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How to Speak and Write Correctly
SUBSCRIPTION
The _Subscription_ or ending of a letter consists of the term of
respect or affection and the signature. The term depends upon the
relation of the person addressed. Letters of friendship can close with
such expressions as:
Yours lovingly, Yours affectionately, Devotedly yours, Ever yours,
etc.
as between husbands and wives or between lovers. Such gushing
terminations as Your Own Darling, Your own Dovey and other pet and
silly endings should be avoided, as they denote shallowness. Love can
be strongly expressed without dipping into the nonsensical and the
farcical.
Formal expressions of Subscription are:
Yours Sincerely, Yours truly, Respectfully yours,
and the like, and these may be varied to denote the exact bearing or
attitude the writer wishes to assume to the person addressed: as,
Very sincerely yours, Very respectfully yours, With deep respect
yours, Yours very truly, etc.
Such elaborate endings as
"In the meantime with the highest respect, I am yours to command," "I
have the honor to be, Sir, Your humble Servant," "With great
expression of esteem, I am Sincerely yours," "Believe me, my dear Sir,
Ever faithfully yours,"
are condemned as savoring too much of affectation.
It is better to finish formal letters without any such qualifying
remarks. If you are writing to Mr. Ryan to tell him that you have a
house for sale, after describing the house and stating the terms
simply sign yourself
Your obedient Servant Yours very truly, Yours with respect, James
Wilson.
Don't say you have the honor to be anything or ask him to believe
anything, all you want to tell him is that you have a house for sale
and that you are sincere, or hold him in respect as a prospective
customer.
Don't abbreviate the signature as: _Y'rs Resp'fly_ and always make
your sex obvious. Write plainly
Yours truly, _John Field_
and not _J. Field_, so that the person to whom you send it may not
take you for _Jane Field_.
It is always best to write the first name in full. Married women
should prefix _Mrs._ to their names, as
Very sincerely yours, _Mrs._ Theodore Watson.
If you are sending a letter acknowledging a compliment or some
kindness done you may say, _Yours gratefully,_ or _Yours very
gratefully,_ in proportion to the act of kindness received.
It is not customary to sign letters of degrees or titles after your
name, except you are a lord, earl or duke and only known by the title,
but as we have no such titles in America it is unnecessary to bring
this matter into consideration. Don't sign yourself,
Sincerely yours, Obadiah Jackson, M.A. or L.L. D.
If you're an M. A. or an L.L. D. people generally know it without your
sounding your own trumpet. Many people, and especially clergymen, are
fond of flaunting after their names degrees they have received
_honoris causa_, that is, degrees as a mark of honor, without
examination. Such degrees should be kept in the background. Many a
deadhead has these degrees which he could never have earned by brain
work.
Married women whose husbands are alive may sign the husband's name
with the prefix _Mrs:_ thus,
Yours sincerely, _Mrs._ William Southey.
but when the husband is dead the signature should be--
Yours sincerely, _Mrs._ Sarah Southey.
So when we receive a letter from a woman we are enabled to tell
whether she has a husband living or is a widow. A woman separated from
her husband but not a _divorcee_ should _not_ sign his name.
ADDRESS
The _address_ of a letter consists of the name, the title and the
residence.
Mr. Hugh Black, 112 Southgate Street, Altoona, Pa.
Intimate friends have often familiar names for each other, such as pet
names, nicknames, etc., which they use in the freedom of conversation,
but such names should never, under any circumstances, appear on the
envelope. The subscription on the envelope should be always written
with propriety and correctness and as if penned by an entire stranger.
The only difficulty in the envelope inscription is the title. Every
man is entitled to _Mr._ and every lady to _Mrs._ and every unmarried
lady to _Miss_. Even a boy is entitled to _Master_. When more than one
is addressed the title is _Messrs._ _Mesdames_ is sometimes written of
women. If the person addressed has a title it is courteous to use it,
but titles never must be duplicated. Thus, we can write
Robert Stitt, M. D., but never Dr. Robert Stitt, M. D, or Mr. Robert
Stitt, M. D.
In writing to a medical doctor it is well to indicate his profession
by the letters M. D. so as to differentiate him from a D. D. It is
better to write Robert Stitt, M. D., than Dr. Robert Stitt.
In the case of clergymen the prefix Rev. is retained even when they
have other titles; as
Rev. Tracy Tooke, LL. D.
When a person has more titles than one it is customary to only give
him the leading one. Thus instead of writing Rev. Samuel MacComb, B.
A., M. A., B. Sc., Ph. D., LL. D., D. D. the form employed is Rev.
Samuel MacComb, LL. D. LL. D. is appended in preference to D. D.
because in most cases the "Rev." implies a "D. D." while comparatively
few with the prefix "Rev." are entitled to "LL. D."
In the case of _Honorables_ such as Governors, Judges, Members of
Congress, and others of the Civil Government the prefix "Hon." does
away with _Mr._ and _Esq._ Thus we write Hon. Josiah Snifkins, not
Hon. Mr. Josiah Snifkins or Hon. Josiah Snifkins, Esq. Though this
prefix _Hon._ is also often applied to Governors they should be
addressed as Excellency. For instance:
His Excellency, Charles E. Hughes, Albany, N. Y.
In writing to the President the superscription on the envelope should
be
To the President, Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C.
Professional men such as doctors and lawyers as well as those having
legitimately earned College Degrees may be addressed on the envelopes
by their titles, as
Jonathan Janeway, M. D. Hubert Houston, B. L. Matthew Marks, M. A.,
etc.
The residence of the person addressed should be plainly written out in
full. The street and numbers should be given and the city or town
written very legibly. If the abbreviation of the State is liable to be
confounded or confused with that of another then the full name of the
State should be written. In writing the residence on the envelope,
instead of putting it all in one line as is done at the head of a
letter, each item of the residence forms a separate line. Thus,
Liberty, Sullivan County, New York.
215 Minna St., San Francisco, California.
There should be left a space for the postage stamp in the upper right
hand corner. The name and title should occupy a line that is about
central between the top of the envelope and the bottom. The name
should neither be too much to right or left but located in the centre,
the beginning and end at equal distances from either end.
In writing to large business concerns which are well known or to
public or city officials it is sometimes customary to leave out number
and street. Thus,
Messrs. Seigel, Cooper Co., New York City,
Hon. William J. Gaynor, New York City.
NOTES
_Notes_ may be regarded as letters in miniature confined chiefly to
invitations, acceptances, regrets and introductions, and modern
etiquette tends towards informality in their composition. Card
etiquette, in fact, has taken the place of ceremonious correspondence
and informal notes are now the rule. Invitations to dinner and
receptions are now mostly written on cards. "Regrets" are sent back on
visiting cards with just the one word _"Regrets"_ plainly written
thereon. Often on cards and notes of invitation we find the letters R.
S. V. P. at the bottom. These letters stand for the French _repondez
s'il vous plait_, which means "Reply, if you please," but there is no
necessity to put this on an invitation card as every well-bred person
knows that a reply is expected. In writing notes to young ladies of
the same family it should be noted that the eldest daughter of the
house is entitled to the designation _Miss_ without any Christian
name, only the surname appended. Thus if there are three daughters in
the Thompson family Martha, the eldest, Susan and Jemina, Martha is
addressed as _Miss_ Thompson and the other two as _Miss_ Susan
Thompson and _Miss_ Jemina Thompson respectively.
Don't write the word _addressed_ on the envelope of a note.
Don't _seal_ a note delivered by a friend.
Don't write a note on a postal card.
Here are a few common forms:--
FORMAL INVITATIONS
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wagstaff request the honor of Mr. McAdoo's presence
on Friday evening, June 15th, at 8 o'clock to meet the Governor of the
Fort. 19 Woodbine Terrace June 8th, 1910.
This is an invitation to a formal reception calling for evening dress.
Here is Mr. McAdoo's reply in the third person:--
Mr. McAdoo presents his compliments to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wagstaff and
accepts with great pleasure their invitation to meet the Governor of
the Fort on the evening of June fifteenth. 215 Beacon Street, June
10th, 1910.
Here is how Mr. McAdoo might decline the invitation:--
Mr. McAdoo regrets that owing to a prior engagement he must forego the
honor of paying his respects to Mr. and Mrs. Wagstaff and the Governor
of the Fort on the evening of June fifteenth. 215 Beacon St., June
10th, 1910.
Here is a note addressed, say to Mr. Jeremiah Reynolds.
Mr. and Mrs. Oldham at home on Wednesday evening October ninth from
seven to eleven. 21 Ashland Avenue, October 5th.
Mr. Reynolds makes reply:--
Mr. Reynolds accepts with high appreciation the honor of Mr. and Mrs.
Oldham's invitation for Wednesday evening October ninth. Windsor Hotel
October 7th
or
Mr. Reynolds regrets that his duties render it impossible for him to
accept Mr. and Mrs. Oldham's kind invitation for the evening of
October ninth. Windsor Hotel, October 7th,
Sometimes less informal invitations are sent on small specially
designed note paper in which the first person takes the place of the
third. Thus
360 Pine St., Dec. 11th, 1910. Dear Mr. Saintsbury: Mr. Johnson and I
should be much pleased to have you dine with us and a few friends next
Thursday, the fifteenth, at half past seven. Yours sincerely, Emma
Burnside.
Mr. Saintsbury's reply:
57 Carlyle Strand Dec. 13th, 1910. Dear Mrs. Burnside: Let me accept
very appreciatively your invitation to dine with Mr. Burnside and you
on next Thursday, the fifteenth, at half past seven. Yours sincerely,
Henry Saintsbury. Mrs. Alexander Burnside.
NOTES OF INTRODUCTION
Notes of introduction should be very circumspect as the writers are in
reality vouching for those whom they introduce. Here is a specimen of
such a note.
603 Lexington Ave., New York City, June 15th, 1910.
Rev. Cyrus C. Wiley, D. D., Newark, N. J. My dear Dr. Wiley: I take
the liberty of presenting to you my friend, Stacy Redfern, M. D., a
young practitioner, who is anxious to locate in Newark. I have known
him many years and can vouch for his integrity and professional
standing. Any courtesy and kindness which you may show him will be
very much appreciated by me. Very sincerely yours,
Franklin Jewett.