but to answer at
once will at any rate get you the credit of courtesy.

Of all business letters a copy should be kept. If you write few they may
be copied by hand into a book kept for the purpose, but if many the use
of a copying-press saves a great deal of monotonous labour, and secures
absolute accuracy besides.

The way to use a copying-press is this. Write the letter with
copying-ink. Then put a sheet of oiled paper under the leaf of the
letter-book on which you wish to take the copy. Letter-books of thin
paper are sold for the purpose. Wet the leaf with a brush or soft
sponge. On the top of the wet leaf put a sheet of blotting paper, and on
the top of that another sheet of oiled paper. Then shut the book, put it
in the press, and give it a squeeze for a second to take off the
superfluous moisture. Take out the book, remove the blotting-paper and
the top sheet of oiled paper, and in their place put your letter face
downwards on the damp page. Shut the book, put it back into the
copying-press, give it a hard squeeze by means of the lever or screw,
leave it in from half a minute to a minute, and the whole thing is done;
an exact copy of the letter will be left in your letter-book.

A letter being written and copied, has to be posted; but before being
posted it must be addressed. The address should be written neatly and
plainly, neither too high up nor too low down.

To say, Be sure to put the direction on your letters is not unnecessary
advice. Thousands of letters are posted every year without any address
whatever. In the year ending 31st March, 1886, there were no fewer than
26,228 of them, and of this large number 1,620 contained cash and
cheques to the amount, in all, of L3,733 17s. 5d.

Be sure, too, that your letters are properly fastened. On this subject,
hear Mr. George Seton. "There is," he says, "no real security in wafers,
and probably still less in adhesive envelopes, which are now in almost
universal use. Both may easily be loosened by the application of either
water or steam. The best mode of securing a letter is first to wafer it
and then seal it with wax. When, however, an adhesive envelope is used,
the proper course is to _damp_, rather than wet, _both_ sides of the
flap before pressing it down; and if the paper is very thick, the upper
side should be again damped after being pressed down."

Insufficient and wrong addresses occasion a great deal of trouble to the
Post Office officials, and this