Example 7th. INVITATION TO DINNER. Mr. Tyler requests the pleasure of the Hon. Mr. Otis company at dinner on Saturday next, at 5 o'clock. Bowdoin Square, Wednesday, 13th July. Example 8th. THE REPLY* Mr. Otis accepts with pleasure Mr. Tyler's invitation to dinner on Saturday next, at 5 o'clock. Beacon Street, Thursday, 14th July. prive them of the pleasure of accepting Mrs. Smith's polite invitation for Thursday evening, the 5th inst. The address of a gentleman to a lady's invitation may be: Mr. Chapman has the honor of accepting, &c., or, regrets that a previous engagement will vrevent his having the honor, &c. *The latest and most approved style of folding notes, is to enclose them in an envelope, in the manner explained in reference to official docu ments, in the note on page 188th. The envelopes, ready made, are fur nished by the stationer. If not enclosed, they generally have two folds only; and in directing them, the open part, or leaves, of the note should be on the left side. When enclosed, but one fold is necessary With regard to the sealing of a letter, if a wafer is to be used, care should be taken that it be not made too moist, for, in that case, it will not receive a good impression from the seal; and, moreover, is apt to give the letter a soiled appearance. But they who are particular about these matters always use wax in preference to wafers. * FORMS OF CARDS. Under the head of epistolary correspondence, may also be embraced the different forms of ceremonious cards, designed for morning calls, nup tial ceremonies, &c. As these are all supposed to be written or dictated by the individual who uses them, no title conceded by courtesy alone should ever be seen on them. Even the prefix of Mr. on a gentleman's card, savors of arrogance, for the literal meaning of the prefix is. "Master." But the case is different on the card of a lady, and the prefix Mrs. (although it means "Mistress ") is to be used, in order to distinguish her name from that of her husband. The question may arise, whether the residence should be inserted on the card. To this question a decided affirmative reply is given, although it is known to be at variance with not unfrequent usage. The omission of the residence seems to imply the belief, that the individual is a person of such distinction, that the knowledge of the residence is a matter of notoriety, and needs not to be mentioned. Now, in all the courtesies of life, the individual speaking of himself, should speak modestly and with humility; and, however distinguished he may be, he should be guilty of no arrogance of distinction. The insertion of the residence, therefore, is to be recommended on this ground alone, to say nothing of the possibility of mistake, arising from the bearing of the same name by two different families or by two different individuals. In the cards of the young ladies of a family, the family name, with the Lord Chesterfield, having received a letter sealed with a wafer, is said to have expressed strong disapprobation, saying, "What does the fellow mean by sending me his own spittle!" It is related, also, of Lord Nelson, that, in the very midst of the battle of Copenhagen, when the work of carnage and destruction was the hottest around him, and he judged it expedient to propose a cessation of hostilities, a wafer being brought to him to seal his communication to the Danish authorities, he rejected it, directing the wax and a taper to be brought, saying, "What! shall I send my own spittle to the Crown Prince ?" In this latter case, however, policy might have been mingled with refinement; for a wafer seems to imply haste, and the sealing of his letter with a wafer would have implied a desire for a speedy cessa tion of hostilities, which would have been construed into a necessity of the same, and have rendered his enemies confident of success, and unwilling to accede to the proposal. The coolness and deliberation implied in the seal ing with wax, concealed from his enemies the knowledge of the condition of his fleet, and disposed them to comply with his wishes. There is a kind of transparent glazed wafer very much in use at the present day; but even this seems to be obnoxious to the same objections -it implies haste, which is inconsistent with the studied courtesies of polished life, and, moreover, involves the necessity of sending one's ow spttle." prefix of "Miss," is proper to be used without the "Christian name," by the eldest of the single daughters. The Christian names of the younger daughters should be inserted. To illustrate by an example, suppose a gentleman, by the name of Arthur S. Wellington, resides with his family, a wife, and three daughters, Caroline M., Catharine S., ana Augusta P. in Tremont Street. His card should be: On the death, or marriage, of the eldest daughter, the second daughter becomes Miss Wellington,* &c. * On wedding cards, or cards preceding a wedding, there is considerable diversity of opinion, whether the name of both the gentleman and the lady should be inserted, or whether that of the lady alone should be expressed. A decided opinion is, however, expressed, that the name of the lady alone belongs on the card. She is to be the future mistress of the house; over its internal arrangements she alone has (or should have) any control, and to her alone also, all visits of ceremony are directed. The same reasons, therefore, which exclude the name of the husband from the notes of invi tation, seem to apply with equal force to the exclusion of the name of the future husband from the wedding cards. Thus, supposing that Mr. John Singleton and Miss Sarah Greenwood intend marriage, the wedding card should be expressed thus: Miss Sarah Greenwood; At home on Tuesday Eve'g, at 8 o'clock. Another class of cards,* called business cards, form a convenient mode of advertising, and are much used at the present day. Of these it will be sufficient to say, that they should be short, comprehensive, clear, and dis tinct. The card of an attorney or a counsellor at law will read thus: William Blackstone, Counsellor, for Attorney) at Law The card of a physician may be expressed in the following form. William Danforth, M. D., M. M. S., 57 Winter Street, Reference: Dr. William Rand, "John Warren. Boston *There are some portions of this article, particularly those relating to ceremonious observances in epistolary correspondence, which may be deemed out of place in a volume professing to treat of grave composition. The author's apology for their introduction is the want he has long felt o something of the kind for the use of his own pupils. He confesses that he is alone responsible for all the directions and the suggestions in the introduction to the Exercise; and, while he is conscious that the attitude of a learner would become him better than that of a teacher in these points, he apologizes for his presumption by the statement, that he knows no source in print to which he can refer those who are desirous of information upon these topics. How he has thus supplied the deficiency, he leaves for others to judge. To those who have any thing to object to what he has ad vanced, he respectfully addresses the words of the Venusian poet: That the whole subject is important in an enlightened community, needs no stronger corroboration than the assertion of the author of Waverley, (see "Ivanhoe," Parker's edition, Vol. 1st, p. 169,) that "a man may with more impunity be guilty of an actual breach of good breeding or of good morals, than appear ignorant of the most minute point of fashionable etiquette The card of a commission merchant is as follows: A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION. IN. B. It will be noticed, that it is not customary to seal a Letter of in is one Dear Sir, troduction.] Boston, April 19th, 1845 This will be handed to you by my friend, Mr. John Smith, who visits your city on busi= ness connected with his profession. Mr. Smith of the most distinguished members of the Suffolk Bar, and you will not fail to discover that he is as remarkable for his general scholarship, and the polish of his manners, as for his eminenco in the legal profession. The attentions which, may please to show him for my sake, I have no doubt that you will be happy to continue for his own,—all of which shall be gratefully acknowl= edged and heartily reciprocated by Yours respectfully, Rich'd Roe. you John Doe, Esq. |