rousers are the
proper width and show a slight but not too pronounced crease. His
waistcoat is cut low, and over it he wears an Eton jacket of black
cloth that is accentuated by the deep white linen collar which turns
over it, and which is attached, like his cuffs, to his immaculate
white shirt.

He scorns all jewelry but a little watch and the white enamel buttons
that are in his shirt. His silk hat has a lower and a somewhat broader
crown than that made for an older gentleman.

A suit like this is worn by a boy from the time he is twelve until he
is eighteen, and then he is supposed to assume the regulation evening
dress worn by men.

_Letter Writing._

[Illustration]

"Letters are the memory of friendship," and are to be reckoned among
the chief links in the social chain that binds parent and child, lover
and sweetheart, friend and friend, in harmonious accord.

A letter may, from a business point of view, make or mar the fortunes
of its sender, while none the less surely, from a social standard,
will our epistles approve or condemn our claim for consideration.
Every position in life, and every occasion which may arise therein,
demand more or less exercise of our epistolary powers, and while but
few can hope for the grace, the wit, the repartee that sparkle in the
missives of a de Stael, a Recamier, a Walpole, a Macaulay, every one
can and should learn to write a clear, concise, intelligent,
appropriate letter.

A Rare Accomplishment.

To do this properly is a social accomplishment, and one of the
greatest boons that education confers. A graceful note, a kindly,
sparkling letter, are each the exponent of a true lady or gentleman,
though it must be confessed, since our country furnishes no so-called
"leisure class," the art of letter-writing has, in great measure,
fallen into feminine hands, the cares of business and professional
life ofttimes preventing the sterner half of creation from mere
friendly exercise of the pen. It is among women, therefore, that we
will find in the present, as we have found in the past, the best and
most fluent of correspondents.

A certain dread of letter-writing, however, seems to haunt a large
class of people. This dread, arising either from imperfect education,
a lack of practice or a fear of "nothing to say," can be overcome in
great measure by careful study of the few main requisites of the art,
as embraced in style, orthography, forms to be adopted and statione