The endings of formal letters vary with occasion and with individual taste, ranging from the elaborate I have the honor to be, sir, Your obedient servant of diplomatic correspondence, to the brief Respectfully yours of an official or a business communication; from the punctilious Believe me, my dear Mrs. Jones, of a ceremonious letter, to the polite of a social note. Sincerely yours Faithfully yours A married woman should never put "Mrs." in her signature. If she is writing a business letter to a stranger, she should sign her own name, and put her husband's name, with "Mrs." before it, either underneath in parenthesis or at the other side of the page, as MARY SMITH. (Mrs. John Smith.) An unmarried woman, writing a letter of a similar nature, may properly subscribe herself (MISS) SARAH TRIPSON. Formal Letters in the Third Person. The practice of writing letters in the third person is more common in England than in the United States; but it is still kept up in this country in formal notes of invitation, acceptance, or refusal, in official communications, and in some business letters. THE ELMS. Mr. and Mrs. Francis Brown Mr. and Mrs. Jones's company at dinner on Thursday evening, January the twenty-fourth, at eight o'clock. 3 FRANKLIN TERRACE Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Jones regret that a previous engagement Mr. and Mrs. Brown's kind invitation to dinner on Thursday, January twenty-fourth. In the second example, the reason for not accepting the invitation is given,-"a previous engagement." When a reason is given, it should never be more explicit than this wholly conventional and wholly polite phrase. Since, however, there is nowadays no social necessity for explaining why an invitation is declined, the letter might properly have read, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Jones regret that they are unable to accept Mr. and Mrs. Brown's kind invitation, etc. The phrase "kind invitation" recognizes in the best modern form the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Brown. Two generations ago the phrase would probably have been "polite invitation." Professor Blank and the Misses Blank company at a small musicale To meet the Bishop of Litchfield. 4 LINCOLN SQUARE. R. 8. v. p. In this invitation," R. 8. v. p." is the conventional form most frequently used to indicate that an answer is desired. These letters stand for the French phrase Répondez s'il vous plaît, "Reply if you please." An English equivalent is sometimes used, as "Please reply," or Kindly answer." 66 MARLBOROUGH HOUSE, PALL Mall, S. W. Sir Francis Knollys has received the commands of the King to convey to the president and members of the Massachusetts State Board of Trade the expression of His Majesty's warm thanks for the board's resolutions of sympathy upon the death of Her Lamented Majesty, Queen Victoria. 8th February, 1901. The President and Fellows of Harvard College have received “Life on the Mississippi," a gift to the Library of the University from Mr. A. M. Dale, for which they return grateful acknowledgment. CAMBRIDGE, March 2, 1900. Mrs. Hosmer will be greatly obliged to Madame Olga if she wili send before one o'clock on Thursday the dress promised for that day. Mrs. Hosmer has to take the afternoon train for New York on the day named. 6 JAMES STREET, February 3rd. Will Mr. Fen kindly see how many editions of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" his library contains, and at his convenience send word to E. Banks, at Nantucket. For notes like these, the formal style seems to be peculiarly appropriate. EXERCISE IX Write a familiar letter, with particular attention to the beginning, the ending, and the superscription, and to punctuation throughout. Write a formal invitation to dinner, and replies to such an invitation-one accepting, one declining it. Write a letter in answer to the following advertisement: "Boy wanted in a drug store. Give age, previous occupa tion, and references." CHAPTER IV NOUNS THOSE Who wish to write correctly should pay particular attention to nouns, pronouns, and verbs, the most important parts of speech. Use and Place of the Apostrophe. The apostrophe is a little character that is greatly abused. I Cubans are complaining. I have two ideas of the treatment of Shylock. In spite of our hero's services, the king begins to wish he were well rid of such a monster. He thus won, not only a wrestling match, but a lady's heart. II Cuban's are complaining. I have two idea's of the treatment of Shylock. In spite of our heros services, the king begins to wish he were well rid of such a monster. He thus won, not only a wrestling match, but a ladies heart.1 [Throughout this book, the forms of expression given under I are better than those given under II; those under II are the original, those under I the corrected, forms. Throughout the first 340 pages, the faulty word or words are italicized. The apostrophe, as every one should know, is usually a sign of the possessive case.2 I Many of Scott's more romantic novels are not nearly so true to life as Miss Austen's. II Many of Scott's more romantic novels are not nearly so true to life as Miss Austens'. If the reference is to the author of "Pride and Prejudice," the apostrophe should come before the "s." 1 The first of these faulty sentences was a headline above a dispatch from Havana published in a leading Boston newspaper; the others, like many more in this book, come from compositions written by candidates for admission to Harvard College. 2 For other uses of the apostrophe, see page 29. I She had known everything about them, from the boys' bills and the girls' gloves to the heart and the disposition of each. II She had known everything about them, from the boys' bills and the girl's gloves to the heart and the disposition of each. If more than one girl is meant, the apostrophe should come after the "s" in "girls"," as it does in "boys'." We sell nothing but men's clothing. Four sheep's heads appeared above the wall. 66 II We sell nothing but mens' clothing. Four sheeps' heads appeared above the wall. 66 Usually a plural that does not end in "s" (as men,' women, ,” “children," "sheep," "deer," "swine") forms its possessive case by adding "'s." 66 When an apostrophe is needed, put it in the right place. Possessive of Nouns in "s."-The possessive case of a noun that ends in "s" is not always correctly formed. I The line is in Keats's "Endymion." I shot Mrs. Briggs's cat. Fate decreed that no horsejockey should become the possessor of Godfrey Cass's mare. II The line is in Keat's "Endymion." I shot Mrs. Briggs' cat. Fate decreed that no horsejockey should become the possessor of Godfrey Cass' mare. The fault exemplified in the first sentence under II, gross as it is, occasionally occurs in college compositions; that exemplified in the other sentences is less objectionable but more common. According to the best present usage, proper names ending in "s" (or the sound of "s"), if but one syllable long, add "s" after the apostrophe, as 99 Burns's,' "James's," "Miles's." So do names of two syllables when the sound of the additional "s" is not disagreeable to the ear, as "Dickens's," "Horace's,' 66 |