test may be depended on or not, the
fact that letters travel farther than the sound of the voice, or the
sight of the countenance can follow, renders it desirable that they
should convey no incorrect or unfavorable impression. The lesser
niceties of folding, sealing, and superscription, are not beneath the
notice of a lady.

Letter-writing is a subject of so varied and extensive a nature, that it
can scarcely be reduced to rules or taught by precept; but some
instructions respecting it may afford assistance in avoiding error, and
obtaining a degree of excellence in this most important exercise.

When you write a letter to any person, express the same sentiments and
use the same language as you would do if you were conversing with him.
"Write eloquently," says Mr. Gray, "that is, from your heart, in such
expressions as that will furnish."

Before you begin a letter, especially when it is on any occasion of
importance, weigh well in your own mind the design and purport of it;
and consider very attentively what sentiments are most proper for you to
express, and your correspondent to read.

To assist invention and promote order, it may, as some writers on
epistolary composition recommend, occasionally be of use to make, in the
mind, a division of a letter into three parts, the beginning, middle,
and end; or, in other words, the exordium or introduction, the narration
or proposition, and the conclusion. The exordium, or introduction,
should be employed, not indeed with the formality of rhetoric, but with
the ease of genuine politeness and benevolence, in conciliating favor
and attention; the narration or proposition, in stating the business
with clearness and precision; the conclusion, in confirming what has
been premised, in making apologies where any are necessary, and in
cordial expressions of respect, esteem, or affection.

Scrupulously adhere to the rules of grammar. Select and apply all your
words with a strict regard to their proper signification, and whenever
you have any doubts respecting the correctness or propriety of them,
consult a dictionary or some good living authority. Avoid, with
particular care, all errors in orthography, in punctuation, and in the
arrangement of words and phrases.

Dashes, underlinings, and interlineations, are much used by unskillful
and careless writers, merely as substitutes for proper punctuation, and
a correct, regular mode of expression. The frequent recurrence of them
greatl