employer.

In replying to such a note great conscientiousness should be shown.
Full justice should be done the servant. Only the truth should be
told, and as much of it as a generous heart and wise conscience,
coupled with a sense of responsibility toward the inquirer, permit.
These letters should be brief and not effusive on any point, nor
evasive of the issue at stake.

Never write to another, asking for information, or a favor of any
kind, without enclosing a stamped and addressed envelope for reply.

_Third-person Letters_

Letters are written in the third person in answer to formal
invitations so worded, and in correspondence between people but
slightly acquainted or known to each other only by reputation, persons
not social equals, and by tradespeople and their patrons.

Great care should be taken to preserve the impersonal diction
throughout the letter, and to refrain from signing it. The tone should
always be formal and very polite.

An order may take the form of a request, as "Will Mr. Sutherland
please . . . and oblige," with the signature of the writer.

_Informal Invitations and Announcements_

In inviting a friend to visit you, it is customary to mention the
length of the visit, setting a definite date for it and limit to it.
This makes it possible for both hostess and guest to arrange other
engagements.

A time-table of the trains, if the guest comes from the distance, with
an account of the trolley lines, if from near at hand, should be
enclosed.

The engagement of a daughter may be announced by informal notes to
one's whole circle of friends and acquaintances. The following form
of note may serve as a suggestion: "I am sure that you will join our
household in sympathy with Eleanor in her happiness when I tell you
that she has just announced her engagement to Mr. Harold Farnham, a
man of whom her father and I thoroughly approve. The wedding will not
take place for some months, but felicitations are in order."

_Letters of Condolence_

A letter of condolence should be short and quite sincere, or else the
courteous custom of sending it is more honored in the breach than in
the observance.

Such letters should be sent very promptly.

To expatiate to any extent whatever upon the bereavement is heartless
or thoughtless, and as there is no danger of ambiguity, the letter
does not need to account for itself in any way.

The following letter is as explicit as any letter of condolence ne