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Observe the slight difference of punctuation in the above. the first specimen there is no comma or period at the line-ends. This is also the latest manner of printing the title-page of a book, the present book for instance. The difference is one of taste. All that can be demanded of a writer is that he be consistent; he must punctuate all the line-ends, or none. But in either case abbreviations (see 129), take a period, as in Co. above. Harper & Brothers is more elegant, certainly, than Harper & Bros., but it is not obligatory. Co. is an abbreviation for Company and for County; but the two uses are not likely to cause confusion.

On the other hand, the American fashion of abbreviating statenames is neither elegant nor prudent. In careless writing N. Y. is easily confounded with N. C. and with N. J. (There is a city of Trenton in N. Y. and N. J., and between the two cities many letters annually go astray.) Mass. and Miss., Ia. and Ind., are easily confounded; so also La., Va., Pa.* Ordinary handwriting, we

*During the excitement of "John Brown's Raid," 1859, Governor Wise of Virginia wrote an important letter to Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania. The letter was addressed to Harrisburg, Pa., but the Virginia postmaster sent it by mistake to Harris[on]burg, Va.; before the mistake was discovered, the rapid march of events had rendered the letter useless.

must remember, is usually rapid and frequently careless. Hence the writer should guard against every possibility of error, by giving the state-name in full. The only current abbreviations that seem to be safe are Penna., Conn., and D. C.

The house or office should be designated unmistakably. The specimens given under Headings, 229, will suffice:

99 Broadway, Room 72,

New York City.

Bursonville,

Bucks Co.,

Pennsylvania.

Should the address be to William D. Gray, Esq., or to Mr. William D. Gray? In the early part of this century Mr. was in common use. Later, it was replaced by Esq. But at present there is a widespread disposition to use Mr. again. In one respect it is preferable; it corresponds more nearly to our actual speech. No one would ever speak the formula: William D. Gray, Esq.

The difference between Mrs. William Thompson and Mrs. Helen Thompson is one of etiquette. A married woman whose husband is living is properly addressed by the name of her husband, e. g., Mrs. William Thompson. If the husband is dead, the female name is permissible; though some widows prefer the retention of the husband's name.

In addressing a letter to an unmarried lady the strict etiquette is to use merely Miss, e. g., Miss Montague, if she is the only daughter, or the eldest unmarried daughter. Intimate friends, however, frequently write the full name, e. g., Miss Lucy Montague. But younger unmarried daughters are always addressed by the full name, e. g., Miss Helen Montague, Miss Emma Montague, etc.

In the envelope-address Professor is frequently, perhaps usually, abbreviated to Prof., but the proper form in writing to a doctor of medicine is John Chapman, M. D. In any case do not begin the heading (229) of your letter: Dear Prof.; Dear Doc. The phrases have an unmistakable flavor of vulgarity. Begin: My dear Professor, My dear Doctor.

Clergymen are addressed in the following form: Rev. Isaac Taylor (D. D., LL.D.).

4. INVITATIONS, ACCEPTANCES, REGRETS.

232. Writings of this nature, passing between friends and relatives, do not differ from ordinary letters.

But the more formal notes which pass between mere acquaintances require the observance of certain forms. The following specimens will be sufficient for ordinary cases.

Mrs. Gray requests the pleasure of Mr. Hunt's company at dinner on Saturday next, at seven o'clock.

The Cedars,

October (the) fourth.

An invitation coming thus from the hostess implies a dinner at which the guests will be both ladies and gentlemen. An invitation to a so-called "stag" dinner would run in the name of the host: Mr. Gray requests, etc.

Mrs. Gray requests the pleasure of Mrs. Hunt's company at luncheon on Tuesday, the sixteenth, at one o'clock.

The above suggests a gathering of ladies.

Acceptances may be worded thus:

Mr. Hunt accepts with pleasure Mrs. Gray's invitation for Saturday next.

The Albemarle,

October (the) fifth.

Regrets may be worded thus:

Mr. Hunt regrets that a previous engagement prevents him from accepting Mrs. Gray's kind invitation for Tuesday next.

Mr. Hunt regrets that his expected absence from town on Tuesday next prevents him from accepting Mrs. Gray's kind invitation for that day.

Certain points are to be noted in the above forms.

1. The address of the writer is put below the body of the note, and not at the head of the page.

2. It is customary to mention only the day and the month, not the year.

3. The fastidious avoid the use of abbreviations and figures. Thus, "luncheon," not "lunch"; "seven," not "7." And the ultra-fastidious prefer "October the fourth" to "October fourth.”

SUPPLEMENT II.

WORKS TO BE CONSULTED.

THE teacher of English composition should not be tied down to one text-book alone, but should get as much help as possible from collateral reading. The following works, which have been carefully consulted by the present writer, are herewith recommended.

1. F. N. Scott and J. V. Denney, Paragraph-Writing. Boston; Allyn and Bacon, 1893.

For nearly ten years the subject of instruction in paragraphwriting has been prominent in the thoughts of many educators. The first to formulate the subject at all was Alexander Bain, in his English Composition and Rhetoric, Part I., ch. 5. Here we find, in outline at least, the unity and sequence of the paragraph inculcated (Bain's term for designating sequence is "consecutive"), also the value of connectives. Genung, in his Practical Elements of Rhetoric. Boston; Ginn, 1890, pp. 193-213, treated the subject more systematically than Bain had done. Also Wendell, in his English Composition, 1893, laid great stress upon the function of the paragraph. But it is to Scott and Denney that credit is due for first treating the paragraph with adequate care, fulness, and method. Practically they have exhausted the subject, so much so that every subsequent writer will find it difficult to avoid copying their classification and nomenclature. Yet their book, by reason of its fulness and attention to minutiæ, is better adapted for teachers and advanced college-classes than for ordinary college and highschool students. Too much stress, perhaps, is laid upon fine distinctions and subdivisions. Nevertheless, the book is one which every teacher and professional writer can use with great profit.

2. Barrett Wendell, English Composition. New York; Scribner, 1893. This book is of an altogether different cast. The author does not profess to reduce the subject to a formal system. He is stimulating rather than didactic; he initiates his readers into the

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