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

spirit of good writing. His temper is distinctively literary; his illustrations evince, not only wide reading, but excellent taste. The book brushes aside more than one delusion and exploded tradition; among its many positive merits, it inspires in the mature reader the desire to write well. But it is scarcely a book for the young; it presupposes too great familiarity with general litera

ture.

3. J. F. Genung, Outlines of Rhetoric. A. S. Hill, The Foundations of Rhetoric. 1893.

Boston; Ginn, 1893. New York; Harpers,

These two books are best discussed together. Although differing in outward arrangement, they agree in aim and are addressed to the same grade of scholar, namely, to the lower classes in the high school, or to scholars still younger. Each book teaches a moderate amount of practical grammar. But in each the stress is laid upon the choice and use of words, and upon sentencestructure. Each leads up to and a little way into paragraphwriting. Each offers specimens of faulty English for correction. The two books, in short, are parallel at nearly every point. They put into the hands of the teacher the means of weeding out the usual vices of expression and securing correctness within the sentence. Every teacher can well afford to consult both books.