej ohn, and thank her for her kind
present of a green cat, and 11 pair of turtle dovea. No;
nor when the general form of any letter or note does happeu
to suit, can the copyist determine how or where t o work in
a little speci:d request, or remark , or question, or, in fact, to
make a r espectable statement of any kind, save and except

CIJESTERFIF.!.D 'S

t

LE'f'rJlR-WHl'r~:R .

HOW TO ARRANGE YOTJR SUBJECTS.

9

what is actually printed ; and for tllis good reason-that, a
printed letter saves th e writer t he t rouble of tbinking ; and
~e ll'.d epc nden ce , contidrnce, eMy expression of ideas, are, of
course, in any sucb case impossi ulc.

the corrupt pieces out of whioh it had been made. She
hoped Lever to meet him agn.in-lct ns hope she never did
tho11gh he mig ht have fou nd her a saclllcr but a wiser
womn.n.

'l'he fact is, a complete letter writer is a complete sl:am,
au absurdity. P eople want to write letkrs "out of their
own head~," and it is impossihle to give them" ready made"
letters, whi ch. like ready nrn<lc shirts, shall l.it every subject
that may requ ire clothing. vVe know a case of a genU cmaD
-at leas t, a person--who offorCLl bis hand to a lady with the
help of a letter wri ter. 'l'be letter began," R everend Mis.~;"
ho'v it finished the reader need not be told , but, of course
the lover was rejected, and bis "bi lly dux''. went into tbe
bdy's museum of wriou.s rrntogrnphs . Perhaps he should
have copied it" R evered l\'liss," but he should not have copied
at all. Had he written what he reall y felt, in the best language he coulrl comm:wd, be might, have gained :1 hearing,
and, perhaps, a bride ; but he went to a dea rl sepulcbrP, of
words instead of speaking from his li ving heart, aud desc rHd
the snubbing for his pains. 'l'be first step, then, to wards
attaining the art of ktter-writ.iug is, to tear up the " Complete Letter ·writer" into pipe-lig hts, or curl-papers; at all
events, it must be got out of sight, an~
· ou must begin de
novo, that is, out of your own bead.
- ~

When yon sit clown to write a letter, think of
your subject-of the circumstances you wish t.o state.
On a spn.re piece of paper pnt clown yo11 r loose id eas,
your vari ous points promiscuously as they occnr. For
instance, I will s1:pposc tliat you have a do<:cn differen t
heads, more or less, 011 whi ch you des ire to ex patiate. P11t
them all clown, (leavi ng a li ttle marg in on tbc left hand si de
of your paper,) uo ma tter in what orde r, one after a noth er,
aa they occur; a single word will· in most ca<'es suffi ce to
lcatl your memory. Having proceeded so . fri r , cons ider in
what ma.nn er, in what order, the different heads of your
letter may be arranged, so as to prod uce a harrnonions and
effective whole, a nd 1111mber them .in t he ma rg in accordingly,
1, 2, 3, &c. There nre three modes by which you r tas k may
be snccessf11lly accomp lished; the mode to be cletcrminetl oy
circumstances, and by your owll taste and juugcment.

You want to write a letter, then, an you are p<Jzzl~d lww
lo begin. W'il\ you write seutences on bita of paper,
and accumu late them till you have a heap, then sort und
armn"'e th em, copy them out at length , and then correct
and c~py the whole? N othiug of the sort; yet this is the
way some people write letters. \Ve k;iow a case of a lady
who broke off an engagement with a gentleman, and who
had occasion to return him a book which Rhe had borrowed.
She wrote an indi gnant letter, composed bit by bit ti ll she
had about half a peck of li ttle sentences. \Vhe\l she came
to copy them out the greater part were of a most objectionable kind ; some, she remembered aftenvarcls, were very bold,
nay, insulting, in tone. But she managed to mnke up wl.i:tt
she thought a very proper letter, and, by some strange muddle, gave him both book and letter with her ow n hands.
But, alas! she had no sooner parted from him than she remembered she had tucked the half-peck of disjointed sentences inside the book, so that be not only bad the letter, but

F irst.-Suppose that you lia.ve numbered your sulJjec ts
according to their inf'riusic importance, 1, 2, 3, &c., :rncl that
you wi sh t.o treat of them in that order, commencing with No.
l. By t.his means you wi ll first sla te you r most: important
point, a rnl then gradually dCRcencl , numeri cally, am] close
with N o. 12, the least significant fo the series. To this
mode, unless for short letters, there is an objection ; your
letter incurs the risk of becoming tame, feeble and unimpressive at the close.

I ,

Seco11cl.-Number your snhjects inversely ; tbat is, let
your first head, No. l, be of the sli ghtest cons id eration in
tbe series; No. 2 will possess an interest somewhat higher ;
No. 3 will become still more interesting ; your lotter wi ll
thus grow upon tbe attention of the reader as he proceeds ;
a111l, by reserving the most imp ortant point till the Jost, it
will terminate with a strong a nd impressive climax.

Th ird.-For long let ters, or for letters embracing a great.
variety of subjects, this will generally be found th e rno~t
preferable; but still as I have said, the mode must be determined by circumstances, and by the taste an <l j ndgcmcnt
of the writer. Adopt, first the descencling, aud th en the

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A FAM!I,JAR [,8TTER.

CHESTERFIELD'S LETTER-WRITF.R.

ascending seal~; from mperior to inferior, and then from
n1re-;or to superior; something like tliis:

12
1

11
10

2
3
4

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9

8

11

you have written all you would speak, as far a.s the compass
of' a Jetter will enable you , and yon will b<) surprise(! to find
that Y?U have _explain ed yourself in a straighlJonvard way,
and with a feelrng of' grace that does you credit.
\-Ve beg _YOU to depend wholly upou yourself, to write
down your sunple thoughts as they occur to you, aml to state
your requests, your repli es, your sympathi es and sucrrrestious,
just as if your friend were besi de you, and you we~e" talking
11s Friends
talk. F or iustance, a young man is about to
wnte to his abseut brother, aud he begins, " Dear Thom as."
Then he is stuck fast, and he thinks of senrl iug hi s letter
" h opping to find brother Thomas well." Then the great
• crnnt which he is to relate thoroughly 1111zzlcs him , and, at
last, he writes "mother a.ncl fat.her send th eir loves, and
mother has been confined, and the baby is a g irl, and its to
be named E li za."
Bnt if he would inrng ine himself talking to brother
Thomus. he would write in this wise:

?o

5 7
6

Tha t is, commence with No. 1, as an important point,
though of l e.~s importance than No. 12 ; thus descend in tlio
importa ucc of the respective points till you reach the bottom
of the scale, No. 6 ; after which you may ascend from the
comparati,•ely insignificant point, No. 6, till you gradually
reach the most important point of all, No.12. Or you may
number your subjects in a double series, according to tho
mvdes, First am! Second, thus :

"Dear Tom -

Superior

1 --- 1
2 --2
3 -- 3

Inferior

4--4

5---J
Inferior

6 --- 6

Superior.

Ry these means the commencement of your letter will bo

goad, and its termination will be better; and calculated to
leave a clear and strong impression on the mind of the
readr.r.
You want to begin your letter, and it is to be a letter to a
fri end. Now just consider for a moment what you would
say to that friend if he or she were present. The moment you
have abstracted yourself, the first words of greeting will
pass throug h your mind, then the inquiries, and your fri end's
res ponses. Quietly take a pen and write down those imagined
words. But th e moment yon take a p en the words nre gone,
aml your mind is as barren 11s ever ; that is bccnuse you are
trying to Bay something grand, to "write lik e a book," or
lik e somebody else whose letters you like. Never mind how
sentences are made in books, or how somebody else begins
llllch pretty letters, Write as you would speak, write on till
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. "A s w e have not rece ive d nny unpleasnnt n°';s from you, we
lee! ass m e<! that. yuu nrc hcnrty mu.I prosp e rin g. But if you
are at nil piuch e d 111 poc ket, or out of healt h, dnn't h esitate to
let us know, fur we are nnxiously co11ccrneil ubont yrrnr pro
g ress, :md father wou Id re mit you n fow dollnrs rnther thnn
thnt you should sutler incmwe 11ie11ce frou'l scar c ity nf ca s h.
"Y<tu .know wh_ut a qui et lifo we live, uud c11n w e ll imngine
how ext:1ted the v11lnge has b~cn lutely, ,,. hen I tell you thnt
th ere is nn addition to t he fa mily h ere-n thumping si s ter for
you, Tom, born at twe!>·e, 011 Tuesdny ni g ht Inst, a 111l 'mothe r
1111d c l1ild dn i11 g well.' 'fho nnrse, old J-lat.eh e t - 1·ou reme111ber
hcr -suys s he is the fin est bahy s he ever saw. Sh e certainly is
n tine c hi ld ; but, upon my soul, slw mak es 11 l1urrid 11nise ull
ni ght. I' rn g.lud thn.t my berl-rnom is ut tho top of th e house ,
nud [ can patm ntly hea r with the moaning of tl1e pigl'o ns wh en
I re fl ect on t he sort of seremtdes I should bnvo if I sl ept in
th e room you hnd. "

Of course, we might go on and ccmposc a very long letter
to brother Tom; but a.sit is imposs ible to invent a letter or
any kind, suitable to more than one case in ten thousand;
so it is absurd to invent incidents or inmgiu e feeliugs, in the
expectation that some lucky chance will make them su itab!P.
to any one 11obont to write a letter . Our object is to impre.~

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AN AWKWARD t.OO KINO

Cl!ESTEJtFJF.I ,D S 1.IcTTER-W RJTKit.

upon the beo-inner the necessity of wriling what lie or sl1()
may rc:illy Ll1ink and foc i, and to aban<l on all intent.ion of
pr n1l uci n~ 11.11 cffe<'t hy fi nr writing-, or hard wonls. 'J'hat
whi ch you say tlircctly from yonrself will most forci bly
nppcal lo· the reader of you r letter ; am.I whatever the object
of tho lcttcr--a mere in terchange of fri endship, a declarati on of Jnve, or a business prnposition- it will be more
rra1lily atlaine1l by a Jetter writ.ten otl~h ::uHl , t han by one
whi ch ma.y cost you a wh ole ni ght of study, even if you
nibble the pen into pul p, and spoil a quire of paper.
Ilut if yo ur letter, when so written, has an aw kward look,
go over it carel'ull y, and stri ke out every wo rd t hat seems
superflu ous. Jn t hi s sni cidal sort of task you wi ll have t o•
slaughter a1lj cct.ivcs "·holcBalc. A djectives, my dear reader,
arc th ose wor<ls whi ch ex press I.h e q11alit ies of things, and
inexperi enced 11Titers arc generall y a1hli ctcd t o an excessive
use of them. An cx traonlin nry inci;lcut, a remltrlmb le fac t.,
a very s trnn ~c nud womlerf'ul occmrence, a rna,o-nilicent
and splen<lid ap peara nce, and so 0 11 , are t o be reg-:~·dcd as
exc resce nces whi ch you must prnne off, however line I hey
look for t he moment. l\ nn your pen through every word
th at cltn be spared, no matter how small the wo rd nmy be ;
erase whole sentences if they are not strictlv esse ntial to
convey yonr meaning ; an d wucn you have rcducc<l the comptu;s of your letter, you will reilicmber something which you
onµ;ht t o have said. hut whi ch c~caped you while writi ng ;
1uhl any such omi tted matters, n.ml copy the wh ole out ns
clearly us yon cn n, am! you will be pleased with th e new
form of your letter, t houg·h you nmy have endured many
pangs in erasing some por tions of the original.
Let us have t~n exampl e to help us. You wri te iJl the fir~ t
insta nce, thus :
"I di<l not rect,ive yours of the 18th fill thi s moruin ", SI.I
thnt it has bee n ~ix <lays 1lctninr.d hy the post, wl1ich is ~en
111 corn-c11it•11t, HB the let.tM' mi ght lrn"e hrocn of much more in{portnll(:e; lll>1I in th nt c1tsc ynu mig ht hn,·e th n11ght me 11 e~J i­
gront in not replying earli er, w l1ich I could not do of co111·81',
becau se I 111111 not rcccin:d the letter. I tnn glnrl to l1 enr tlmt
ynur hcnlt h cun tin11 ~s •o i:;ood, nnd I hope it will do w, trnd I
dt1 re my it will , for thP nir 18 good t1111l th e situntio11 hi gh whcro
you nre now livin g, nn d, by this time, I shpu)(l think , very J!l en•nnt. lt gnvo 111e \" C t~Y u;re1tt p11i11, nnd mu ch so rrow to hear of
the sud news of your ni ~ce's contiuued illness, Especi1llly us I

" ! !=-----==------------- -- . . ·-----

L~:rTElt

13

have so much regnrd for het', nnrl rem embr•r, ns I shnll nlwnys
tlo, tb e v~ ry plens:rn t nnd ng reen ble mornin gs we used to spend
together n1 wnllo ng ove r t horn rnmurknbln ruins. wllf!l"C there
nre so many extrnordiu ary bcn11tics of •ceuerv und s11 1nuch to
in terest. th e mini!, in t he contempl ation of rn:igu ifi cent scc 111~ ry
nnd wonderful pro•pccts at tho Abhl•y. I 11 1n sure yuu will
beli eve mo very tlurnkful tiir your kind offe r whi ch yon st.11.te in
your letter; ~nt us ~ 11.111 •o much c t~ gn.ge d nt hum e. nml J111 vt• to
see to Hnrry ~ bus1uess when ho 1s nwn y on murlrnt-days , r
cannot ncce pt it, t hou gh I cnn nssuro yon th1tt I should be m ust
happy to cl <• so ii' circum stn nccs pcrmi ttc1l, nnd • I could see
clca rl.l:' thnt I should be abl e to st.ny ; b cea11 s~ s1t<'h 11 11 cngngement JR 111~~ of 111uch use u111 Pss one cnn kee p 1t for so111e t imo at
least, aud ti I touk :t I should li ke ~o stny nyear or two."
P erhaps, 1yheu you have got so far you may halt to take
breath, and hud your space c~h au stcd ; anrl then so111e imp or tau~ matter, whi ch you had nearly forgotten, will have to
be scr ibbled round the odges of the letter, as a sort of
f1~ame work, being, perhaps, of more im portance than the
picture. Just write ont t his a<ltlitional matter in a parag raph, and t hen ~o over the whole and see what yo u can
?ut out. . ~ ou _will find tl~at you lmve wasted a g rcn.t space
rn apolog1z1ng for not havrng replied earlier, iu co nsequence
of the del:iy of the post. You bave been very diffu se a bout
yonr correspoudent's heal th, and still more so on the fe w
mat~ers that f~ll o w, b1:t yet. you cannot sec where to 's pare a
po r t1 0 ~ ; but if you 1magme that you were called upon to
relate m a few ':ords. t he contents of your letter., you wOL1ltl
soon fin::l that rt mig ht be condeused iuto a neat sbnpe
tuns :
"Yours o.f the 18th dirl not arrive liere til! this morning, and
th e delay_ will e ~ cu so 11ny appttrent negligence on my part, in
r~ot replymg enrli er. I hear wi th much plett •ure of )'Ou r contim~cd good h~a l th, whi ch I sincerely hnpo will continue ; th e
p11n ty.of the air.noel elevnt!m1 of the pnsitio11 nre, I think, Ye ry
11mc!1 m your favor. It gives me mu ch so rrow t.o henr of the
cuntrnued illness nf your 11iece, th e mn re so t hnt I ro m01 nlwr
with ple n s ur~ th o ng ~·ecnbl e. mornin gs we used tu spend together
umo11g the mterestrng rums and clrnrmiug scenery of the
Abb ey.
" 'l'he proposal you mnke me I Jiighly npprecintc, nnd would
nt once accept, w e ~e I not very much (•ngaged 11t home. L et
me, th er~ fore, declrne, with sincere than.ks, the e:igageruent
you so kmdly offer."

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CHESTER'i'IELD S LETTE!t-WRITER,

When you brwe thus reduced the bulk and improY~d t he
style of your letter, you will fiucl room for the acldition:iJ
nmlters that you were at first compelled to thrus t iuto an
ugly pos tscript.
In all cases yon must guard against diffuseness , you mnst
be plain aucl brief, and you will soon find that ha lf a d ozen
words will usually convey your me:111ing more clearly a nd
more elegantly th:in half a dozen sentences. But brcv iLy
must never be cult1vatecl to such au extent as to m erge into
abruptness, for abrnptness and rudeness are near neighbors,
and a moderate freedom of expression is always prel"ernule
to imm oderate condensation. '!'h ere is a story told of a
gallant, who wrote to a noted general the followinobri er
0
epistle :
·
"To Genornl - - ,
" St11ly has accepted me ; can I have her?

"Yours, - - "
To which the General replied :
"Go ahettd,

"Yours,--."
Another important matter to be b orne in mind is, to go a~
straig ht to your subject as poss ibl e. Do not circumvent, or
play a game of r ound-about, but plainly say w hat you mean, .
n.s if you were expressing yours<1lf in the s impl est conversation. H ere is a bit of circumventing fearful to behold :

"Sir,
" I nm very sorry thnt I should have to trouble you so often ;
but in consequ cnco of the very !(rot1t dullnt'S8 of trnde, nl)(I tho
difficulty of getti11g mon eys in at thi s dcnd senaon of t he· yoar,
nn :l t he fow onkrs t hnt I get, nnd most of th em from c11 sto111.
ers whto expect credit, 1111d tl111t for n long pe riod , when rendy
n .. >ney trad e is t.lmt whi ch I most wa nt; to"ether with th e lute
failure of the Messrs. Brnssey, whic h occur7;·ed on t he 10th of
Inst month. nnd in c1lll seq twnce of which the Branch B11nk
•topped pay ment on the fol low i11g day, nnd n small !Jal:111cc
which J hnd t hc ro is lost, o r nt least I slmll on ly get n s111ull
rlividl' nd, anil that not nt present ; 111)(] sorn e ord ers which I
hnd from the ~'fess rs. Jlrnsscy were countnmnnded; and if
they hnrl not bee11 co11nterm111HI P.d I could not have gone on
with them; besides which, I hnd 11 smn ll 11 ccou11t ngninst thew
which they l:ad prowis.;ld to settle rnmcdiat.eJy, and in eonse·

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quence of their fnilurA I shnll lmni tn tulrn my chnnce with the
other creditors, nnd shRll gl't, I frar, but a very s111: 11l di • id cnd;
so that a ll my trnnsnctiu11s with tht1t firm Lave b<'<'ll a lo ss to
m o. If you could advance me anothe r hundred Jolin rs, on my
bond, for three 111unths, I should estee m it IL i:rcnt favor , mid
IVO~ld makti such good use of the muuey, in compl eting ordt,rs
wh ich I have in hand, and wliich I can not go 011 ll'i tli for w11nt <•f
cas h, bnt which if completed, will be vcrj' profit:tlilc, aud <'1111blo mo to di scharge 111y ohligaf.imrn tn you, and to inscribe
myself, your very obedient and humbl e sn rrnnt.,
"JONAS SLowco.H :ll."
Now, this r equest of our fri cnrl mig ht be comprc.<:scd i11L1J
a few modest words, aud a respectful appral made, which
would be more likely to secure him th e loan he wants th:111
the long-winded statement he herei n inflicts upon bi s patron.
No serrsible man would care to !encl auy one so mu ch money
after reading such a letter; it is worth all the money to
wade t hroug h it. But if J onas would" re-word the matter,"
and g·ive the whole a decent shape, he might sta.nd a g ood
chani e of hav iug his requ est granted. Let him g o straight
to the point, and his patron will see at on ce that he is d raling with a man of decis ion, who preserves a proper sclfrespect and independence even when asking a faror.

'' Sirt
"I regret thut I should have ngai n to tax your kindn ess, bu l
I nm under the necessity of requesting you to nd vn11co me nnotlwr hundred dollars to enable rue to compl ete some orde rs of
a profitnble kind, for which reacly money is indispensahle. I
should not have had to trouble you hnd not the i-eceut liiilurc 0 1
:\lessrs. Brnssey entailed upon mo some hl'nvy losses , whi c h tl10
orders I hav e in lmnd will enable mo "to so me e.,tc11t w ri,puir.
Messrs. Brnssey's failure was IUlllOllnced Oil th e I Uth or last
month, and on the followin g day the Brnnch Bnnk stoppeil
payment, nnd a balance of cns h whi ch I lrnd there w11 s render•.il
unnvnilable , 1111!1 will possibly he lust. BPsides tliis misforttm ~ ,
I.he Messrs. Brn ssey owed me nn nccount nt t he mome nt ol
their failure, nnd I shn ll now have to tnke my chn ncti
of a dividend with the other creditors. Trad e is verv
dull," &e. &c.
•
One great cause of tediousness in letters is, the prncticc
adopted by writers ofiuterlarding their sentences wiLb parentheses, so that the thread of sense pursu es a tortuous com·se,
a.nd we are engulfed in the serpentine most completely.

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lllESfE RFIELD'S LETTER-WRITER.

. ".John sa.ys (and I claro say he is right) that (Imel b{l known
1.t b_<'loro) ho would (hnd not the weather prevc11ted liim, ru1d
n11 1l111C8s fro111 whic h he was then s11fferi11g, 11ud from which
l• f' is 011\y j11fit reco1•e ring, th oug h Dr. Elnelic t(1ld him he
could not be abnut for six wce ll s) h:we gone onir to th~
rnnrshes (only th ut tl10 froHt ""''" ~o fiernre, uud lii R pony wns
laid up nt the farrier's wi th n tuu(h-nr.ho, n11d bcfiid e• ho ('Ould
11ot fitrn th e cust wi11d), mid he would havo uought the slieep
nt OHCe.''

,Tu~t _inmgiue that yom pen is au arrow or ja velih, and
that 1t. 1s to be hurled directly to some choseu mark, aud
you will S?O U acquire the art o.f plain speaking, without
parenthesis, or twaddle, much to your own rejoicing aud your
reader's relief.
Some ludicrous effects are sometimes produced in letters,
by the neglect of the writer to p:iy atteutiou to the antecedent. '!'ha. ~ is to say, you must write the present line in accordan ce with what !ms goue before, and not mix your
sentences toge ther, so ihat it slrnll be diflicult to understand to
what any pa rti cular remark is intended to apply. 'l'lius we
read an adl'ertiselllcut in a New-York paper, announcing that
a blue geul.leruan 's cloak was lost at the railroad depot, and
a ny person giving inforrnation of it, or if stolen, tbe convi cted person, sl1all rcceiYe live dollars reward. But to mitke
it intcllig!ble, regard must be paid to the antcccdenls, namely, bltte 1s the antecedent or gcutlemau, but applies to the
cloak, not to the gen ~ J c mau , and we must therefore say,
'.'gentleman's blue cloak." .Aud agai n, as to the reward, it
1s not io be paid to th e thief, but to the informer, and we
must sa.y, "rt reward of five dollars shall be paid to any person who shall give such infornmtion as shall lead to its recovery, or if stolen, to the conviction of the thi ef."
Yet blunders of tL1is kind are very common in the letters
of nucducated perso ns. l\lr. Bousor will write to a wholesaln house requesting "another parcel of the patent book~
und eyes, and a few razor cases, sixty to the ounce." " Sixty
to th e oun ce," occurred to him after he had written" razor
cases,:' r\lld applies to I.he "prircel of hooks and eyes," not,
cerl"amly, to the " razor cases."
By avoid ing long sc1 ;~ncrs, and summing up every statem?11t or remark iu one or two short ones, you will soon at.
tam to elegance of composition, 11nd from the first you will
bo sure to make yourself uuderntood, and that is the first ne

DON'T BE VERBOSE.

17

cessity of any communicrition whtttever. Depen~ upon it,
as soon as you begin wirc-drnwiag, you are gettmg clo~dy
aud ungrammn:ticttl; :10d if yo1u: letoor wants !·emoilel111g
or copying, the long sentences will puzzle ~ou rnto a lo_w
fever rind if a u error occurs anywhere, r.vea 1f you detect it,
it wiiJ be very diflic11!t to remedy it in any sentence that
runs on to an immode rate length. l3L1t you must not ~rnke
your sentences so shor t that they express only parts of ideas
or fo.cts; as for instance :
·
"It mined. So I rode. But it soon clenrcd up. Aml remniued bright. So I got out at Broadway. And walked the
remainder of the way."
Though such a statement may be cut up into many short
sentences, it really consists of but. two, because there are but

two incide11ts to relate.
"It mined, so I rorle. But as it clcnred up, nnd rcmainc<l
fine, I got out nt Broadway, and wulked tbc rewttinder of the
wuy."
·
In composition of every kind, a grammatical construction
of sentences is essential, not merely for the sake of accuracy,
but for elegance and clearness. The writer of an ungrnmmatical letter must n sR oelng pitied, or langhcd at, or sneered at, according as the ·reader may be influ_encerl in the. perusal of the Jett.er. Y et, though grammatical accuracy. is so
desirable, it does not follow that ~ person c11nnot write a
respectable letter without tirst going through a course of
gmmma.r. As we can only here advise you to make yourself" as competent as poss ible iu that useful d_epartmcat of
knowled,,.e, it. remains with yourself to pursue 1t or not, accordiarr to your inclinations; but the plain confession mu st
be made that, without a sound knowledge of grnmmar, the
writer or a letter can never rise a bove med iocrity.
In the :1bsence of such knowledge, we beg to impress upon
you the necessity of paying attention to the members and genders of nouns and pronouns, and to the persons of verbs. Be
careful to avoid confounding the singular with the plural;
:is, " 'l'hesc was mine, und they was his, but we changed, aud
that's how I come to lMve them."
If you are in doubt iu writinrr such n. sentence, just retlect
how you make the same state~nent with the t?ngue, then
ndopt the same for the pen, and your sentence will read,

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CllESTERF!fi!LD S r.ETTER-WRITEB

"Those were mjne, anii th ese wero his, but wo mndo au ex
ehnnge, and hence I cnrne into possession of th"""·"

.A. little quiet reflection will often serve you well, even if
you are unacquainted with the rules of grammar.* You
might wri te, or in conversation say, "I was g-oing along the
street, and who should I see but the fellow him sel r, and I
whispered to J enkins, ' That's him.'" Now, a little use of
the reasoning faculties will enable :my one to detect the inaccuracy of this much-used phrase, "That's him ;" for it is
evident at first sight that tltat is an impersonal pronoun, but
him is a personal pronoun, and hence they cannot be used in
conjunction. To say " That is the man,'' would be correct,
because we do not then use a personal nonn or pronoun at
all. In the same way it would be incorrect to say, "l th11t
tell you this," because that, ll.'l already stat!:d, cannot apply
to the pronoun I , and we say, "I who tell you this."
What are called demonstrative and relative pronouns
most frequently occasion difficulty to the uninitiated . This refers to an obj ect near the speaker, that to an object distant
from the speaker. These is the plural of this, and those is
the plural of thnt. They remain the same in every variation
of person, ge nder, or case. Hence we say, " This man and
these boys whom you see here. "
Ia reference to time, this is applied to the present, and
that to the past aud future ; as, " This is an age of wonders,
that age was qistinguished for its feats of arms-that time is
not yet come."
Who, which, and that, are employed in relation to some
person or tbiag in a sentence, and the person or thing so referred to is called the anteccdeiit ; as " The man who spoke
to you produced the letters to which I refer, and amongs.t
them the one that I wrote." .A. difficulty is sometimes experien ced as to the respective uses of that and which.
JV!w and that may be employed with reference to the
<i1ree persons I , thou, and he, in both singul ar and plural;
but which should be used only in reference to a noun in the
third pers0n, 5ingular or plurul.
But perhaps the words was and w ere, which are parts of
the verb to be, are the least understood of any in our Ian*See

l~J... tvo

a.ncl Learn, '' or 1000 mtetnkcs in speaking and writing oor-

rw.ted. Publlsbod by D1ox

AND FITZQEBALD.

l'rlce 50 cents.

i

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••

GRAMMATICAL BLUNDERS.

guage. An uneducated person will write or say, " If I wr s
going, and you was coming;" and sometimes t hose who bavo
noticed that educated persons use these words, so mewhat peculiarly fly to another extreme, and say, "I icere about to
say." When such an utterance is made before a grammarian, who has a sli ght love of the lu<licrous, it, bas a tcrnlcncy
to make him explode, so very comical is that were when so
placed.
1'Vas belongs always to the siugular number, and were to
the plural; as, I was, thou wast, he was, we were, you were,
they were.
'l'be verb also takes the form of were in any conditional
case, so that whenever it is prcceedcd by {f you will bear in
mind that was is a sign of vulgarity and ig norance. If I
were, if thou were, if he were, if we were, if you were, if tbriy
were.

SPELLING.
Rules for Rpelling words cannot be given here, am! the
dictionary must be your guide when ever you are in doubt.
To spell a word incorrectly is not alw ays a proof of the
wri ter's incapacity ; for, iu the manuscripts of eminent scholars, iustances of the ldud frequ ently occur-the re:;11 lt of
hurry and inad~ertence. But there are some kinds of bad
spelling that enable us to di stingnish between the carelessness of the scholar and the blundering of an ig nornnt writer; for iustance, the confo11ndiug of the compurntivc as for
the past ten:ie of the verb to have . . Yet. there is nothing
more ea-~y of comprehension than the difference between
" He has the book, and it is bound in the same way O$
yours." Tbe first implies action-the action of possession ;
the second, compurison. How distinct and unmistakeable ;
and yet how often we see a neatly writtcP letter, in which
the writer asks," ru he told yon so?" or, " as it happeucd?"
Words which have the double I, or m. or n, a.re very common, a.nu 11re frequ ently mi ss1jclt. F ortunately 11 very good
n1le can be given for the g uidunce of the letter writer. When
you are in doubt just pronounce the word aloud , and noti ce
where the accent fall s, and place the douhlc consonant instead of the single one, if the accent falls on th e syllab le
preceding it. For instan ce ; if the word befallen were pronounced bef'alen it would be spelt with oue 1; but as the

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CITESTERFIELD S LETTER-WRITER.

P A R AGRAP H S AND PUNCTU,nroi..

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nccent falls on the second syllable-b efallen-the double l
is c11rrcc ll y used.
·w e mig ht fill a page with examples, but pr{'fcr to state
the rule on ly, and leave the reader to note the iustanccs in
the dictionary, or call them to mind by the aid of th e memory. The rule is hu t little kuowu, but is none the less
valuable on th at account .
·w ords in whi ch the compounds ie and ei occur, afford 11
fur t her inst.:incc of the necessity for a rul e, and fortunately
we can g i vc one : but its value will depend on the person's
accuracy of pronun ciation.
In order to impress th is r ule on the reader 's mind , we
must beg him or her to remember that whenever ci or ie occurs in Gcrrn:iu, the sernnd vowel 11 aR it.~ full vowel sound;
for instance, Liebig is pronoun ced Leebig, a 11<l Blcitcr , BZi'l er ; in each case the second of the two vowels lms its full
sound , a ud the first remains mute. Now, a pply thi s to Engli sh wor<l s in ie 11nd ei, and you l1 ave t l1 e k ey at once to the
mode of' spelling them . 'l'he word fi end is pronounced feen <l,
and hence yo u put the i first because it is mute. But neither a nd either are pronounced ni-ther and i-th er ; and the
proper way to spell them, therefore, is to put the e first, the
e beiug mute. Vie believe that both these rules will prove
useful to many who a re a li ttle bit learned in literary matters, a nd as f'a r as we know, they have not been g iven before. Our read ing has not been limi ted, Int we b11ve never
scell such rul cR laid down for spelling in the case of double
consonants, 11nd the di graphs ei 11n<l ie .
CAP ITA LS shou ld be cautiously used in letter-writing . We
sh ould <'e rt:ii11l y not con fin e the writer of a l ett~r to the
ri g i<l rnle obse rved in printed lilerature, because an importa nt word may sometimes be grnced with a capital whi ch, in
a printe<l furm, would begin with a small Jetter. But an indiscriminn.te or even freq uent use of capitals, is 11 proof of the
pl cb ia u ori g in and ignorance of the writer. 'l'he name of a
person or a place should alw:iys be commenced wi th a capital, and every fresh paragraph sbouhl commence with a ca pita l ; bcyon<l t his, t!:erc is li ttle need for th eir use--stn ctly
speak ing noue.

Italic l8f!e.1·.~ nro empl oyC'<l t.o c1 1s11nguish the ~·onl s of a forei(ln Inn ..
i:ue.go th nt. 111a.v he tntro<1 11ce,J in to a !3ent enl.!e, or to denote tbs.t those of
our own, thus tl ititlnguislH'd, nro 1rn rtlc nlur ly cmpliotio and oxprnssl vc.
Tbe ltnllc cbarncter was in vented Rnd lnt,roduce<l by .Aldus Mnnuthrn, a

oelobratetl V enetl&n printer, ln 1001. Tho Itali c wordo In tl1e Sncrc<l

Scriptures nro snch ns hnvo no cone~pond in g wo r<l s In t he orl ~ innl TJ cb r cw
or Greek but were added by th e trnn sltttors, to co mpl ete tlt u ~C'n~e. &c.

In 'loriti1~(1. It ts customary to mu.lerliue such words ns wou1U be Ita li.ol scd in printiug.

P ARAORA I'TIS.-.A. letter whi ch runs on like a stl'e:im, without stops, a nd with no division into pP.ragraphR, is as ricl i?n·
lous 11 thin .,. as one in which every other word con nnences with
a capital J~tter. But you may find a diflict~l ty in breal~i11g
your matter into separate paragraphs, and, rn yonr anxiety
to do the thing properly, may break in to two or m ar~ porti ons 1 that whi ch shou ld not be broken at al l. But 1f yo'1
bear in mind that p:irngraphs bear tbe same relation ~o
wri t ten compositions that heads do to a sermo n, an<l acts
a ud scc11cs to a phi.y, you w ill percci ve at once that every
paragraph should ?011ta in within it the. e?~1p l ct~ relation .o r
an incident, or an unportant part or dm s1011 of a rclat!on
of a n in cident, or a distinct statement of some kind, lmv1ng
no rel at ion to the statement whi ch fo llows. and which latter
will properly fo rm a nother pangraph. Pay a Ji tLle attention to tbe manner in wh ich paragmphs of b ooks arc arra1wcd-this, for instance--and you will see that there is no
rul; !IS to the le1wth of a paragraph ; it may consist of one
or two lines only~ or of a hun<lred, but it must lmve a distinctness an d to some extent a comp letene8s of' its owr..
Lady writers are Yery much n.t fault in t his p[trti cula r ; th ey
hurry 011 from one thing to a nother, from J ames's cold to
B etsey's fever ; t hen to the fashion of bon nets, or t he prevalence of hats; thence to wed<l ings that have h appe n ~d, a 1.1<l
to weddiuo-s that n.re about to happen ; 1111d then to 111qu1ries of all lcl ncls, and rep lies to inquiries that lmvc bc 0 n a<l-_
dressed to t hem; and the whole of snch scparnte 11rnl Llist.in ct
matters are strung together, sometimes without s tops, but
very often indeed with no divisirn iuto paragraphs. Yet
not.bing can be more simple, for the ma tter readily sep_arat?s
itself into portions, if it be carefull y scanned , a nd it will
soon be discovered that this necessary a nd proper division
may be accomplished without the help of a professor, or a
<'' ,usultation of blue stockings.
PUN CTUATION.
•'PUNCTUATION Is the art of dlvlcltng B written com p o~Hlon, by certain
m n.rks, to d enote the different paueca w UicJJ the sun.so and construction
requlre.

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Cll l':STF.!IFIELD'S LETTE!l· WRITER.

HOW TO WRITE FOR THE PR!!'.SS.

u The mRrk ,i; uMd In punct11ntlon nrc, t.l1A comm a (, ) the ·~icolon (;),
t.llO colon(: I, tho peri od orf"ll point(.)·, tile note of adnni ration (I), and

Le.wyers disdain punctuation in their doeume:;its, and
scholars will never cease to pi t.y them so long as they
continue the practice of co11s1ru cting documents witbout
stops. Are law clerks endowed wi th any g reater power
of lungs than other people, or arc th ey so c!e,·er in extemporaneous p11nctuat10n, tha t th ey can always m:11'k the
pans~ correctly in the per~sal of documents! No, it is the
practice. or rather ~he habit, of the. profession ; the_ wor~o
then for the profess10n. Let no aspirant to elegance m epistolary correspondence disdain the services of those valuable
lltt!c dots, tbe comma, the semicolon, the colon, and the period. The comma and the period will do nearly all you
want; the dash may sometimes be useful ; but the other
t_wo require more experi ence to use them well. Wherever a
proper pause occurs, wherever the sentence seems na_t~r~l!y
to halt, stick in a comma; and when that head, or d1v1s10n,
or sentence, is really completed, put dowu your full-stop, ancl
begin again with a capita! letter. Observe how this is managed in books, and you will gain more instru ction iu punotu ation in ten minutes than we could teach you were we to
devote sevPrn.I pages to the subject. Correct punctuation
not only gives ~!egan ee to a co mpositiou, but it makes its
meaning clear, eaforces attention to those words or passag_es
which most require it, and to a great extent prevents a misunderstanding, or wilful misconstruction of the writer's
meaning.*

th e 11 ote of i11te1·ro11ation (?) .
"A cc11nma, which Is t.h e shortest pause, ts used to sopn.rnto th oeo parts

of s sentence, whi ch, th ough very closely connected in se.nse. req uiro R
pnuse between th em. Two or moro sub $ln nti vc~. nrljectlves, &c., Imme~
<li nt(' ly Rt1crc c rling each other, require a comm a nfter enc h ; n~, Siie is
yom1u, hamf.~fHne, a1Hl aurua hl e ; but, If conn ected by n. conj un cti on,
the comma Is n ot r<'qulrcd ~ nH, IIo i a a wisea1td learnerl m an. When
nn arl<lress ts mnll c to n pm·son, th e n onn requires n commR before nnd
afler it; n.q, A tteml, child, to whtit J say. :Many nd ve rb~ req uire a comma
before Rn cl nfter th e m, ns perhaps, h owfvcr , indeed, bes·i du, &;c.
u A 8Pmicfllon ts 11 !<cd for scpnrn.tln g those m embers of n. ttontcn eo
·~vhi ch rcqufr~ n lon ~f' r 11nuse than n co mma, nnd n eed so me other member
to r e n1le r the so nRe complete i ns, A clowni8hair i8 but a slight defect;
!td, t ri/li11(J rrn it i~t/, it i s e1r/Jl.cie11t to ·r ender a mn11 d·i Rrt(Jreea7Jle. Or
tt fs u sc<l to <llstl11g11i ~h t h ose membl!rS o f a ecntencc, whi ch , U1011~h l e~s
cl osely co n ncct e1l thnn those scpnrnted by commns, arc not so indcpe n·
d ent as those distin:rn lshcfi by a co lo n; n..q, 'Tlie pa th nf ltruth is a plain
andsa/e1>ath; tlurtnf fal11elwodi.~ aperptra:iu(! maze.
"A cnlnn Is 11.i;:cd wh en n m c mh cr of n. se ntence I~ complete in itself
but is rollowed by som o rHldilionnl rc mnrk or illn strntlon ; ns, 'J'l1 e1·e 'i s 11 0
tnortal irtt.ly 1dse o.·n d rel!tle.~s at the sam e tim,p, : id~uto m is the re.pnRc
qf 1ninri..~ . 'Vh c n scvcrnl members of n s~ n tl'nce ltnv~ b een di stlng u lsh ed
by se mlcolons, t hey r equire to bo E:epnrntl'rl from tho lnst claui:i.e by n
co lon; ns, Education i.<t 118C'C8°"la ry to enli(llden th.A m1'.11.d; it is Qf (71'8a t
i mportance 1·11, the b11s;nMJl1 of life; lmt 1°t i.~ indi.Rpensa.{Jle f Or ,.i."lin(J
i n the 1oorl d: th cr~fiJre im7u·ove i11, 'it 1dtk the u.tmo.st ntMichtity. W hC' n
nn examp le or qn otntlCl n l:: t lu trrnln ced, ltgcncralfy prC'ce<l ed by a co l<'n i
B." , 'Th ~ Scrip tnr<- snys: Ile t hat tnMteth i?i. his mn1 hear/ i .11 a f ool. 1
Th e ix>lon is nl so ntlovtcd fo r the purpose of mnrkln g or <llv fcllng s uch
porti o n ~ of th e service of th e ProtC'stnn t Episropnl · hnrch as nm chnnterl,
8C'pa ratln g ('nch of t hem in to two pnrts ; ns, Witlt. lliR 01cn 1·i oht Juvnd,
a n d wtihh.i.<t holy arm : lt.a th he uut.ten, /iimself th e victory.
"The 7Mrfod. or full point, d enotes th nt s sent <'n ce fs complet e: ns,
D nnor the I\ i11 (l. rt is nlso plaoed after all abbreviations; ns, P.B . .Poft..
1c t •ipf._ A. D . .An110 .Dom i11i.
u A note o.f admirati01i is used wh en some violent e motion of tho
rnl nd is ex pressed; ns, 0, virt1te ! how amiaUe Vwu art I
"A '1Wte of interrouation ts plarcrl nt tlie end of every qu esllon; aa,
IV!dther •hall ''" on f Shall we uo hornt f
"Th ere nrc ~evC' rnl oth er mnrke. nsecl In wrltlnl! nn<l printing which
r equire tl1111-1trntlon. Thfl da Hh 1-) Is used whm the sentence ts brok en
oft' nbrupt.ly ; :is, 7'o di~-to tl/.eep. The 1•arenthesis ()ts u ~r <l to cncloi:io
~omc pnrtof a se.lll <'ncc which mny be om itted withou t lnjurinj!". th e Rr nse ;
as, We all (indnr/;11(1 Jlf'r. A.) w rnt to B o.•to1'. 1' he apo.tropho (') Is
ni;;r rl either
as a sl1::m of th e p osscssh·e co.se, or to sh or ten a word: as,
1
Jfary 8 frock,, tho' for thoui.Jh., ne'er for n e-ver. The caret [A 1 ts used,
1

tall

to show that some '"ord or words are omitted; as, I a1n a man. The
.

A

11.y_plu•n, ts n~e<l t o co nnC'ct eomponnd words; n!', ' eif./()1)8. Tho d·i ert.'l(~
["']is pl nce tl ove r o ne of bt"o vow (•ls, to show thnt th ey are to be Fleparntely pronoun cc11 ; ns, atdal. The i nde<r [ l rl poi nts out n remnrkn.
hlo \lRSOng e . The rr.ofe Uik [*]. th e sin(lle or U<n<ble aaooer ft tJ. p an1l.
lel l" e•. [!],the 8Cct1on [§], il1e 7m.1·aoraph ('fl; ""nl•o emn11 fc lters, "'
&, b ; and fi gu r es, 1, 2, 8, nre used ns references to notfe ln tho mnrgln, or
nt the bottom or tho page ."

TO THOSE WHO WRITE FOR '.l 'HE PRESS.
It would be a great favor to editors nnd printcrn, should
those who write for the press observe the following rules.
They are reasonable, aml correspondents will regard them as
such : 1. Write with black ink, on white paper, wirle
ruled. 2. Make the pages small, one fourth that of a foolscap sheet. 3. Leave the second page of eac~ leaf blank.
4. Gh·e to the written page an ample margm all .round.
5. Number the papers in the order of their succession
6. ·write in a plain bold hand, with less respect to beau ty
7. Use no abbreviations which are not to appear in print.
B. Ptmctuate the manuscript as it should be printed. 9.
• See nn excellent little \vork en titled 11 MIND T OU R STOPS," or 1tPu:1e h1
otlun made pJain.!' Published by Garrett, Dick and .F itzgerald, price 12-i
Ct!iJ.ll.

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THE< COMPLIMF.NTARY NOTE.

For italics underscore one line, for small capitalr. two•
capitals three. 10. Never interline without the c~ret t~
show its pl:tce. 11. Take special pains with every letter in
proper names. 12. R ev iew every word , to be sure that
none is illegi!1le. 13. Put directions to the priutcr, at tho
.head of the hrst page. 14. N ever write a private letter to
the editor on the printer's copy, hut always on a separate
sheet.

continued at 27 Music Street: terms, twenty dollars fur the
course 0f twelve le•sons.
" F~tonic l'nrnd e, J uue 11, 1856."

'l'.HE COMPLIMENT.ARY NOTE
Has a distinct character, and can never be confounded wilb
the familiar epistle. The note style is to be adopted hypersous who are strangers to each other, or not sufficiently
known ~o allow of a familiar style of correspondence. But
the subJCCt ha.~ also much to do in determining whether tho
letter or note form shall be adopted. Invitations of all
kinds m~y be conveyed in the form of the note ; so may congra~~lattons! 8hort reqnes ~ s, and compliments. But where
pos~t1ve bu s m~ss of any kmd is to be dealt with, the formal
busmess letter JS preferable, except when a gentleman writes
to a lady who is a stranger to him, or a lady in writing to a
gentleman stranger; and even then the letter commencing
" Sir,:• or "Madam," may frequently be the best.
It IS a necessary character of a note that it should be
short, plain, and polite, but distant ; as for instance :
"_ llfr. Brown presents his compliments to Miss Qunver, Hnd
know 1f Miss Q. still coutiuues to give lessons on the
gUJtnr.
"Harmony House, June 10, 1856."
de~11·es to

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CHESTERFIELD'S J,RTTER-WRITER.

"Mrs. So.ciable presents her compliments to Jlfr. 11n<1 Mrs.
Gny, anJ will be hnppy to have their company for n frioudly
danc.e, on the eveuing of Tuesduy next, Dec. 18 at nine
precrnely.
'
"The Snuggery, Dec. 12, 1856."
Etiquette must be strictly observed in all such correspondence ; the reply must be prompt, decisive and 118 polite aa
the inquiry or invitation :
'
"Miss Quaver pr~sents her compliments to Mr. Brown, 8Bd
bas the pleasure to illform him, that the guitar classes are uow

"Mrs. Gny presents her compliments to llfra. Sociahlc, :rnd
has •Huch pleELsure 111 nccepti11g for hnrscl f a1Hl l\I r. ()~1y, Mrs.
Sociable's kind invitatiou for the evcuing of Tuesday next, tho
18th instant.
".Makepeace l'lnce, Dec. 13, 1856."
Now, why does Miss Qti:wer give more information than
is sought of her? Simply because she is a shrewd woman,
anxious to extend her professional engagcmeuts, and so she
sto.tes her terms at once, and saves Mr. Brown the trouble
of writing again, and herself the trouble of a second
answer.
'l'his form of correspondc>nce does not admit of remarks
by the way, or even of prolix explanation8, or ramhling
statements and questions. Neither is it adv isable as a form
of communication between very in t imate fricnd8; for af!P.r a
close friendship h!1S been sealed by social communion, am!
many acts of mutual regard, it would be in da.nger of sudden destruction by the appearance on the ·oceue of so cold
a document. We must then adopt a wanner medium, a1'•l
say thus:
"Hart Street, Nov. 9, 1856.
"My Dear Miss Pink,
"We shall have a few friends hero to dinner nt five on
Friday next; will you kindly join u's 1 If lilt.lo A1·n.be lla
comes to town in ti mo, bring her with you, nml gl 1uhle11 ti>"
heart of yours devotedly,
GEOltlilANA PLUM."
One point we should scarcely have thought it necessary
to mention, had we not, while writing this, had a document
banded to us for inspection. We should call it a note" with
n vengeance," for it runs thus:
"Mr. Hawkins presents his compliments to Mr. Henry
Whittle, tmd I want to know if I can proceed wit.h the draw
ings ns you get the models ready. If M.r. Hawkins can muke
progress with the scrolls first, perlrnps you will oblige by introduciug, as uccnsion serves, a few of the new llornl bori!m·s, and
oblige, yours obediently,
J. S. HAWKINB."
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CHESTERFlELD'S LETT El!-WRIT Elt.

THE llU SlN ESS LETTER.

Jf

ow, wlmtc~cr mn.y h_e Mr. H awki:1s's capabilities in
using the pencil, he ccr trunly cuts a ludi crous lirrure when
he se izes th e pen. But for this document , we sLould have
th oug ht it unnecessary to in fo rm the reader tlm t wlmtever
t 1~ne is assumed at stnrting, whether in a' forma l note, a
fr1 cmlly gossipy epi s~l e, or a plai n business letter, th ~t same
~o n e should .be sustamcd throughout, and more especially so
its gran11n at1 cal form. H we write, "Dear Sir, I have had occasion " &c. 1 we
write in the fi1:st person singular; but when we ~ay, " 'fhe
editor hrgs to mform ?lfr.--,'' &c. , we write in the third
p erson s iu~ nl ar. ln the first case we say, I am, in the
latter, he is ; a nd it is imposs ible to shift fr om one form to
nnothcr without at on ce violating the very fuml amcntals of
Eng lish syn tax.
·wh en you write a note you stand, as it were, behind the
~cc nes ; you spc_ak_from a distauce, aud rclCr t o yourself as
1f you were 1i d1stmct personage, having no cl1iirn to I or
we. From that positi on you must not budge an inch, nor
must you attach a sig nature a t the end of your note, but
st ~ tc, a ft.er th e_fn shion of the fo rms given a bove, and as
~n c_fly aud politely as possible, the object of your c0mmun1cal! o11.
~e n ce the uses of the note are r estri cted. It forbids you
to g ive a full account of any transaction, or t o enter minutely. ~nto an,Y de_lD;ils of trad? or business, and more especial~y fr1 cmlly rnqumes, a nd cl11t-chat of any kind; it is comphmcntary, and may be fri endly; but it must bo form al,
, elegant, brief, and so plain in its statement us to require no
ex pl uuation, or any fur ther correspondence bcy0nd au
cqu:iIIy pl ain, poli te, and elegant reply ; and t he reply must
Le 111 the note form. 'l'o reply by means of a note in tho
first J?Crson, wo.uld evince a sad want of propriety, and u
r:oof of very 111 breeding . .A.s a rule, invi tations of all
kinds should come from the mis tress of the house.

TilE FRIEKDLY LETTER.
But thoug h a correspo_mlence may commence in this way,
and may ever~ be so co.ntmue? for complimentary purposes,
r et, as a cqu umttince npens rnto fri endshif, the time will
!on·c day come when such formal modes o · correspondence
may be exchanged for others of a more familiar kind.

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Amon"
men formali t ies a rc soon got rid of, nnil c;;pccially
0
among men of li terary cnl turc, who yiclil to the geniali ties
of their own warm temperaments mu ch sooner than those
who cultivate p oli teucss only; for men of letters, aml cultiva tors of the liberal and fi ne arts, have a lmppy way of
regarding each other as fri ends, even bcforo persona l a cqua intan ce begins. fo li tcrnry circles it is common enoug h
for a person to write to a nother a friendly and confidential
epistle, before the parties have ever seen ea ch- other ; but
even then th e value of tho note in the third person would
not be overl ooked, and such a letter would never be made
t o do du ty for it, and complimcntriry ma tters would still
ha ve their proper form al mode of expression.
lln t , supposing au acquain tance to be commenced through
the: cold medium of an invi tation, a congratul ation, or. a
b arren compliment, when may the pa rties a band on such a
form, and adopt one mOJ'() congenial to their mu tual regards
for each other , and the ex prcssiou of the more enlarged communion of feeling whi ch may have sprun;r up between them?
Pla inly, wheu they feel that th ey really understand each
other, a nd are on terms of real acquaintance, if not of co nfid entia l fri endship. H creiu they must judge for themselves
but with out haste, and cauti ously.
Individual judgement, based on circumstan ces, is the only
guide in such a case, but is a g uide which can never fail, if
th ere be a small amount of common sense to support it.
When your h eart yearns towards your fri end , wh en you feel
tha t you have been too long separated by the demarka ting line
of cold conventionali ty, sit you down ,and wri te to him-n ot
from the head, bnt from the heart ; but keep n rein gently
ti ghtened on your enthusiasm, for fea r he should think you
are over-doing it. But you must st ill be a li ttle complimentary till you know each other well ; g ive him credit for
his good judgement, good taste, good feeling, or whatever or
hi s qu ali ties strike you as formin g a prominent part of his
ch aracter; and you may do this without being ser vile, wi thout bespattering him with sickly fla t tery, wi thout li cking
the soles of his feet. S hould you stoop t o tbc la tter, you
may expect to get kicked in n .'urn; and y<'t a little gentlemanly adulation, neatly done, and impli ed rather than said,
is a great charm in fri endly correspoudcnce, and will be
pretty sure to bind your correspondent to you by very
enduring ties.

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CnIGSTERFIELD'S J.ETT1':R·WRITER.

But . yon 1.rn.\:e ~p~ncd your h crirt, and have said " My
dear ~Ir. \V1!1011s, 111stead of "l\lr. Bumps presents his
complnncnt s to Mr. 'Wilkins."
·
·
'.Viii he reply in a kindred t one ? Ile mnst. He dare not
send yon bac k a cold note of Rix lines, written in the center
of an odoriferous sheet nf th e purest crcam-la1d. If you
get hack a yery polite note, di sta ut as usual, the third per·
sou responding: to your assuring first, give it up, you are uot
wanted ; 1:cmam as an acquaintance if you please, but be
sure that m that quarter you have no friend .
Uevcrnc the ca~e, and all that npplies to Wilkins applies
to .rourself; and 1f you. want to elbow aside an obsequious
flatt~re:, wh o thrnsts !11s uuwelcome eulog ies, or his .holl ow
~or1hah ty-~crh aps With a future view to borrow-upon ynu
rn •:n excess ive ly l?lensant way, settle him with an aw fiilly
polite. short, a 11<1 di stant note, a nd he must be a fo ol, indeed,
if he d?es not understand at once that" it won 't do."
A f~·JCndly correspondence once established mu st not relapse 11~ to mere . formaliti eR, unlesR a decide(] quarrel and
scparat10n have taken pin.cc. Small dilfcreDces or disagrP.emrnt.s are never t? make any change in your modes of
addrc:ss and expression, for th ere is nothing meaner thno the
sevcrml? of the obvious ties of fri eDdship for trifles, though
such thmgs do take pla.ce every day. It should be rcmern?ercd tha.t ne ither fric1!d ship, Dor cordial acquaintanceship,
rntcrfcre 111 any _way with a person 's opinioDs or conduct, so
long '.1--9 the u::1ve.rsally recog ui 8ed priuciples of honor and
morality ~r~_1;ot. 1•wlatcd. Y uu rn:iy som~ clay ha ve to op~ose yom Ji !entl at a caucus meeting, or 111 a warm di Rcuss1011 on rch~1on or politi cs ; yet his aversion to your views
am! yo_11; 1mpetnou s oppositi on to his, are not to prevent
you writmg'." l\ly dear llnrry," or" My dear Tomkins" or
" lily il l'ar 8 1r," ns you did before the diJforencc broke' out:.
D?pcnd upon i!-,_ there is not bing more contemptible than t~
ta1ut the_nmcmtics of soci:tl li te with exhibitions of temper
or vexation, or .to suffer the pen to express unfriendly se uti·
meats ~r. g rcct1.11gs of a sudcle11ly cool character, because
so.me tnflmg d1ilercuce hu.s arisen between yourself a ll(] your
friend.
. Her~ it_ should he hin.tcd that whatever mod e you adopt
Ill ailllteSSl!l!i a P?rson, IS to be preserved in future correspomlencc, 11 not rn exactly the same words, at leas t the same
m purport ; you must not go back except for a special reason,

THE FRIENDLY LETTER.

bnt you may go forward with a proper grnce as intimacy
ripens, and increase the warmth of your congrntnlatious.
We remember an incideut which may be mentioned iu
illustration of this. A gentleman had been for many years
on terms uf intimate fri endship with his ta ilor, and the cor·
respondence between them , wh ether of a fri endly or a hu~i­
ness nature, had always a cordial tone p ervading it, nn ti! cin
one occasion the friendship was slightly iuterruptcd. In
fact, the geutleman wa.s a little in arrear as to the settlement of his fri end's account, and the latter sent a short and
brusque letter, as follows :

"Sir,
"I mo di Bnppointcd in not h nving received th e nmmrnt of
my bill ns promised by you in your In st: muy I beg the fa vor
of n speedy settlement? Yours obcd ie11lly,
"DIMON SLOWSTICH."
'l' o this an answer was returned as follows :
"My dear Slowstitch,
"Last time you wrote I owed you nothinl!, nnd you
addressed me as your ' D ear Nonplu s ;' but sin ce I h:we unfortun ately failed to meet your do111a.11d , nccordin g to my nwn
promise, you reduce me to a mere' Sir,' upon your li ot of
patrons. Do you intend to terminnte n friend ship of tnn years
in this wny, or do you purpose res uming tb e ' D enr Nonplu s,'
with n viow tn bt> mine' faithfully,' whe11 tho nccount iR settled
(us it will be to ·morrow) remaining in th e meanwhil e mitte
'obediently,' only 1 \Vill you 11 !1ow me to sul!gest t.Jrnt ex pres·
gions of fri e ncl s hip nre open to qu c, ti on, both as to th e ir valu e
nnd th eir sincl'l"it_v , whnn 1,hcy t1re nrndo to d••pcnd on business relations fo r their mspecti'e anwuuts or warmth ur coldness whieh slmll ho infu sed iu to th em. To lie consistent, I
sh nll hnvc to adopt 11 cri nging tone wl1en I owo you money,
nud a tone of pompous p11trom1g-e the moment I have puid it;
tbat is, if' nny e11rrespo ndence should continue hetw ce n your~elf and yours very truly,
STEPHEN NONPLUS."
Among the form~ of address for fri endly , complimentary
and semi-business letters, we have the formal "Dear S ir" for
nse on all occasions. The solicitor so addresses his cli ent,
the client liis solicitor, the pa tient his physician, th e editor
his contributor, and, indeed, a ny man of gcutlcmanly pre·
tentions, ttddressiug another to whom he has already been
hJtrodL1ced, or with whom he ha~ already corresponded . In

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THE BUSINESS LETTER.

corre5ponrlence of a professional nature, w!Jc,re both parties
are otrangcrs, it would a]w[tys be well to commence with
the simple " Sir," or " Ma(hm," and in ti1c second or third
letter adopt th e more agreeable " Ucor S ir," or " Dear
~lada.m-'.'
little ca lmn cef!l ent of th e ge ntl emanl y or laclyhk c feel111g 1s to be found rn "My dcu r Sir," or" J\1y dear
l\ladam," which m:ty by deg rees, as tl1e parties kn ow arnl
respect each other more sincerely, t ake the very fri endly and
now fashionabl e form of "?11.y clc[tr ]\'Ir. Swallowwing," "My
clear J\lrs. I'cttitoc,'' or" My dear .Mi ss Ni g htingale." The
la tter form is that most in use at th e present clay in polite
s::iciety, betwee n persons who lmve met at leas t once, and
wh o arc on terms of acquain tancv, in 'rhicli busin ess !ms no
part whatever.
·when folk s bep;in t o say " My dear Higg inbottom," "My
cl ear old boy,'' ancl " .My clear follow," all strict rul es of etiquette are at a n cn<l , and good sense g ives a proper form to
the free ex pression of' rnntu al fri endship. ·Ilut fri eudship, lik e all other moral and materi al adorn ments of li'.'c, is subjec t ~o blig ht occasionally, and the
str onges t urn on n~ay be d1 s3o] vcd by a fiercer beat arising
from tb~ combustwu of th ~ YCl'J'. dregs and lees of amity.
Your fn end a~rnoys you, d1 sappomts you, breaks his word,
or lets off a bit of scandal that reaches your ears . Then
you will "~· rite hi~1 such a letter/' you'll tell him plaiuly
what you thrnk of 111111, and put him to shame by the evidence of black and white.
N ow, if you arc wise you will do nothiarr of the sort·
you will nm·cr write a single word that may c'.'ausc sha me o;
pain in the reader 's mind, or that th e wr iter may have cause
hereafter to regret. A letter is a document fhrtt may be
preserved for ever; and should you be mi staken. or on ly
partially info!·mcd, or the victim of your own too hasty or
rn compctcnt .indgcment, your own hancl and seal may rcmaiu
as a witness of your rashness, p e rhap~ of your meanness, to
the end of your days, ay, am! long alkr that, to the end of
the work] even.
Th erefore, if you want to tell yom fri end yonr mind, do
l\Ot writ~, but speak it.; a spoken bitterness m:iy be forgotten
nnd f?rg1v e11, bnt a written one cann ot be so readily forg iven,
and 1t can never be forgotten; no, not even if burnt; for
when we are stung in the perusal of something, the effect
goes deep, and becomes lasl.ing, and can scarcely ever be

thoroughly erased, evrn by all-corroding time. A fi erce
letter, a sharply written reproof, or a di sparag ing commtmication to a fri e-nd has been t he cause or embittering mauy
a couple of li ves ; and it may he safely said t ha t tha t should
never be written wbkh we may, within · possibili ty , wish
hereafter to recall . vVe are all fallibl e, and may, therefore,
be very mu ch in error when we fee l very sure t hat we are
in the rig ht ; ancl that consideration should be suffi cient to
make any sensibl e man ::ir woman pause before giving vent
to anger, with tb e pen in the hand.
Ilut exceptions to such a rul e may occur; an admonition,
a reproof, nay , even an accusation, may sometimes be necessary, aucl a letter be the enly possibl e mode of co nvey ing it.
Let good sense and good feeling determine how the case
shall be, and let it at be the same t ime borne in miud, that
what is once written cannot be unwritten, and that g reat er
caution is necessary in using the pen, than in using the
tongue.

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CITESTF.RFHlLD'S LETTE R-WRITER.

THE BUSINESS LETTER
, Must be pithy, short, and go straight to the pomt.
•Pleasantry is not advisable, except bet ween persons v.·ho
arc very in timate, and even t hen it is best to keep l'ricud·
ship and bnsiuess as much apart as possible.
" 'l'be first thing necessary," says Lord Chesterfield , " ia
writing letters of business, is extreme clearness and perspicuity; every paragraph should be so clear and unambiguous tlmt tbe dullest fell ow in the world may not he ahle
to mistake it, nor be obliged to read it twi ce in orcler to
understand it. This necessary clearness implies a co rrec tness, without cxclndiug an elegance of style. In business,
an elegant simplicity, the result of care, not of labor, is
required ; nor docs it exclucle the usual terms of' politeness
aud good breeding, but, on the contrary it stri ct.ly requ ir1's
them." A writer, after itemting L ord Chesterfield's remarks, continues : "The one principal and pervading object
of all communications on matters of busin ess is to COIJVt'Y
the t;honght which the writer is wishi;ig to impart ; that is
understood to be so import..'tut, that it alone is to be a ttended _
to, 11.nd all interfering purposes rejected. And, if this intention be closely and freely followed, a beauty wi ll sprinl! up
in ths very plainness that will thereby be reached ; fur 1.rtJre

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OllEST:SRFIELD B LETTER-WRITER.,

is a rare and essential elegance abiding in the barrenness
of mere and perfect perspicuity."
.
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In writing, be particular, aµd cle:i-r, m ar:angmg tl'.e
subjects of your letter. Some direct10ns _relatmg to. th!S
and appicable to cpi~tolary. corresponden_ce rn ev~ry vanety,
will be found in the immediately succeedmg Sect10n. Commence with the most important subject of .Y~ur letter. To
every distinct subject, or point, allot a d1st1ct paragraph.
Long and involved sentences, or sentences composed of several members, must be avoided. For the sake of perspicuity a careful attention to punctuation is necessary. At
the ciose of your letter, a short rccapitulution of its Ie:i-ding
contents will be found useful : to your correspondent, m the
first instance ; to yourself, in the second, as matter of reference in your copy.
.
.
Be prompt and punctual i~ yonr replies.. A recap1_t.ulation, at the close of a reply, 1s yet more dc.~1rable than m
a first direct communication. "In this, however," observes
Anderson in bis Practical Mercantile Correspondence,
"merchar{ts have also another object, which is to. render
their letter-hooks, as far as possible, a history of their tra.n- ,r
roctions, for the advantage o~ ready ref~rence after a la
of years, and for production m court, with the beUer etfe
in case of litigation. Accordingly, every letter shoul
speak, as it were, for itself, and give all the necessary ,particulars of the transaction to which it refers." •
· '
All Letters should be dated ; that is, they should present,
at either the head or conclWlion, the year, the day of tho
month and the name of the place whence written. The
date of a letter is often of great importance in' reference-especially in nfJ'airs of business. For the same purpose,
it is a good plan also to place the date on the upper left
hand corner of the letter when folded, preceding the supel,"•
scription.
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Letters on business should be dnted at the head-that JS,
on the first page ; together with the name and address of
t.he parties written to, ihus : .
..
"New York, April 30th, 1857
"Messrs. James M. Harris & Co., Philudelphla.
I' " Gentlemen" We beg to inform you," &c.
The ol:\ject of adopting this mode . of address . is, .w

•

THE BOSINESS LETTER.

provide against accident, or an attempt at fraud, by re.
mg otf the superscription of the letter, or destroying th.
envelope in wh~h it might have been placed. In such a\
cruse, it would be dlfticult to prove tcr whom the letter might \
have been written; cansequently, in ·a court of justice, its
production would be defective as evidence.
All letters, received in a manufacturing, mercantile, or
trading establishment, should, when read, be carefully folded
11.nd endorsed, with the name of the correspoudcnt, the date
of writing, and the date of receipt ; with n. blank left for
· the date of the answer. For example:

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"New York, :March 10th, 18[)7.
" Willi11mson, Thompson, & Co.
" Received, ll:larch the 12th.
" Answered,

"

Many persons, not much accustomed to use the pen, have

.a. notion that if any occasion happens to call for a letter on
any bWliness matter, that they mWlt at once compose n.
tedious rigmarole of statements and explanations; and, find·
ing it difficult to make up what they consider a " capital
letter," they defer writinl? until the occasion is perhaps gone,
or at least until the busrness.-in hand has sufforcd considerable injury by the .dela :.« But if they would divest their
minds of 111! ideas of"' mrary composition, and just wi·ite
down what they would say, and in the fewest possible word8,
such persons would find business corrcspoudencc agreeable
rather than irksome. 'fhus a manufacturer of wooden
bowls writes to his wholesale hoWle, tc 'ask for an advance of
cash, and commences thus :
· "Sir,
"I nm sorry to inform you that in conseqtwnce of not
being able to complete :in order, which wns s«11t me from
some parties at Albany, and which ought, nnd whi ch I, indeed,
promised to have completed nnd forwarded by the freight train,
on ·w ednesday !Mt, but which I have not sent on nccount of
being so short. I could nnt gn into the market for wond. nnd
therefore could not complete the order, and nm obliged reluctantly to request of you to be sn kinrl tt R to oblir:;n 11w with 1111
advnnco by cnsh of one hundred dollnrs, on nccouut or thu
orders I hnve in hand for you, nnd which I Bbnll be nble, if you
·ca.n do me the fn'rnr of obliging me with one hundred dollnr"'

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/ f forwarding -without _fail
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on Tuesday next, 1md
•ur bu.ruble sod obedient eervsnt.
·
. TURNER

THE BUSINESS , LETTER.

eh~;J remsbi

The followbg f\re B()me capital . examples of Businei\I(
Letters:
· ··
·

WOODENHEAI/.'

To a. Merchant proposing to open en Account•

.When h!s employer receives this he ~II look hard at it
ti ll"o~gh his spectacles, read a few lines, then put it down
and take .it up again, growing tes~y as he procePds, and at
last toss 1t across the desk to his clerk, saying, "Herc.
Crampton, I ca?'t ~e~ W oodeohead's letter ; just make it
out and answer 1t; 1t s as bad as having to read the supplement to a newspaper to have a letter of his come in."
·
Would not our friend tremble to see his request for one
hundred dollars on account handed over to a junior clerk,
perhaJ?S .to ~e forgotten for a day or two, or explained to
the prmc1pal ID such a careless way as to insure for it eithC'r
no reply at all or one in the negative? Let him therefore
write a short, plain letter, thus :
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Ciucinnati, Feb. 7th, 18-.
SIR,-My friend, Mr. - - of B-- street, bas spoken C'f
you in terms of high recommendation; so much so, iudued,
that having found reason to wit.ltclruw my orders ·from my
late - - . I nm disposed to open an account with your firm.
You will therefore much oblige me by forwarding 11 list of
prices, together with other necessary particulars as to yonf
manner of doing business.
·
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
To Mr.--.
(--).

Do. to a Publisher's Firm.
"!)Aon Street, New York, July 27, 1856.
"Sm,-I find myself much pre~sed for cnsh, snd have some or-·
ders from a house at Al~1my, which shoul? have been completed
by Wednesday last, besides the goods which are in progress for .
you. .As I have not ready money sufficient for the purchaee
of wood, will you kindly advance me one hundred dollars on ·
account 1 Thnt woulcl enable me to complete and deliver tho
goods I have in hnnd for you, by Tueliday oe11t, as well as thoso
referred to for the .house st Albany. ~s1the case is nn urgent
one, ! have no 'doubt you will eonfer such a fovor on yours
obediently,
TURNER WoODENHEAD
.
"To Mr. Longpurse, Pearl Street.~'
·
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Chic!lgo, May 3d, 18-.
GENTLl:MEN,-As our busines• is rnpidly on the iucrenr.e,
we are desirous of openiug an account with your house, arrJ
shall feel obliged by your trausmitLing us a trnde list of your
publications, as well as some of your general cntaloguM.
Our usual terms of settlement are as follows (11ere state tlte""). .
Should they be agreeable to your house, the favor of 110 ea·
attention to our request will ol.ilige,
Gentlemen,
Your obedient servants,
(-&-

'l'o Messrs. - - & Co.

.vb.en [rie?dly matters are mixed up with business, such

To a·Firm, seeking n Clerkship •

...s an m.v1tat10n to tea, and an order for soap ; or a proposal
for a dnve, and a requrst for payment of an account· the
~everal matters shoul~ be st_ated in distinct paragraph~, not
Jumbled together, aa 1f t)ie ideas were first shaken np in a
hat, and then turned out m a heap, according to the caprices .
o~ chance. S.tate Y?nr business proposals plainly, and yonr
friendly greetm~ ~mdly, and let friendship always take
precedence, else 1t will appear that your invitation or com- ·
pliment is a mere make-weight or an afterthought intended
to preserve a profitable connection ; though as a rule the Jess ·
busiaes~ and friendship are .mixed t-0geth~r, the b~tter for

all parhes.

·

Brondwny, April 4th, 18-.
UENTLEMEN,-Perce.iving by your ndvertisemcut in the
of--, tlrnt y<••1 are hi want of 11 clerk, I Leg to enclos!l
testimonials, and ve:1ture to hope thut from my previous ex
pcrieuce in the line of businc•ss yon pursue, I should lie of
some use in your estnl...lishment. My habits of life are such ne
to ii sure regularity in the discbnrge of rny duties, and 1 can
only assure you that, should you honor me with your confi
deuce, I 8h11ll sparn no pnius to ncquit myself to your sntisfaction.
I remain, Gentlemen,
'
Your obedient Servnnt,
· To Messrs. - - .
L---).

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.A. Testimonial on behalf of a similar applicant.
. .
Albany, April 3d, 18-.
. GE~TLEMEN,-Fmdmg thot Mr. - - is an applicant for 11
~1tu~tw11 us clerk, I beg to sny 11 few wDrds on biR behu;f.
£?~nng the - - ~ear.a .he . was in .my employ, I found him
d1ligc11t and cons~1enttous m t.l1e discharge of his duties, remnrkabl_y cl ever 111 corresyondence, 11nd correct in the mon ngeme1~t of my books . . Indeed, nothing but my retiring from
bu s.111 ~ss would hove 1_nduced me to port with him, a nd 1 firmly
hclwve that bot~ Ins p~nonnl chnrncter, ond his thorough
knowled ~o of busmess, will render hiw a vnluable ncquisitiun
to your firm.
I remain, G entlomeu,
Yours most obediently,
'.i'o Messrs. - - .
(--).

To a Correspondent, requesting the payment of a sv.m of llioney
New York, April 12th, 18- .
Sm,-Althougb the balance of th e account between us l1R8
b~en of lung standing in my fornr, yet I would not Jn1ve ttpphed to you nt present, !ind not. n very un expected dcmarnl
been mttde upon me for a cons1d e rnble sum which wi t houj
your ttss1 stnnce, it ~ill not IJ~ in my power to ;mswcr'. When
I lmve an opportumtr of sel'rng you, I shnll then inform you
~f th~ JJ~t.ure of tlus dt•rn!md, ttnd the ne~essity of my dischm 15rng it. I l1 ope you will excu se m e tins freedom which
not.hrng )Jut ~ regnrd to my. credit nnd family could oblige m e
. to tnke If 1t dues 110t sUl t you to remit the whole plll"t will
be thnnkfu lly r eceived by
'
Yours very r esp ectfully,

To--

.

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(--)

Delaying the Payment of a Debt.
Clrnrleston, June 15th 18-.

~ENTLEM!:N,-1 mu~h regret that circum~tances pr~veut my
ncl)lg as pun ctunl as 1s my wont, 11nd hope you will kindly
renew th e , occeptnnce you hold of mine for anotlier th ree
ho fo1l~rc of. a person largely indebted to me, nnd
mo i.ths.
eo~e other losses m busrness, hare caused me sc•ere incouve111 e11co, 1md I r ea lly must depe11d upon your leniency as on11
means to enable me to recover myself.
I remain, G entlemen,
Your obeditmt and faithful eervant,
To Messr~ . - ·. -->

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TUE BUSINESS LETTER •

OilESTERl'IELD'B LETTER-WRITER.

on the same su?ject.
M emphis, Jnn . ltth, 18-.

Sm,-1 mu•t really beg of you to defor the ,settl ement of

'.
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ynur account till 11fter the middle of n ext mouth, w hc11 I shall
be in a conditiou to meet your d mi:rnnd. Hcg rettin ~ that cir. curn stanccs prevent my being mo~e p~ompt in attending to
your wishes,
I rema111, S ir,
Your obedient servant,
To _Mr. - .
( - - ).

··•..

.A.rwther on the same subject.

·

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Louisville , August 7th, 18- .
i;m,-Your nccount, amounting to - - , hns indeed remained some time unsettled, but disnppointments uf a pecuniary nntu rn , to whi ch I n eed not m ore particulnrly allud <i,
.will pre vent my liquidntiug it for ~omo time to come, perli.~µs
tbrt!e months, but the pnyment will no~ ex.cecd that porwd .
Frum the pressina ltmgunge of your :ipplicntwn, I nrn disposed
to think thnt n pr~nni ssu ry JJOte for tlrnt time 111ny be of servi ce
to you, in being negotinble ; if so, I have no objection to gin
it, and will be prepared to honor it when duly presented.
I nm, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
To Mr. - .
(--)

A Gentleman desilring the Renewal of a Note of Hand •
Miiwnuki e, August 3d, 18- .
Sm -My note of hand, (or ' acce ptnnce,) will be due on the
28th i~stant but I r egret to sny th11t, owing to circum ~ tn11cc a
beyond my ~outrol, I fenr that I shall not be able tu meet it.
May I therefore request thnt you will g~nnt me tho indul ~en ce
of a short renewal of lsix weeks), 'Yhen I .doubt. not. ot II!Y
menus to take it up. Your compl111nce with this wish will
confer an obligation upon,
Sir,
Your very obedient servant,

To 111r. - ·

.

.

-

(--).

Proposing to open an Account.
San Francisco, Nov. 30th, 18-.
GENTLBMEN,-Having succeeded to. th e business. for.merly
Cllll'ried on by Messre. - - , wo are desirous of entcrmg mto 11

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FA.l(IJ,Y EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE.

38

CHESTERFIELD'S LETTER-WRITER.

negotiatwn with your house for the suppl; of
W
ruentit)ll thttt businebB is httppily very brisk --;;t'-pre 8 cr~t ma~
that, having llllLterinlly i11crt'11scd our connection in ~ncram~~~o .
Oregon, &c:., .we fln~ter onrselviis that we could be very in'.
mtru111e11tnl .m 111ci:e ns~11g t!ie sale of--, We are enconrn red
~make tl11s.npphcat1011 from knowing tbnt you were form!rly
m. the practice of transacting business with Messrs - - in
~IBW~ .
•
We hnve, in ~he menn time, forwarded through Messrs --a J?retty extensivu ordur for your - - by which you wiil 1>e r
cel\'e
tho
of thef articles most i~ demand • we \\·OU
. I·'u
8
t ' nutnre
tJ
ugges . 111 ie e;ent o your ucceding to our 11pplict1tion that
a ~upply of your - - be sent to us, sny every six weeks ur
t" u months, to the extent of 11bout $500. We mention this
smn at present, but nope, when the trial bas been madt' nnd
we find ourselves !n a position regulnrly to supply our co~ntry
agents, to barn rt extended to t\\ice or three times that
amount. lllr. -.-. ~· ho rnturns to your city in the courso of 11
modrth u~ ~wo, will ~rve you every satisfaction ns to our nnmu
positron, but 111 the meuntime we beg to refer you tu
essrs. - - , or tu Messrs. - - & - -.
We trust the order we h.ave now sent will be executed with
all spe~d, a!1d on presentation of the invoice to Messrs __
they will give you a.cheque fo r the amount, as wdl us advic~
by what vessel to ship the goods.
We are, Gentlemen,
Yours obediently,

M

0

( - & - .- ).

To Mesars. - - & Co., New York.

FAMILY EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE.
ALL _intercour:ie between parenl8 and children, whether
or ep 1stoli1.~y, should be free · and confidential.
more. especially of the child to the parent, should
be la rd open without reserve. · There ought to be no ha({
confidences. No friend can feel so deeply interested for
another's ,w.elfore ns fathers and mothers for that of their
own olfsprmg. Few are so well qualified to advise--to
make allowance for ~he er:ors of youth-to judge with
eanJor-to censure with mildness-to point out the right
p1>. l~1, or to reclaim fmm the wrong one. 'l'here is no
8Ubjeet
which either son or daughter can have even a
chance o consulting another with so much advantage 118 a
parent.. Father1 and sons, mothers and daughters, should
~"?lloqural
Ihe l~eart,

UfOll

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39

be the warm, ingenuous, peculiar friends of one another ;
blending the strongest ties of nature with the fondest a!Tections of the · heart-improving and strengthening, expanding, and heightening each. On present feelings a nd circum·
stanceR, on future prospects, whom can the son consult with
so much propri~ty aR his father-the daughter Ill! her
mother? In clll!es which admit of the combined consultation-and there are few that do not-the advantage is more
than doubled to the child.
N ext to the confidence between parents and children,
ought to be that between brothers and sisters-the tender·
est, holiest, most sympathetic affection.
If I may so express myself, I love to see fathers and
sons, as brothers--mothers and daughters, ns sisters; and
this affection may exist in full force without in the slightest
degree infringing the relative duties b etween parent and
child. 'l'o create, however, where it. may not exist naturally, the habit of ingenuousness and confidence in a childto foster and to cherish it where beautiful promise is ·given
from the birth-the parent should act with corresponding
frankness and affection. Virtue elicits virtue as sur~ly Ill! its
opposi tc engenders vice. 'l'o the neglect or unconsciousness
of this great truth must be a.scribed much of that coldness,
reserve, and estrangement which too often subsist. in even
well-disposed families.
· It is an old saying-and, like many other old sayings, it
requires to be accepted with due qualification-that " familiarity breeds contempt." In my view, this does not hold
go()d amongst well-regulated minds. On the contrary, I
· consider that perfect respect is compatible with much familiarity. Form, ceremony, and etiquette, unless held in wise
subordination, are very chilling in the social and affectionate
intercourse of life, especially amongst relations and intimate
friends. Formerly, 1t was the practice for pupils to be
taught, when adressing their parents in the epistolary form,
to commence with the words," Honored Sir," or "Madam,"
"Honored Parent," &c. Much better, I conceive, and
without abating one iota of veneration or respect, to say,
"My dear Father," or "Mother"--0r, "My dear and
honored Father"-" My dearly beloved Mother," &c., according to circumstance and feeling.
owever, as, ·n he !!resent Section, I am writing for the
imitruction and beoelit of youth, upon their entrance into

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CHESTERFIELD'S . LETTER-WRITER.

FAMILY EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE.

tor cliildren itill under .tlie diSCiplliie 'f

41

Unfortunately for me. the profession I have cho~en by no
means meets with the concurrenc.e of even my gene.ml friends,
11nd the world at largo has hi therto held it in tho light of con, tempt. What was the ihfotu ation w hi ch first prompted me to
swerve from the path of wisdom and rectitude which you httd
pointed ou t, I know not Hoel I followed that, I might have
made a more reputable stund in li fe; nt n.ny rnte, moving in a
circle more honored than that into which I have tl1 rown myself. But it is not for me to aggravate my misfortunes; my
task should rather be to re~onci\e them. If I succeed in removing any po~tion of your nD!ier, I more than repay myself;
if not, it is at lenst a trifling m·1dence of my affection, though
repaying not a thousandth part of what I am iudebted to you.
Mitigate, I prny ypu, your resentment. My most ,sanguine
hopes do not hint ati- sudden , or perhaps nt 1111y period, enti ro
forgiveness . Suffer me to write to you now and then-to fpl'l
thnt I am addressing you-to relieve rny achi11 g heart, by aR·
suriDg yon how I love and honor you. l\Iay I entreat, too, you
will not Jct my mother participate with me in your nnger. I
declare to you she is blal..IJeless in respect of this step I have
tu ken.
Imperfectly ns I may have written, I still venture .to send
you this sincere confession; but no attempt at extenuation of
my conduct. Your justice I must ever fonr ; in your mercy .1
may hnve hope.
·
Your affectionate and contrite nephew, .
ELl.I:STON.
R.
York, April 6th, 1792.

UlllMl!llfl;.llDQlggGt>Aaeobeen.ss"d ~tlti head':..
~ --"=--­

!orms are, i_ndeed, of.comparatively little importance.
If you. reside at 11 drntunce from your family-parents,
brothers, srnters, dear and estimable friends-write to them
frequently, a~id at stated periods ; week ly, fortnightly,
monthly, as circumstances may a llow; but-be punctual.
Under the new postage system, no excuse can be admitted
o!1 the plea ~f. expense. lly the establishment of periodical
times for wr1tmg, you know when to write and when to exp~ct a letter ; al! fruitless expectation, anxiety, and expense,
will ~bus ~e .avoided. Correspondence between friends and
relations is, 111 every respect, more valuable interestin"'
use0
ful, and pleasant to all parties, for being r~gular and punctual. In such cases you need not be parsimonious of words
?r se_ntences. Avoiding mere verb iage, express your fcelmgs m the same easy, cheerful manner, that you would use,
wer~ Y?U at home and entertaining the family circle with
th~ mc1dental .c.onverse of the day. By this plan you will
enJOY the add1t10nal advantage of culfrrntin"'
some of the
0
sweetest. and noblest virtues
the human b eart. But do
n~t get mto the worse than useless habit, of correspomlinr1
with those from whose communications you derive neithe~
pleasure nor profit."
Examples, here, are hnrdly necessary ; yet I have a few
before me, which, for their intrinsic merits and characteristi~ pr~priety, are well entitled to p erusal. The first is !I
£~mtent1al le.tter .fr~m a :i:outb, who had unwisely ubandoned
is home, rehn.qm.sbmg 111.gber pro~pccts, and adopt.in¥ the
stage as a profess10n, to !us uncle. 'l'he writer was E lliston,
arterwards cel~brated as a comedian ; the gentleman addressed, Dr. Elliston, Master of Sidney College, Cambridge

of

,v.

My second example, of a character widely different, now
for the first time meets the public eye. It is a lettef written
from a young man to bis brother, after the ' loss of their
sister; and, in allusion to a little differec.ce which hnd unfor·
tunately existed, it is distinguished by a 1mturalness, a
path os, a correctne8s and purity of af\cctionate sorrow nnd
regret, which cannot but be deeply felt.

Sm,-However dism11~ed I fiad myself in this undertakinl'",
and however nsbnmed I _feel at my co_nduct toward8 you, yet I
know the attempt to gain your forgiveness is a duty. I have
taken courage, therefore, to proceed :Fearful as I have rea·
~on to be of your an ger-how slrnll I nddre•s yotl-or whnt
can I allege 1 I can Ree no midd le state between thnt of tho
beloved nepbe"". (ns I have 11 thou.and proofs to know I onco
was) and the dtscarcled Robert Elliston. If but a faint rnv
of.hope would b;en k in to !ead me to suppose 1 should ever re.
gam your confidence nnd esteem, I should then indeed bo
happy. Of my transgressions, lot me confess, I am truly
deeply sensible.
'

"My dear Brother,-! should earlier hnvo ncknowledg-t d
the receipt of y1,ur lette r, but, ut the ti me when due, I henrd
that you also were standing irt t ho shadow of fhnt cloud which
nad darkened our islnt>d borne; 1mcl, in such cnses, silence is
often fo.r more acceptable tlian any word-offering cun bo. For
a reason akin to this, I will not here say much of th11t ·sorrow
which we must mutnally feel. I can griev!.', nnd that Jeeply
the snd necessity which crushed, in the very bloom of existence.
the being of one so admirably natured, both for tho adornment

'

CHESTERFIELD'S LETTER·WRIT~;R.

and enjoyment of life. Yet, as death was tho only escape
from all the grief, and pniu, and disease which haunted her
Inter yenrs, I must rejoice that it 11t Inst overtook her. She io
now where no echo from this world can reach her; a!ild rests
well, I hope, after her most weary pilgrimage. The kindly
mention you f!Htke of her is an earnest that she was nol forgotten; and with you, I regret those circumstances which wade
you, fur. n season, comparative strnngers. What they were, I
never r!ghtl.y understood, nor ~ould it answer any purpose
now to 1nq111re. All I can say 1s, that I eve1 found the dear
lost one~ creature.of most perfect disinter~tedneee, and onu
call !°'O mmd no action of her life which bore the impress "f
caprice or selfi shness; I therefore conc.w.de, that, whatever
the facts were, a very etroug impressi!i'n. must have existed
in her mind, that sli ght had been inteii'ded ; how generated
of courne impossible for me to say. But you must be weli
~ware , that the morbid fanci es of invalids too frequeutly imagine offence where none might have- been intended. A few
:words would probRbly have explained all. Be it, however, as
1t nrny, you are not oue;I know, t<I" think much of this now·
and, if there wtre blame, it will belmore cbnrituble nod hunmu~
to liiy it to the account of the living tlrnn of the deud.
" ~t was her intention to aclrnowledge the receipt of your
marrrnge cards. · Therefore, thin/, of her as if that intention
had been really executed ; as though the olive-branch had
been actually extended. Inability and death alone prevented
her pe!lco·olforing from reaching you." ·
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We give the following real letter as a very pleasing
model and specimen of style :

"--- CoLL:.lGE, Tuesday Evening.

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"My dear Mother,
,
" Though I am now sitting with n back towards you,
rct I love y~u none th~ less; .nnd, what iu quite ns strnnge, I
011n see you JUBt ~s plamly as !f I stood peeping in upon you.
I. ca.n see you all Just ns you sit round the l~mily table. Tell
01e if I do not eeo you? There is mother on the right 1Jf the
lnble, with her knitting, aud a book open b~fure her; and anon
1he glances her eye from the work on paper to that on her
needles; now counts the stitches, and then puts . ho eye on her
b~ok, and st.a~s o~ for another.round. There is .v1..ry, looking
"".lse, and sewrng w1~h all !•ei: m1gh~, now ~nd th en stopping to
~1ve Sarah and Lomsa a hft m gettmg their Iessous, aud trying

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FAMILY EPJSTOLAl\Y CORRESl'O:-!DENCE.

43

to init.inte them in the mysteries of geography. Sbe is on tbe
left side of the table. 'l'here, in the background, is si lent
Joseph,-with his slate, now 11rnkir g a murk, and then biting
his Iii-, or.scratching his head, to see if algebrnic expr~ssiou
may have hiddei1 iu either of thorn places. George is i11 th e
kitchen, tinkerir-.g bis sk11tes, or contriving u trup for that old
offender, the rat, whose cunuiug has so lung brought nwrtificu.
tiou upnn nil his boasting. I cun now hear bis hammer nnd
his whistle-that peculiar sucking sort of whistle, which always
indicates a puzzled state of brain. Littl e William a11d H enry
11re snug in bed, and, if you will just open their bedroom door,
you will barely hear them breuthe. And now mother has
stopped, and is absent ai1d thoughtful, 1111d my heart tells urn
she is thinking of her only 11bsent child. W h" can he be l
Will you doubt any more that I have studied rnngic, nnd cnn
see with my back turned to you, and many 11 hill 1rnd vnlley
between us 1
" You have been even kinder thn.n I expected, or you proni,iscd . .I did not expect to hear from you till to-morrow, at tho
earliest. But, as I was walking to-dity, oue of my clnss-matcs
cried, 'A bundle for you at the stage-office! ' and away I went,
ns litst ns the dignity of n sophi1111ore would 111low mo.. The
bundle I seized, and muffled it under my cloak, though it rnad•J
my arm ache, and, with as much speed as my 'conditions '
would permit me, I reached my room. Out cnme my knife .
and forgetting nll your good advice nhout 'strings and fragments,' the said bundle quickly owned me victor, and opened
. its very heart to me; and it proved a warm heart, too, for there
wore the stockings (they are now on my feet. i c., one pair),
n.nd there were the flannels, and the bosoms, nnd the gloves,
nnd the pincushion from Louisa, and the need le-book from
Sarnb, and the paper from Mary, and the letters and love from
all of you. I spread open my treasures, and both my heart
and teet danced for joy, while my hands actually rubbed each
other out of sympathy. Thnnks to you all for o. bundle, le tte rs
and love. One corner of my eye is nuw moistened, while, I
suy, 'Thank ye all, gude fol ks .' I must not forget to mention
. the apples-• the six npples, one from each '-:-nn~ the ~e~utiful
little loaf of cake. I should not dare to call it, 'little,' 1f 1t had
not brought the name from you. The apples I have smelled·
of and the cake I have just nibbled a little, and pronounced it
to be ' in the fin est taste.'
"Now,11 wnrd about your letters. I c1111not say much, for I
have only rend muther·e three timeA, and Mary's twice. Tboso
pnrts which relate to my own acts 11nd doings greatly edify me.
Right glad am I to find that the speot11clee fitted mother's eye'

.

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N'.-~.·'::"'"'~'"'~

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eo \Tell . You wondered how I hit it. 'Why, lune I not been
told from my rnry babyhood,' You hnve your mother's eyes~·
And whnt is plniner than that, if I have her eyes, I can pirk
out gln•sea that will suit th em 1 I tun glad, too, that the 1ww
book is n fitvorite. I •lrnll have to depend on you to read for
me, for he re I read nothing but my lexicon, and, pl•rndventure,
dip into mathematics. John's knifo ,shall be forthcoming, nnd
the orders of William nnd Henry shall be honored, if the
apothecary has the pigments.
"I suppose the pond is all frozen over, nnd the skating good.
I know it is foolish, yet, if mother and Mnry had skated as
mnny • moony' nights ns I have, they would sigh, not nt the
tt.ought, but ut thefact, tllllt skating days are over. Never
was a face more bright and beautiful than the fnce of that
pond in a clear, cold· night, under a full moon. Do th e boys
go down by my willow still 1 and do they still have the flag on
the little i8lund in thri centre, where I used to· rear th e flag staff
once a year l I was going t-0 tell you n!l about college.
But
wh en I think I will begin, pop! my thoughts are all at home!
Wllllt a pince home is! I would not now exclrnncro
ours for
0
wealth enough to make you 1tll kings and queens.
" I nm warm, well and comfortable; we all study, and dull
fellows, like me hnve to confoss thut we study hant \Vo hnvo
no geuius to help us. My chum is a good fellow ; he now sits
in yonder corner, his feet puis~d upon the stove in such a way
that the dullness 8eems to hum all run out of his heels into
his hend, for he is fost uRleep.
" I have got it framed, and there it bungs-the picture of
my fot'her ! I never look up without seeing it, and I uever·
see it without thinking that my mother is a widow, and that I
am her eldest son. What more I think I will not be fool
enough to say: yon will imngiue better than I can say it .
"Your gentle hint, dear mother, about leaving my Bible a.t
home, was kind; but it will relieve you to know that I left it
designedly, 11nd, iu its place, took my dear fothet·'s from tlie
upper shelf, in our little librnry room, and, what is more, I
...!e11d it every dny.
·•
" I need not say, write! write! for I know that some of
vou will at the end of three weeks. But love to yt)u nil, and
much, too. I shall tell you of my methods of economy iu my
IJext.
" Your afl'ectionute son, &c."
Can any · of my readers dnubt that a letter like the
nhove would do much to alleviate the anxiety of the mother,
awl add greatly to the comfort of the family ? Every .s on

45

FAMIJ,Y EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDEl'H1E.

CIIESTERFIF.LD 's LF.TTER-WRITER.

r,ou show such attention, and at the same time k eep his own
heart wo.rm with the remembrances of home and kindred.
It will add to your ease in letter-writing, and it will culti·
•rate some of the noblest and sweeteRt virtues of which the
heart is susceptible.
Our next specimen is a letter written 'by the elegant and
accomplished Lord Chesterfield to his ~on.
. "DEAR IloY;

"Your lett.ers . l'XCP.pt when upon n given subject,
exceedingly la.conic, and neithe1· answer my des ireR, nor the
purpose of lette:s: which should. be farn_iliar <'.'mvereations between absent friends. As I desu·e to live with you upon the
footing of an intimate friend, nud not of a pnrent, I could wish
that your letters gave me more pnrticular account.a of yourself,
and of your lesser transact.ions. ~When you write to me, suppose yriurself conversing freely with me, by the firesid e. In
tlrnt case, you would .naturally mention the incid ents of the day,
as i •here you bad been, whom you had seen, whnt you thought
of them, etc. Do this in your letters: acquniut me sometiti'1es
with your studies, sometimes with your diversions; tell me of
any new person and characters that you meet with in company,
and add your own observations upon them ; in short, let me see
more of you in your letters. How dn you go on with Lord
Pulten ey; nnd how does he go on at Leipzig l Hns he learning, has he pnrts, has be application ? Is ho i:ood or
natured 1 In short, whnt is he; 11t least. what <lo you think of
him 1 You may tell me without reserve, for I promise secrecy.
You are now of an P.ge thllt I am desirous of beginning 11 confid enti1Ll corresponddnre with you; nnd, ad I sh111! or1 my pRrt
write you very· freely my opinions upon men am! things, which
I should often be very unwillin.,. thnt nnybody but you or Mr.
Harte should see : so on you~ part, if you write nm without
reserve, you may depend upon my inviolable secrecy.- If ~ ·ou
hnve ever looked into the letters of Mudame de Sevigne to
her daugh ter, M'l.damc de Grignan, you must have observed the
ease, freedom, and fri endship of th&t correspondence; and yet
I hope and believe, that t.hey dill not love oue another better
than we do. Tell me what books you are now rending, eithe
by way of study or amusem en t; how you pass your evening!
when ut home, and where you pass them wheu nbroad."

~.re

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£6

FAMILY EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE.

John Randolph. of Roan,k •, to !ti.~ Nephew.

Here is a ch.arming letter from Ilvn. William Wirt
to hf,s Daughter.

"MY DEAR THEODORE:

"BIZARRE, Sept. 11, 1805.

"I thunk you for your letter which I

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CHESTERFIELD'S LETTER-WRITER.

received post bl.'fore Inst. Present my respects to Dr. Haller,
and tell him I will be oblil(ed to him to procure you shirts,
h11ndkerchiefs, and such other things as as you lnny stand in
need of.
·
" We do not sny 'scnrcel)· nothing,' but any thing. Give my
love to Bnorlll, and tell him that I shall forward his letter to
his brother immedintely ; but tell him nlso that n ' tolcra.ble
long letter is intoleralile English. H e should have used the
adv erb (tolerably) iusten d of the adjective. I wifih thnt
instead of a fi ctitious correspondent, you would ttddress you;
lette rs-I mean those which Dr. Haller requires you to write
wee kly-to some one of your fri end s nnd ncquamtnnce. It
would take off from them the air of stiffne ss which now charll?terizes them. If Buorm had been describing Richmond to
his mother or myself, he would never have introduced it with
' ,I beg leave to wnit upon you;' un awkward exordium, whicl;
even Mr. Expectation, of Norfolk, would not approve. You
see, my sons, th~t I. muke very free with your performnnces:
but do ~ot let this d1scouruge. you . Write your lette1:s just as
yo~ tlmik tlt':m, and they will be ensy ; and any inaccurncy
winch creeps 111 may be afterwards corrected.
"The pnrtridges are so forward that we h'we begun to shoot
near!J'. n !nont!1 earlier thun usual. Carlo is nu exce ll ent dog
for bnngmg lmd.s after they are. shot, but not so good for findrng game. I w1_sh you w11re with me, my sons, to enjoy the
. . ~ sport. Y_uur skill, my dear Theodore, would innke amends for
0 , •.c·ll1,Y clumsrness, and deur Buona would hold Miniken, who now
· ' T\!DS away from unc.le whenever she has an opportunity.
But
tha!lk God, ·my ~h1ldren, you are more profitably engaged.
, This alone reconciles me to the loss of your society. I hope k
see you both about the Inst of this month.
"Mother hae had nn ague, and Sally very sore fingera.
"Your friend nod kinsman,
"JOI-IN RANDOLPH.
_ ''. P; S. Do not make n flourish under my name in tho supeI·
ec~~ptwn of your lette:rs. It is not customary to d1J ~o .
I got a letter to-mght from Mr. Bryan; he and my littl6
godson nre well, but Mrs. B. hns the fever.
"My dear Iluona,-thi~ is your birthday; yon are now entering
on J'.OUr 12th yea r. May you eee mnuy happy returns of this
11n111ve.rsnry. The sncc~ss of my wish will mnteriully depend
my child, on the use which you -mnke of the present time.''

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"BALTIMORE, April 18, 1822.
"MY DEAR CHILD:
"You wrote me a dutiful letter, equally
honorable to yo 1r head and heart; for which I thnnk you: nnd
when I grow to be a light-hearted, light-h eaded, happy! th_oughtless young girl, I will give you a quid pro quo. ~s 1t 1s, you
mnst take such a letter as a man of sense can wnte, 11lthough
it hns been r e marked, that the more sensiule the man, the more
dull his Jette r. Don't nsk me by whom remnrk ed, or I slmll
refer you, with Jenkinson, in the Vicur of Wakefield, to Snnconinthon, 111unetho, nnd l:lerosus.
" This puts me in mind of the card of impressions from the
pencil seals, which I intended to inclose last mail, for you, to your
mother, but forgot . Lo! here they are: these are !he best I
can find iu B11\timore. I have marked them a~cordmg to my
taste ; but exercise your own exclusively, and clioose for yotlr
. ,
.
self, if either of them please you. .
"Shall I bring you a Spanish gu1tnr of Giles choosmg ~ Cn n
you be certain that you will sti~~ to it 1 And some musw for
the Spanish guitar 1 What sn you 1
"There are three necklaces th t_tempt me-11 beautiful mock
emernld, 11 still more beautiful mock ruby with pearl, and a
still most beautiful real topaz-what imy you?
" Will you have either of the scarfs described to y~ur mother,
1md which-the blue or black 1 They nre very fash10nable and
beautiful. Any of those wreaths and flow ers 1 Consult J:O~r
dear mother; always consult her 1 always respect her. This 1s
tho only way to make yourself respectable _and lovely. ,., Goel
1
bless you, and make you hnppy.
·
" 'Your affectionate fnther,
"WM. WIRT."

Hon. William Wirt to his Wife.
" BALTIMQRE, December 27th, 1822.

*

.

*

*

*

"The image of your pensive face is on my heart, .nnd continually before my eyes. May ~he Father of ~forc1 e s . support
you 1 and pour into your bosom tbe rich comolntwns of !us grace,
· nnd preserve and strengthen you for your fam ily! 'What can
we do, if yo~ suffer yourself to sink under the sorrow that
afflicts yo•.17 Let us bear up, aad ·endeavor to fulfill ou!dut}'.
to our surviving children; .L et us not overc11St the mornmg 01

4.a

CilEST.ERFIELD'B LETTER-WRITER.

LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE.

the.ir lives with unavailing gloom. by exbibitinf( to them contillnnlly, . the picture of dl'spair. Trouble comes soon enough
wbattornr we do to avert it; and tlte somber side of life will
early enough show itself to them without auy haste on our part
to draw nside the curtain. Let them be unusually gay nnd
hnppy us luug n.s they cnn; nud let n rather promote than dissipate the pl eaRing illusions of hope and fancy . Let us endeavor
to show religion to thorn in 11 cheering light; the hopes and
promises it sets before us ; the pntience and resignation which
1t in8pires un<ler nflliction; the pence and serenity which it
spreads arouud ns; the joyful nssurnnce with which it gilds
even the night of denth .

LETl'ERS OF CONDOLENCB.

1.

()

"Mny God bless you. and breathe into your bosom pence and
cheerful resignation.

"W.W"

Dr. Franklin. to his Wife.
1·

"EASTON,

Nov. 13, 1756.

" MY DEAR CHILD ;

" I wrote to you a few days since, by a
special messenger, and inclosed letters for all our wives nnd
dWeethearts, expecting to henr from you by his rnti;rn, nnd to
htlve the north ern newspBpers and English letters per the
p1LCket; but he is just now returned without n scrnp for poor
us ; so I had n good mind not to w1·ite to you by this opportunity; hut I uever c1m be ill-natured enough, even when there is
the most occBsion. The messenger snys he left the letters ut
your house, nnd saw you n.ftorwnrds nt Mr. Duche' s 1111d told you
when ho would go, nncl thnt ho lodged nt Honef s, next door to
you, and yet you did not write ; so let Goody Smith give one
morn judgement, 11nd say what should be done to you. I think
I won't ttJ!l you tllllt we aro nil well, now that we expect to
return nbout the middle of the week, nor will I send you a
,
word of news-that's poz.
"My duty to mother, love to children, and to Miss Betsy
and Grncy, etc., etc.
-'
"I am your loving husband.
"B. FRANKLIN.
"P. S. I hllve scratched out !lie loving words, bein~ writ
haste· by mistnke, when I.forgot I was anf!ry."

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IN our epistolo.ry correspondepce, there are perhaps no
letters so difficult to indite with due effect as those of condolence on the death of relations or near and dear friends.
Yet no difficulty, no experience of painful sensations, must
be allowed to deter the writer from the performance of one
of the most sacred duties entailed on our sublunary state.
Letters of condolence, from the sympathising pen of friendship, fall upon the heart of man like the gentle dews of
· evening in the parched earth. In the .composition of such,
-there · must be no high-flown words or expressions, no
straining after effect. If heart speaks not to heart, in the
simplest, most soothing language of nature, words will, to
the sufferer, prove cold and unimpressive--worse t.han useless. Be it ever borne in mind, that, to the afflicted, to tl:ie
mourner in spirit, "there is only one true source of consolation-that we shall meet those we love in another and
a better world, where the wicked cease from troubling, and
where the weary are at rest. This is the hope our blessed
reli"'ion
holds out to us, and its realization will amply repay
0
our sorrows here, whilst the anticipated joy blunts the edge
of present grief."
·
The subjoined epistle is from a lady-a young lady, but
high in literary fame-to a father, after the loss of an only
and much beloved daughter. It has not before been submitted to the public eye. To mention the writer's name
would shed luster upon a work of infinitely more importance
than this.
"MY DEAR MR. - - ,
"I should b~ve immediately replied to your melancholy note
to the 11th imt., had I not been considerably iadispose<l since
the period of its receipt. I pray you to believe bow very 8in·
cerely I sympathise with you on the loss which you have ju~t
sustnined; although I am perfectly aware that all verbal condolence is vain, under tl:1e circumstances. Neverth eless. even Ill
my age, I have become so much worn and harassed by the
trials of the world, that I cannot refrain from looking upon
that early rest, which is nt times grnnted to th e young, as a
bl essin~ which tho survivors are totally unable to appreciate. ·
There 1s a purity 1rnd a holiness in the apotheosis of those who
leave us in their brightness and their beauty, which instinctively
lead us tQ 11 persuasion of their beatitude. How nurny tempt11-

5

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Cll ESTERFIELD 'S LETTE R·WRITER.
LOVE , C()\_:nTSTTT P ,

~TARn t AOF.,

F.1 (;

1 11.~mi ••• of li fe, :u111 w li oec .ldr rn 1i11 nwill 111 :1kP JW\'1·rty Rl' • 'lll lt·~f.; p111!1". fl!lil \,· \1tif,:(l
1df1·cii 11 11 will i11F:t1r1 · lii m t!1at e tnrd1 11t \Ylii('l1 tllt' \\· 1·11l il1 i1· <r,
po1-< iti1ni , witlwu t u11Jiy iJL·<l 1tfft-ctio11, \\"Utdd \\"li()l ly hi! I.tr

( pr rhapR un necessn ry)
t.i o11 to ('C(>Jl(!JlliRf"'

realize.
" No r mu st you look at mn ttcrs nB hnpr lrss. Alth n11 d,
ch angC'd in yo ur n1can s, y11u lia vn no t lm;t i11 char nc /f'r . Y111 11
t ru e fri (-' Wl ~ lo11k up•in :ro ll \Yitli the Rrt 111r i·p·R ni:: fon 1w rly. 111 1d
for th e s hallo w nnd in sin ce n· p ill 011 .!! ltt 11ot, c a 11 n11 t·, (': 1r1 ·. Bt> F.i d e s~ n favorabl e clim1 ge Illllf' t n· sul t frnlll y our lt11 r;hall d.R
perseve ri ng nnd con siRt e11 t e ffo rt•; find, by th r rxc n· isP of
•w"nomy, and tho patient subuAision to n fe w pri vnt,ion s, you
1u11y e re long fully retrieve th e positi on yoµ hnve already ad ·
duced, and whi ch legitim ately belongs to you.
" .That success nnd hn ppin ess m ny soon sprin g out of th e
present unfovornble co.ndition of things, is the hear ty an~
earnest wi sh of,
"Youra, ever a ffo ctionately,
" To l\Irs. - - . "
"

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The Same, on a Ch ild's Deatli.
"MY D EAR
If
. , ~ROOKI.YN, July 5th 18-- nnytbrn
ld
' , ·
have cnu sed mo
especial puin , it wns the news of 1, g cou
I re member your denr child' A·ffiur.sad berenverueut. Ho~
geut: eve r displaying a thonghtfu~~:~~nbte; li~e}r• and iuteiJi.
boldrn g forth hopes of happiness in 11 ft 0 J 0 ~ 11s ye.a1 s, a~d
scarcely bear rellectiun.
er tunes wh1cb will
" It Jms, ind eed, been a Ji envy blow
dI
to ta lk uf consolation unde r so bitt .'an IJl ~c~ rcely know how
my dea r - - , of One wh o ' cnre t~I nn n i~tw n. But thiuk.
childr en beyond others and ti . k ~0 \ a ll, ~h o loves li t tle
0
. t e bng?~ and neverending futu re li fe of th;t d eur ~~i
nwny but for a brief period wbo ld , '~bore sp.mt. lms PM~ed
huil tbe moth er from wh orr; h e 1se sbou on Y wmts Ill heaven to
"I
ms een parted.
can say no more ; lrnman con solutions .
poorly. May a higher power do that h' h I me weak and
w 1e
c1rnnot !
"To Mrs. - - . ,.
"-Ever sincerely yours,

'-

/

LOVE, COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE, ETC.
IF friendship b e capable of waking sens;itions so wa rm
so strong , so elevated , in t he hurrm.n heart , wha t may not ho
exp ected from love-the liveli est, the n obl est, the m ost soulinspiring, soul-a b sorbing of p assions !
"Who hath not owned, w·lth r n.ptnre-smltten frame,
The (}harm of grace, the mnglc of a name?,,

, I speak n ot of th a t love by w11i ch comm on minds a rc too

"

The Same, on a Reverse of Fortv.ne.

·.

..
"BALTIMOR E Jan 3d 18
DEAR --,-I am truly pain ed to h
'
·
' -.
chn.nw.' iu your circum stan ces . I had ho =~1rtff t~e melancbol.y
.P
mt JOUr husba nds
position 11.nd connections would ha
of hi s e.mbarking in nny scheme wvheef.~ et~ented the dpossibili ty
. 1 th
11ncert11rnty llu t u 1
e re seem e room for
is t oo se<lu~tivo t~ ~ein~J~if • w '~l s pec ulative spiri t of the nge
hearin g of liuuili Ps being riciuc~d1s~od,b11 nf we a re every day
from mischnnce than wilful error
a so ute poverty, more
" But vou mu st not only che~r u b t 1 h
husband Jik ewiso. L et him find th ~· 1 u . ~· or to che~r your
will not displllr" hor annoyance ai t~: ~vos~sse~ a wife who
cp11v11twn of many.

'

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tr·
·~,~---

frl)qnently influenced •. and whi ch is li ttle m or e tha n mere
a nimal insti nct ; but of t hat unselfi sh , b a ll owt'<l; und y ing
affection which regards its objec t n,s a bei ng of a hi gher order ,
and for wh ose in ter ests it is a t a ll times r eady a nd wi llin g to
sacrifice its own. Under th e influence of such a pm;sion, no
creature, man or woman, can ever b e gu ilty of a mea n or a
base action. L ove, true love, is the inspirer, t he c reator of
u.11 our noblest virtues.
,.
A gentleman is struck wi th the a ppearance of a lady ,
nnd is desir ous of h er acqua intance, but there a re no m ean~
within his r each of obt a ining a n in t r od11 c.t ion. and he has nc
fri ends who a r e a cqua in ted with herse lf or her fam ily. In
this dilemma there is no a lternat ive bn t a let ter .
'l'bere iA, b esides, a del icacy , a timidity , a :icrvou8ness in
love , whi cl: m ak es men desire some m ode of comrnuni catior

54

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OllESTERF1ELD'B LETTER-WRITER.

LOVE, COURTSHIP, lllAltRIAGE, ETC.

rl\tber· t.11an the speech, which, in such cases, too often faila
them. fo short, tLere are reasons enough for writingbut when the enamored youth sets about penning a Jetter to
the objed of his passions, how difficult does he find it I How
many efforts does he make before he succeeds in writing one
to suit him I
It may be doubted whether ever so many reams of paper
.bo.ve ever been used in writing letters upon all other subjects, as have been consumed upon epistles of Jove ; and
there is probably no man living who has not at some time
wri t ten, or desired to write, some missive which might explain his passions to the amiable being of whom he was
enamored ; and it pas been the same, so far as can be judged,
in all the generations of the world.
Aff.'l.irs of the heart-the delicate and ii:iteresti ng preliminaries of marriage, are oftener settled by the pen th!Ln in
any other manner. 'l'o write the words legibly, to spell
them correctly, to point them properly, to begin every sentence and every proper name with a capital Jetter, every
one is supposed to learn at school; still we give such instructions in another part of this book.
For a Jove letter, good paper is indispensable. When it
can be procured. that of costly quality, gold-edged, perfum ed, or ornamented in the French style, may be properly
used. The letter should be carefully enveloped, and nicely
sealed with a fancy wafer-not a common one, of course,
wh ere any other can be had; or what is better, plain or fancy sealing-wax. As all persons are more or less governed
by first impressions and externals, the whole afl'air should be
as neat and elegant as possible.
Speaking of love letters geuerally, llf.oore, in his "Life of
Lord Byron," obsen·es, that "such effusions are but little
suited to the public eye." Probably not; and therefore
they ought not to be subjected to the gaze of the public.
"It is the tendency of all strong reeling," he adds, "from
dwelling constantly on the sn.me idea, to be monotonous;
and those often-repeated vows and verbal endearments, whi ch
make the charm of true love letters to the parties concerned
in them. must f0r ever render even the best of them cloying- to
others." "Without stopping to discus~ the philosophy of
this passage, I will hazard the assertion that it applies
accnratcly only to such love letters as the writer is most
!ike\y best acquainted with ; "thinl('S that are of the earth,

earthy." Have lovers nothing to talk or to write about
but Uupids, and V enuses, and flowers, and hearts and darts 1
I would not ask for a better criterion by which to test the
moral and intellectual powers of a man than bis love letters,
premisi ng, always, that the party addressed be an object
capable and worthy of inspiring a genuine passion. No
subject can be too exalted for the pen of au intellectll/Jol
I.over.
How sweet and beatiful is the affection portrayed in
the following passages of a letter from a gentleman to, a
ta.dy with whom he was on the point of being united in
/ Jiarriage:
~

;. TROM:SOE,

Mny 28, 184-.

"If you were but here, my Alette ! I miss you every
moment, while I am preparing my dwelling to receive you.

[ am continually wishing to ask you, ' How will you have
this, Alette 1 ' Ah, my ever beloved, that you were here at
this moment! You would be enraptured with this' land of
ice and bears,' at the thought of which I know you inwardly
*
*
shudder.
•
•
"'But the winter!' I hear you say,' the summer may pas&
well enough, but the long, dark winter! Well, the winter,
too, my Alette, pnsses happily away with people who love
each other, when it is warm at home. Do you remember,
Inst summer, how we read together nt Christilmsand, in the
morning p11per, this extract from the 11romsoe Gazette 7
' We have had snow-storms for severnl days together, and
at this moment the snow-plow is at work, opening u pnth
to the churches. The death-like stillness of niaht nnd
wint-e r extends over meadow and valley; only a t~w cows
wander about, like ghosts, over the snowy tracts, to pluck 11
scanty meal from tho twigs of the trees thnt nre not yet
buried iu the snow.' ,'fhe littl~ winter sketch pleased me, ,
but you shuddered mvoluntanly nt that expression, 'the
death-like stillness of the night and winter, and bowed
your sweet dear face, with closed eyes, upon my breast.
Oh! my Alette, thus will it be when, in future, the terror of
the cold and darkness seizes thee, and upon my breast,
listening to the beatings of my heart, the words of my
Jove, wilt thou forget . these dark inmges of storm aud
*
*
*
Close thine eyes, slumber, my
gloom?
belo>ed OD!l, while I wateh over thee. Thou shalt one day
look upon night and winter, and owu that their power is not
ao fearfol. Lovfl, that geyser of the eoul, can melt the 1os

·,

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56

und snow of the most frozen regions. Wherever its warm
springs .well up, there glows a southern climate."
The above comes before us in the form of fiction ; yei
every line bears the vivid impress of truth aud nature. It
is from " Strite and Peace," one of the charming novels of
Frederika. Bremer, a Swedish author of contemporary
.
celebrity. - ·
The subjoined passage, from another of that lady's works,
"The I I - - Family," presents au equally beautiful pictnm
of affection in wedded lifo. It is from the letter of a newlymarried lady, the wife of a clergyman, to her friend :
"Beata, do .you know whnt I pray, morning and evening, ay,
!lourly, from the bottom of my heart 7 ' 0 God! make me
worthy the love of my husband, grant me t.he power of
waking him happy.' .And I hnvc received such power, for
he is (so he says and so he seems) very happy. lf you
1mew how well he looks, how gay ! This is because I take
m much care of him ; tbeu he does not dare take so little
~are of himself as bPfore; :mu then he works no more m
tho uight; he has weaned himself of thi s ; 1md so be thinks
~nd writes (ho acknowledges himself) more freely nnu
powerfully than before. Then I am very careful not to inter
"upt or disturb him when ho is in hie studies, writinis or read•ng. Oh! when I would just get a glimpse of him (be is so
Oeautiful, Beata), I steal in gently and play him a little trick .
[ place a flower upon his book, kiss his brow, or do some such
:hing, and go quietly back again, and when I turn round to
1hut the door, I alwnys get a glance from bis eyes that follows
me as though it were stolen."

67

LOYE 1 COURTSHIP, l!ARRIAOE 1 ETC.

· CHESTERFIELD'S LETTER-WRll'ER.
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e~ernal, in the heaveD!l.
There, 'where the weary are at rest,
and tho wicked cease from troubling,' we slu::J meet again and
be for over happy' .
·
·
"You will preserve t.he inclosed trifles, ns memorials of her
who loved you above all earthly beings. Bless you ! Oh,
, for ever bless you ! This will be the last as1·irntion of, your
dying
'·

"}1.i.RY.''

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One scrap more-the last letter of a lady, on her death-bed.
'

.

To a young Lady to whom one is engaged.
CaESTER, Oct. 15th, 18-.
thnt cnn console
it is the pleasure of being able to pen a few lin es to express, however feebly,
my continued nnd increasing affection for you. It is, ind eed, n
painful and irksome change from our n11ubles about tho fi elds,
our evening duets, and our stolen conversations, to a dull routine
of mercantile accounts and the never-ending confusion of business. Happily, however, my affairs are in a rapid stnte of
settlement, and I shall hope once more soon to bnsk in tho
sunshine of rny Fanny's sweet conn tenance, nod to foed my
imagination with thoughts of the hnppiness which her placid
nnd sincere disposition will bneafter shed ttronnd a home! I
need hardly say how eagerly I watch for the post., ftl}(] how I
cherish every line. that bears the evidence of my clear girl's at:
foction, aud how gratefully every sentiment that flows from her
pen is treasured in my memory.
"God bless you, dearest Fanny, pnd believe me, with most
respectful a~tl affectionate remembrances to your parents, nnd
all friends.
" Your ever affectionate and devoted
"MY DEARES'J' FANNY,- l f there is oue thing
me for my unavoidable absence from your Ride,

to her affianceu husband :

" To Miss - -. "

1
"Long has my spirit strugg-led, but in rnin, against a threatened dissolution. The hope that I might yet be yours, that
our fairy visions of bliss might be realized, Ima sometimes
given a new and momentary impulse to the lugging current iu
my ~eins ; but I feel that my heart is broken~natnre lvill no
longllf perform hor office-I am sinking c1aily and hourly into
the grave. ChMles, my beloved! wh en these lines shall meet
your sight, this yet ' warm mass' will be ' a kncaood clod' -tho hnnd that now writes will be cold forev1Jr ! Oh, Charles
my adored husband ! look upwards to the throne of Bliss

011 receiving a favorable answer.
"}'LUSHING, October IGth, 18-.
"DEAREST Mrss r.,~ 1tst C!iris'.:an narnc) .-Words cnnnot ex
press my delight on finding your note on my tuble Inst night.
The toils of the day \~ere over, but how delightful was it to
find a lettt1r-and such a letter !-from one whom I 1imy now
hope to hail as the companion of my whole future life! The
weight taken off tuy mind by tho cnndicl and gentle confession
of one whose love seen 1od too g1cnt n happiness to hnpe for ii1

'MY DEAREST, EVER-BELOVED CHARLES

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LOVE LETTERS.

1

ClIESTERF!F.LD S LETTER-WRITFR.

f'mm a yaung llia11, avowing a pamon heh.ad entertained for
a length of time, and feaiful of disclosing it.*

\

"To- -,Esq."

1'o a Lad·y, complaining of her coolness.

I,,

"NEW YoriK, Feb. 13th, 18-.

"DEAR MISS - - ,- It is with no small degree of 11pproheusion , as to the 11111nner in which y.ou mny receive th o
following avowal , thut I take up my pen to atldress you ; but
· I have so Jong struggled with my feelings, thut th ey Imm now
got the better pf my irresolution; and throwing nside all
hesitation, I have ventured, although alarmed at my own boldness in doing so, to lay open my whole heart bef11re yo,u. For
mouths past I have been oppressed with n pnssion that hllS e11 ~irely supe rseded eve ry other fe eling of my heart-that pn ssion
I s lovr.-and yon- you. ala1w 11re the obj ect of it. In vniu lmvc
J e nd eavored to driv" the idea from my mind, by every art
that I could possil'ly think of: in vain have I sought out every
n1uusemcnt tbat might have a teurleucy to relieve my mind
from the bins wh ieh it h11s tnke n, but Jorn has takr•n tl111t
firm hold of' my wh ole soul, that I nm unable to en tc rbtin lint
ane i1Jea, one t houg ht, one fee ling, and th:it is alway s yourself.
I neglect myself, wy bu siness, and can neith er hear n•n· sco
any on ~ thing, but you bear th e chief part therein . B eli e,·e
me, I am sincere, wh en I ns6ert, thnt I foe] it totally imposs ible
to live apart from you; when near y ou, I n111 in paradi sP-wben abtient, I feel in torture. Thi s, I solemnly ass ure you, is
a true descripti on of the fee lings with which my breast is continually agitated, and it remains only for yon to gi ve a reality
to those hopes, or nt once to crush th em, by a single w ord .
~a y but that word, and I am the happiest or the n10st miser·
able of mankind.
"Yours, till death,
'"To Miss--."

1

To a Lady.

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~TUNBRIDGE,

July 3d 18-.

"DEAR M .~DAM,-1 have been so harn •sed with love doubt,
distraction, and a thousand other wild and nauieless feelings,
•On grounds of pl a in comm?n u n.~l 1 we shou\tl not recommend this !ellcr
{or imitation ; hut people will send such lelter1

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amusement. Ile assured, th erefore, my dear·--, that, with
the ex ception of mi ssing your chee ring company, and that of
our 1]ear ch ildren, I lllll us happy and as lively llS you, the foudest of u.11 my w ell-wi she rs, could desire me to be.
•·· lfoving said thi s much of myself', Jet me now observe thnt I
am most anxious to receive a letter from you; for I l011g to
henr l1ow you and the children still continue iu regard to hc11lth,
aud wbnt fre•h occurrences hnve tnken place since you wrote
ln •t. At present, I bnve no r enson for supposing that my absence from home will be prolonged bt•yond the -th, on
wl1ich dny I hope ngniu to be with you . Give my kindest love
to the children, and
'
" Believe 1no,
l
"My denr - -;"''
" Your ever affectionate wife,

"MONIWE PLACE, June 10th, 18-.
"DEAR --,-How often have IJmssed my late conduct in
r"}i r w before me, end eavoring to iscover by what word or
""t I could have give n you offence. Vnin , howeve r, has bee u
tli.:i nttempt, for the offence which I have given must have bec11
totally inadvertent, and could never bave sprnng from any intention to hnve given you even 11 moment's uneasin ess. Bui
that by some means I hnve hnd the misfortune to incur your
displeasure, Jias been but too ev ideutly indi cnted by the chaugu
of your behavior to\\·~rds me-a change from tho kindn ess o.
an nttnched friend, to the cool iudiflerenco of a distant nc
quaintance. Of lnte, when in your prefienco, I h11ve heer;
many times upon tht1 point nf n.sking you upon what occasion,
and by what means I have di spleased you 1 But as coristnntly
htive I needed the coutnge to do so, and my voice h11s foil erl
me, whenever I hnve endcnvored to make the attempt. ln
the hope of being eased from a painful state of anxiety, I
write this letter, and trust that you will g,ive me some explt1nntion on tbe subj ect referred to, eithe r by nn answer in your
b~nd-writing, or through your own lips, nt our next meeting.
But whateve r thut reply may be, of this be assured, that my
esteem for you can never know a change, and that you will
ev er live as n chnisbed obj ect in the bre11st of him who now
eub;;cribes him self,
"Yours most affection ately and since,,r~-·- "To Miss--."
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CHESTERFIELD'S LETTER-WRITER.

J,QVE Lf;TI"ERS.

elnce I hnd the Jrnppiness of being in your compnny, that. I
have been unable to form one snne refle..tion, or to sepnrnte
events from the fee lings thnt nccornpnuied tber.n-in foct, I
have been totally unuble to bring my thoughts into anythiug
like r egulnrity, for they nre so entirely mixed up wi th the
idea of yourself, that the business of the world, aud the pursuits of amua111nent and pleasure, have been e ntirely forgotten
In the one passion that holds undivided empire over my soul.
l J111ve deterred from dny t~ day penning this confession to you,
in order thnt I might hR.ve been ennbled to have done so with
some degree of ease nnd calmness; but the hope bna prnved
fruitless. I can resist no longer, for to keep silent on a subject which is inte rwoven with my very exi8teuce, would be
death to mo. No, I am unable to do so, and I have., th e refore,
determined to Jay open to you the sufforing of my benrt, aacl
to imploro from you a restoration of thtit peace and bnppinesR
which once were mine. You, my dear Miss--, are alone the
cnuse of my unlinppine8s, and to you alone can I look for 11
relief from the wretchedness thnt hns ove rwh elmed me . Tho
fervent passion that devours my soul for your adorable self,
can only be nllnye6; by the declarntion that I am loved ns
fervently in return. Ilut dnre I ask so much purity, so much
sweetness. mildness nud modesty, to make such n declaration 1I know not wl111t I sny-but 0 ! my dear .Miss--, be merciful,'
and if you cannot love me-8ny, at lenst, t hat you do not hate
me. Never cou ld I survive the idea of being hateful to th11t
Angelic being, whose Jove I prize more th11n existence itself.
L et me -th•m cling to the idea thnt time may accomplis h t hat
which, I fain hope, n first impression hns done rf!suming, unless
n fntal pre -engai;-e ment exists ( n thing I dare not trust myself
to think of), that you will comply with my request, seeing thnt
my designs are perfectly pure nnd honornble. I remain
waiting with the utmost impatience for your favorable r eply,
"Dear Miss - - ,
"Your devoted servant till death,

" - -- ."
From a yo'l:Wlg Lady, in answer to the proposal of a Gentle·
man who had met her the previous Ev~ing.

"I remnin,
"Sir,
"Yours respectfully,
~To-. ,

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"Sm,-Although it is the highest compliment that can be
paid our eex, to nceive olfors ca lculated to ensure a lusting

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Another more f avorable . ·
"PHILADE LPlllA, Sept. 18th, 18-.
. "Srn,-Alfhough your letter of this morning- cornea upon me
m. 11 stra_ngelr unexpected mnnnAr, I Jee! t.hat your intim1tte
fr~eu_dslup_ with n?y kind ho~tess, .i\1rs. - - , pe rhups cxcuseA n
p 1_ec1pit11tion which cou.ld scnrcely be justified 011 onlinnry
ii:1ounds. At the same. time, I cannot t hink of giving a s:inctw? to further ntte!1t10n on your part, without cuns ul tin,
Mis.-.- on th e subj ect, nnd I hnve, therefore , placed ynu~
!otter 1~ her ~u.mls. I can not deny tlrnt I fe el some pleasure
m havmg elici ted sentiments fro1n you, which appear to be
founded m honorable _g_?od fee ling, but m,,~t for 11 time, beg
of you to excuse me g1vmg you any further b'Cction to your
addresses.
"I remain,
"Sir,
"Your sincere well-wish b-' »'\ 1 •·iend,
"To--, Esq."

--.

On receiving a second Letter, after f requent lJ.el!! ..~~.
.. HELMO:ST,

"WESTCHESTER, July 6th, 13-.

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acquaintance. I mn st still complain of th o precipitnto character
of ~our adrfrcss to on e _who, till last night. was a tot.al strangei
to JOU. Without w1sl11ng to say anything harsh, I mu st con
fe ss that I do not fee l :rny motirn to ente rtai n so ha~ty a pro
posal, nnd have '.elt b~u[l(! to lny yo ur lett er before my pnrcnts
as I could not tlunk of _
concealing from them nny correspon•l
ence of such a desenpt1on.
''. Trustiug tha t you will see this in its propor light,

Dec. Hit!i, 1tJ-.

Sr~.'-It is ilr1p?ss: blE> re~ rr'l to deny that you- nsi
duous. bu~ dehcn~e, ntteutions to me of !nt'l hnve cominPecl s
favorabl e mipress10 n I had formed, bu . v.!lich tho sudJeunt'l"~
of your address rendered it im~ioss1DJ., I wul~ av_?_w. Yull"
"DEAR

J.,r, ..-.,. . ,.._.
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CONCLUDING .~INTS.

whole c:onduct hns been that of a gentleman , nnd Mrs. - - ' s
rnpresentntions nre so strongly in your fovor, that I feel it
woul<I be falsu rnodeRty in me to disclaim n feeling of strC'ng
rng11rd for yourself. L et us not, howm·e r, bo too busty in our
conclu sions - let us not mi stake momentary impulse for pc nnnnent impression; let us see k rnther to know more of cnc b other, ·
to study each other's t e111pcrs, n.nd to establish thnt sincere
esteem which slwulJ, which must bo the foundation of every
deeper fecliug.
·
"I have written to my father on the subj ect, nnd, as I
anticipated, he has lnid me und er no restrniut, sum of
cautioning mo not to be hasty in gi,.ing that promi se or accepting it from a nothe r, which may involve the happiness {If a
whole Iifo . Mennwhile, Mrs. - - begs that you will accept
a general invitation to her tea-table, to which arrangement, I
can assure you, no objection will be made by
"Dear Sir,
"Yours very truly,
"To-- , Esq. '. '

---.

To an acquaintance of long standing.
"CHELSEA, October 15th, 16- ·,
"MY DEAll Miss - - , - I b11ve so lon g e11joyed the happinl is

of being received ns n welcome guestnt your reRpeeted p11rent'c
house, that-I write with the more coafide11ce on a subj ect of
wost serious importnnce to my welfare.
" From constantly meeting with you , 11.nd observing the thousand nets of nmiability and kiudness which adorn your daily li fo,
I h:w"l grad ually nss,1ciated my hopes of future happiness with
the chnncc of possessing you ns their sharer. B eli eve me,
dear Miss--, this is no outbreak of boyish pnssion , but·tbe .
henrty n11d healthy result of a long and affect1011nte study of
your disposition. It is love, founded on esteem; and I feel
porPUaded that your knowledge of my own character will lend
yon to trace my motives to their right source.
"l\fay I, th e n, implore you to consult your own l1 eart, and,
should I not have. been mistnken in the hnppy belief that my
foe lings are in some measure reciprocatecl, to grant me perinis1iou to mention the matter to y0ur parents.
" Believe me, dear Miss-- ,
. "Your-ever sincere, b it at present anxious friend,
11

To

li~ii~-- ."

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To a y Jung Lady from a young .l adesmnn.

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"N EW Yrmt<, F eb. IGth, Hi-.
" Dr.An Miss - - ,- Since I met with you at - - , my
mind hns been constantly tilled with the remembrance of th e
pl easant 111m11e11ts p11ssed in your society. My business !ins
bP!'n i111pru,·i11g- of late, nnd, iu point of prosperity, I l1R\'6
11111ch cause to be tlmnl1ful. But. I feel t.hat there nre nigher
ditti es in li t~ than cn n bo fulfill ed hy a man in hi s singlo state,
nntl I um anxious to fi11J a con1p11uion for !II)' future lite. S ueh
ll Colllpnni1111, denr ~J iss - - . I \'ellt.llre to uelieve I hnve {uund
in you, :ind my enrnPst hope is that you may be willing to a.p·
prcci at.t1 the alfect.io11ate r<'gard of m1e, who, howeve r hu1nble
i11 his pres<'nt position, hns ernry desire tu elevate that position
for \ ' 1111 r su ke.
\Vithout uttcmpt.ing to use fine lnng-nnge. {Ir rnnk e a
pnrn.\e of se11time 11t., I J,..pe you will nccept the•e Jin es ns
'lllll\'C)' iug tht• pl11i11 1111d l11n1Pst seutimcnts of uue, wh '. >, in
ttnxious expectation of yonr rep ly,
"Remriins,
"Denr Miss--,
" Your most devoted servnnt,
"To Miss--."
"
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Neither my plan nor my space adm.i ts of"instructions for
the choice of a wife," or of a husband, or for forming or
a,·oiding " prndential" marriages. 'IVhat I have given,
however, wi ll suffic<J to show that lovers, whether single or
married , are not under the nece::;sity of writing nonsense:if jnditing nothi!Jg' l:P1t thl} sick ly s8ntim.,nt.ali~rn which Mr.
Moore so philosophically regards as c0nstituting the essence
of amatory ep:Stlcs.

CONCLUDING HINTS.
So)m few general remarks on very simple matters-which
are, never the less, of much importance in the transactions of
every-,lay life-m::i.y be advantageously appended to the
specimens already laid before the reader.
There is great judgement required in nsing " Sir," or
"D8ar S ir," especially in addre.ssing a person of snperior
wonlly posi tion to yourself. A lways r efl ect wheth"lr yon
e.re on such terms with the person to whom you write as to

CONCLUDING IUNTS.

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warrant your using "Dear," or "My dear,'' before the morl)
retiring phrase of address.
At the same time, the use of" Dear Sir,'' e>cn tov.:ards a
stranger, is considered °: gracefu~ ~anner of addressmg au
inferior; but in respondmg to this, it would be prc[erabl~
to avoid too much familiarity at fi rst. A golden rule 111 su?b
matters is that nothin"'0 is lost by too much modesty, wlnla
nothin"' givea so much offence as officious familiarity.
" R~verend and dear Sir" is 11 frequent address from one
clergyman to another, with whom h~ is _supposed to ha:ve
little acquaintaucc, beyond that of bemg Jt? the same prolession. " Dear Sir" is afterwards adopted, when one or two
.
letters have passed between the ptirt.ics.
"Dear Sir " is frequently used m transactions bet~een
gentlemen and their tradesmen; .but such use must be gmd.cd
by the O'ood sense of both parties. It must also be cons1d·
ered th~t the position. aud ch::im?ter of t:ade.-;men render
th~m fully on a par wit~ pr?less1oual or mdependent per·
.
.
sons. \\' e arc all eqnal m this tree couu~ry.
"Honored Sir" thourrh somewhat a ntiquated, JS still frequently used, citl;er in addressing a person in very advanced
years, a parent, a person to wh?m we have been under gr~at
obligatious, or in an .11ppeal from a poor person to a nch
and powerful one.
Nearly the same rnles apply to letters addressed to persons of the other sex.
Never send a note to a person who is your SU!Jerior, u.nless
it be upon a very slight and indiilen1n~ m~tter. In askmg a
favor of an intimate friend, address him m the first person.
Do not take bad writin"' for freedom of ,.-t;yle. Whatever
pleasure your fri ends may derive from reading ;rou letters,
you. have no right to suppose that they have time for th~
stmly of hieroglyphics.
Always put a stamp on your envelope at the top of the
right hand corner.
.
Always use an envelope, ex~ept for. letters of mere bnSI•
ness. F ashion now demands 1t, and it has the advantages
.
of keeping the letter clean and insuring secresy.
What you have to say in .your le.tt.~r, say as plamly as
possible, as if you were s.peakmg; thi~ 1s the best rule.
not revert three or four times to one circumstance, but fimsh
up as you go on.
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Let your signature be written as plamly as possible (many

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misml~es will be a.voi_c!ec, especially in writing ~o strangers)
aiHl without any flourishes, us they tend . not in any way t~
add to the harmony of your letter. ·we have seen signatures that have besn al~ ost impossible to decipher, Leiner a
~~c~·e .mass of st~okes, without any form to indicate lett~rs.
1 lus is done chiefly by the ignoran t, and would lead one to
sui;pose that they were ashamed of signiDg what they had
wr1Lten.
o not cross 01
tters; surely paper is cheap enough
now to a mit of your nsmg an extra half-sheet in case of
nec:ssity. (This practice Is chiefly prevalent a~ong young
ladies.)
A void the too frequ ~nt use ?f French and Itali<ln phraseR.
A letter thus lanled 1s the fit production of a boardiurrschool miss.
. If you are not a good writer it is advisable to use best
mk, the best paper, and the best peus, as, though they may
no~ alter the characte~ of your handwriting, yet they will
assist to make your wnting look better.
The paper on which Y.21!.'Yrite.should be clean, and neatly
folded.
. '.flJere shm~ld ?Ot .oe stains on tile envelope; if otherwise,
1t is only au rnd1cat10n of your own sloveliness.
Common wafers should never be used, at least in general
eo.rrespondence. For letters of business they are still permitted. Should you ~encl a note on business by hand, be
careful that the. wa~er IS dry before it reaches the party addressed. Nothmg is mQre offensive tbau a wet water. "'Ve
!rnve seen .a commercial man tear away the corner of a note
m great disgust, when delivered to him thus secured.
Courtesy requ ires that letters of condolence t.o a fri end on
tlie death 9f
relati..ve, should be written on black-edged
paper, and scaled with blac wax, even should you. have
been unacquainted with the deceased.
Give the proper address and date of writing at the hearl
of every letter. Never ass?~e that your correspondent knows
your addr~ss so well that _it 1s u_nnecessary to repeat it.
Go straight.to ;vour ma111 subJect at once, whatever it may
be; for therein JS the charm of all good writing. Just
obsen:e how a clever "leader" in a newspaper arrests your
11tteut10n, by the very first line, or cnrtainly by the first
l_)aragraph.
Avoid postscript8. for they are ugly, old-womanish,, and,
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o.s o. ralc, urmcccssary. Lad ins are said to write Jong lctt.crs
having no meaning, and to crush into a postscript the ouly
m:itter of importance they have to communicate. 'J'his we
cannot believe. 'l'he fall' are more shrewd than they get
crndit for from their clumsy partners. A p ostscript containing the pith of the ldter always reminds us of a cracker
attached to a. doE;'B tail ; the glory is at the wrong end, and
the Fpcctade is more iikely to amuse the observer limn
arrest the attention of bis sober sympathies.
Long letters lll'C mon! easily w1·ittt·11 thall sliort Oll<'S, fnr
eo1irkll":1li<'" rNp1i rcs r·om~ l'xrr risr of skill. 'l'herpfor<>, rlo
not take prid e iii the lcugth ul' your i<'ltcrs. as our u11·iul"·rs 11f
the cn1J11r.il of cullec!iv•1 ll'istluin ,]o ill tl1cir long- spcccl1cs, for
thnttf.::h !Jot h nny ~C l'\' ~'. a~ :1 JJl ) (ly11c~ 1 nr a L l0ast n~ HJ } H1ri !ic'-',
ye~ we do not dc~ irc compulsory repose whcll wt: l'<'«d L11e
one, or listen to the r;ther. lf you tin<l it difficult to compress your thought» rewrite your Jetter, au<l with a li ttle
perseverance you wi Ii soon discover that a great mnny heres,
an<l there.~, nod whicll~, and w.'wts, and ifs, au<l b-uts, bes id es
no end of superfluous adjccti ves, that encumber the sense,
nnd render many things more "wonderful," " extraordinary,"
and "unparalleled.'' than they really are or ever will bao
.
In writing to a 'Person, especially if a stranger, on your
own business exclnsively, and wishing to receive an answer,
do not fail to enclose a stamp for .that purpose .
.And, finally, remember that whatever you write is writ.ten evidence either of your good sense or your folly, your
industry or cnrelessness, your seJt-control or impatience.
' Vlm.t you ba.ve once put into the letter-box, muy cost you
lo.sting regret, or be equally important to your whole future
welfare. .t.nd, for such grave reasons, thi11k /Jcfo1t !l'-u

COMPLETE RULES OF ETlQUETTR.
Al\D

THE USAGES OF SOCIETY.

write, and think while you are writing.
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