222. Interesting Conversation.

The Two Grand Modes of making your conversation interesting, are to enliven it by recitals calculated to affect and impress your hearers, and to intersperse it with anecdotes and smart things. Count Antoine Rivarol, who lived from 1757 to 1801, was a master in the latter mode.

223. Composition.

If you would write to any purpose, you must be perfectly free from without, in the first place, and yet more free from within. Give yourself the natural rein; think on no pattern, no patron, no paper, no press, no public; think on nothing, but follow your own impulses.

Give yourself as you are, what you are, and how you see it. Everyman sees with his own eyes, or does not see at all. This is incontrovertibly true. Bring out what you have. If you have nothing, be an honest beggar rather than a respectable thief. Great care and attention should be devoted to epistolary correspondence, as nothing exhibits want of taste and judgment so much as a slovenly letter.

Since the establishment of the penny postage it is recognised as a rule that all letters should be prepaid; indeed, many persons make a point of never taking in an unpaid letter. The following hints may be worthy of attention:

224. Stamps.

Always put a Stamp on your envelope, at the top, in the right-hand corner.

225. Direction.

Let the Direction be written very plain; this will save the postman trouble, and facilitate business by preventing mistakes.

226. Postal District.

If the Address be in London add the letters of the postal district in which it happens to be, for this also saves trouble in the General Post Office. Thus in writing to the publishers of "Enquire Within,"

whose house of business is in the East Central (E.C.) postal district, address your letter to Messrs. Houlston and Sons, Paternoster Square, London, E.C.

227. Heading.

At the head of your Letter, in the right-hand corner, put your address in full, with the day of the month underneath; do not omit this, though you may be writing to your most intimate friend for the third or even the fourth time in the course of a day.

228. Subject.

What you have to say in your Letter, say as plainly as possible, as if you were speaking; this is the best rule. Do not revert three or four times to one circ.u.mstance, but finish as you go on.

229. Signature.

Let your signature be written as plainly as possible (many mistakes will be avoided, especially in writing to strangers), and without any flourishes, as these do not add in any way to the harmony of your letter. We have seen signatures that have been almost impossible to decipher, being a mere ma.s.s of strokes, without any form to indicate letters. This is done chiefly by the ignorant, and would lead one to suppose that they were ashamed of signing what they had written.

230. Crossing the Page.

Do not cross your letters: surely paper is cheap enough now to admit of using an extra half-sheet, in case of necessity.

231. Return Envelope.

If you write to a Stranger for information, or on your own business, be sure to send a stamped envelope with your address plainly written; this will not fail to procure you an answer.

232. Good Materials.

If you are not a good writer it is advisable to use the best ink, paper, and pens. For although they may not alter the character of your handwriting, yet they will a.s.sist to make your writing look better.

233. Clean and Neat.

The paper on which you write should be clean, and neatly folded.

234. Stains.

There should not be stains on the envelope; if otherwise, it is only an indication of your own slovenliness.

235. Individual Respect.

Care must be taken in giving t.i.tled persons, to whom you write, their proper designations.

236. Addresses of Letters.

As this branch of epistolary correspondence is one of the most important, we subjoin a few additional hints which letter writers generally would do well to attend to.

i. When writing several letters, place each in its envelope, and address it as soon as it is written. Otherwise awkward mistakes may occur, your correspondents receiving letters not intended for them.

If there be a town of the same name as that to which you are writing existing in another county, specify the county which you mean or, the address. Thus, Richmond, _Yorkshire_.

ii. When the person to whom you are writing is visiting or residing at the house of another person, it is considered vulgar to put "at Mr. So-and-So's," but simply "Mr. So-and-So's," _at_ being understood.

iii. It is more respectful to write the word "Esquire" in full. The ----subst.i.tuted for initials is vulgar, and pardonable only in extreme cases; if the Christian name or initials of your correspondent do not occur to you at the moment, endeavour to ascertain them by inquiry.

iv. When addressing a gentleman with the prefix "Mr.," the Christian name or initials should always follow, being more polite, as well as avoiding confusion where persons of the same surname may reside in one house.

v. In addressing a letter to two or more unmarried ladies, write "The Misses Johnson," and not "The _Miss Johnsons_;" and, lastly, always write an address clearly and legibly, so that it may not be delayed in delivery, nor be missent.

237. Addresses of Persons of Rank and Distinction [1]:

238. The Royal Family.

_Superscription_.--To the Queen's (_King's_) Most Excellent Majesty.

_Commencement_.--Most Gracious Sovereign; May it please your Majesty.

_Conclusion_.--I remain, with the profoundest veneration, Your Majesty's most faithful subject and dutiful servant.