A person who has self-respect as well as respect for others, should never carelessly write a letter or note.

REQUIREMENTS FOR CORRECT WRITING.

The letter or note should be free from all flourishes.  The rules of punctuation should be followed as nearly as possible, and no capital letters used where they are not required.  Ink-blots, erasures, and stains on the paper are inadmissible.  Any abbreviations of name, rank or title are considered rude, beyond those sanctioned by custom.  No abbreviations of words should be indulged in, nor underlining of words intended to be made emphatic.  All amounts of money or other numbers should be written, reserving the use of numerical figures for dates only.  It is a good form to have the address of the writer printed at the top of the sheet, especially for all business letters.  For letters of friendship and notes, pure white paper and envelopes are in better taste than tinted or colored, and the paper should be of a superior quality.  When a page is once written from left to right side, it should not be written over again from top to bottom.

ANONYMOUS LETTERS.

No attention should ever be paid to anonymous letters.  The writers of such stamp themselves as cowardly, and cowards do not hesitate to say or write what is not true when it suits their purpose.  All statements made in such letters should be regarded as false, and the writers as actuated by some bad motives.  Anonymous letters should be burned at once, for they are not to be noticed.

LETTERS AND NOTES.

The writing of notes in the third person is generally confined to notes of invitation, and such notes are never signed.

When a letter is upon business, commencing “Sir” or “Dear Sir,” the name of the person addressed may be written either at the beginning or at the close of the letter, in the left hand corner.  In letters commencing with the name of the person to whom you are writing, as, “My Dear Mrs. Brown,” the name should not be repeated in the left hand corner.

No notes should be commenced very high or very low on the page, but nearer the top than the middle of the sheet.

MANNER OF ADDRESS.

In addressing a clergyman, it is customary to commence “Reverend Sir,” or “Dear Sir.”  It is not now customary to write “B.A.” or “M.A.” after his name.

Doctors of divinity and medicine are thus distinguished:  “To the Rev. John Blair, D.D.,” or “Rev. Dr. Blair;” “To G.T.  Roscoe, M.D.,” “Doctor Roscoe” or “Dr. Roscoe.”

The President of the United States and Governors of States, are addressed “His Excellency.”  U.S.  Senators, members of Congress and men distinguished by holding various political offices of an honorable nature, are addressed as “Honorable.”