DEAR ENIE,

31 LOWNDES Square, S.W.,

29th April, 1884.

I wish you many happy returns, and that you may have some visible reason to remember me when I am no longer here to wish, I send you the verses I promised. If they don't say what I meant they should say (and verses seldom do), they will at least serve as a record of the love I bore you. Affectionately yours,

Here are two letters from Tennyson:

MY DEAR BROWNING,

J. R. L.1

ALDWORTH, August, 1889.

I thank you with my whole heart and being for your noble and affectionate letter, and with my whole heart and being I return your friendship. To be loved and appreciated by so great and powerful a nature as yours will be a solace to me, and lighten my dark hours during the short time of life that is left to me.

DEAR FRIEND,

Ever yours,

TENNYSON.

Our affectionate sympathies are with you. That is all that can be said at present, and these "words" are nothing to you at present, but for his sake accept them.

A. TENNYSON.2

Here are three of Steele's letters to his wife :

DEAR PRUE,

Oct. 8, 1708.

This brings you a quarter of a pound of bohea, and as much of green tea, both which I hope you will find good. To-morrow morning your favourite, Mr. Addison, and I, shall set out for Hampton court; he to meet some great men there, I to see you, who am but what you make me. Yours, with the utmost fondness,

RICH. STEELE.

1 Published in the "Century," November, 1899. In the magazine, the address "Dear Enie" is followed by a colon, and is printed, to save space, on a line with the first words of the sentence that follows, -in conformity, no doubt, with the practice of the editor; in manuscript, the letter was probably spaced and punctuated as it is printed above.

2 Both these letters are printed exactly as they appear in the memoir of Tennyson written by his son. The second letter was written to George Eliot soon after the death of George Lewes.

March 11, 1708-9.

Dear Prue,

I inclose five guineas, but cannot come home to dinner. little woman, take care of thyself, and eat and drink chearfully.

Dear

RICH. STEELE.

March 28, 1713.

DEAR PRUE,

I will do every thing you desire your own way.

Yours ever,

RICH. STEELE.

A good example of an informal invitation is the following:

MY DEAR MR. Dale,

Will you not come in next Monday at half-past one o'clock and take your lunch with us? It will give Mr. Mellow and me great pleasure to welcome you here then.

With kind regards to Mrs. Dale, whom I shall hope to see as the weather becomes better, Cordially yours,

ROSE G. Mellow.

If half-past one o'clock will interfere with your lecture hour, I shall be very glad to make it one o'clock.

125 Adams Street, March seventeenth.

The beginning and the ending of even a familiar letter should conform to rules fixed by the usage of polite society, rules rigid in some cases and flexible in others. Lowell, in his letter quoted on the preceding page, gives at the beginning his town address together with the date; but he might have put both at the end: either position is proper. Sometimes, even when the local address is stamped at the head of the note-paper, the date is put by itself at the end. When a letter covers several pages, it is convenient for the reader to know the date at the outset; when a note is so short that the details may be taken in at a glance, the local address and the date may be either at the top or at the bottom of the page.

The opening of a familiar letter may, with certain

restrictions, be left to individual taste. The safest, because the simplest, way to begin is to put after the adjective "Dear" the name which the writer would naturally use in conversation with the person addressed. The form My dear Mary" is perhaps slightly more formal than "Dear Mary," unless "My " is used as a term of affection.

The expression of regard or of courtesy at the end of a familiar letter may be left to individual preference within the limits of conventional rules. The most common way of closing an informal letter to a mere acquaintance or to a stranger is to write "Yours truly" or "Very truly yours," forms that usually mean less than "Yours sincerely." Either "Sincerely yours" or "Yours sincerely is proper, either "Affectionately yours" or "Yours affectionately." As a rule, neither "yours" nor the accompanying adverb should be omitted or abbreviated; but in a letter to a very intimate friend omissions and abbreviations are allowable, for in our day affection makes short work with conventional rules. Though "friend" is now unusual at the beginning of a letter, "Your sincere friend" at the end is a natural and an acceptable expression of regard. The stately language which politeness formerly required at the end of even an informal letter is nowadays reserved for ceremonious communications. Fifty years ago a gentleman writing quite informally to a lady would have subscribed himself "Your obedient servant,' or have used some expression even more elaborate and courtly; to-day such phrases rarely occur except in official or in very formal letters. In this matter, as in others, the modern tendency is toward simplicity.

Formal Letters in the First Person. When we speak of a "formal" letter, we mean a letter in which particular attention to form is required; but there are different degrees of formality in expression, as there are of for mality in behavior.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 12, 1868.

The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter transmitted by Mr. Sumner, and to express to you his sincere thanks for the suggestions it contains, as well as for the kind terms in which you have spoken of himself. I have the honor to be very truly, Your obedient servant,

JOHN HAY,

Private Secretary.

MESSRS. SEEK & HYDE,

18 Broilston St., Boston, Mass. GENTLEMEN:

15 Congress St., Nov. 3, 1899.

It was agreed between Mr. Dewey and me that I should send you a copy of the deposition of John M. Bennett, taken for use in Simonds vs. Boston Elevated Railroad, and I accordingly enclose such copy herewith. Yours very truly,

MY DEAR MRS. JONES:

M. S. DALE.

THE ELMS, LONGWOOD.

Will you and Mr. Jones give us the pleasure of your company at dinner on Thursday evening, January the twenty-fourth, at eight o'clock? Hoping that you have no previous engagement, I am

January sixth, 1902.

Sincerely yours,

JANE BROWN.

3 FRANKLIN TERRACE, Seventh January, 1902.

MY DEAR MRS. BROWN:

It will give Mr. Jones and me much pleasure to dine with you on Thursday, January twenty-fourth, at eight o'clock. Thank you for so kindly thinking of us.

Yours very sincerely,

ELIZABETH JONES.

The foregoing examples are enough to show that the style of a formal letter in the first person, though it must be ceremonious, may depend upon the nature of the occasion and, to a certain extent, upon the temperament of the writer. The modern tendency, as has already been

said, is toward simplicity of language. In diplomatic correspondence much of the stately dignity of the traditional forms is retained, but in business communications the best usage favors shorter and more direct expressions. In formal letters of a social character, such as those of Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brown quoted on the preceding page, a happy medium has been reached by the best usage. In any formal letter, the writer should avoid both an artificial elaborateness that may sound stilted, insincere, or servile, and a bald literalness that is inconsiderate or curt.

The opening of a formal letter is almost rigidly prescribed. The most formal, and that generally used in official or business correspondence, consists of one word, "Sir" or "Madam"; next in order of formality comes "My dear Sir" or "Dear Sir," "My dear Madam" or "Dear Madam." "Madam" is used in addressing an unmarried, as well as a married, woman. The usual plural forms are "Sirs," "Dear Sirs," or "Gentlemen," and "Ladies "" 1 or "Mesdames.' When any one of these forms is used, the name of the person written to may come either at the beginning or at the end of the letter, or (as a matter of convenience) at the bottom of the first page. When two or three gentlemen are addressed, the form "Messrs. Jones and Smith," or "Messrs. Jones, Smith, and Brown," is used; 2 when more than three are addressed, the form "Mr. Henry Jones and others" is preferable, for a list of names and titles would be cumbrous. In a letter of a social character, the name of the person addressed is placed after "Dear" or "My dear," as "My dear Mr. Jones," "My dear Miss Jones"; the full name and title may, but need not, be added at the end.

1" Mesdames" is objectionable because it is not English; on this ground it is avoided by many careful writers.

2 It is unfortunate that we have no abbreviation for "Mesdames' corresponding to the familiar "Messrs." for "Messieurs." Instead of addressing several ladies together as "Mesdames Jones, Smith, and Brown," we may put "Mrs." before the name of each.