A CORRECT LETTER TO A FRENCH VISITOR
Monsieur Jules La Chaise,
Hotel Enterprise,
City.
MONSIEUR:
I hope that you have had a bon voyage on your trip from la belle
France, and my wife and I are looking forward to welcoming you to
our city. Although I cannot say, as your great king Louis XV. so
justly remarked, “L’etat, c’est moi,” yet I believe that I can
entertain you comme il faut during your stay here. But all bon
mots aside, would you care to join us this afternoon in a ride
around the city? If you say the word, voila! we shall be at your
hotel in our automobile and I think that you will find here much
that is interesting to a native of Lafayette’s great country and
especially to a citizen of Paris. Did you know, for example, that
this city manufactures 38% of the toilet soap and perfumery je ne
sais quoi which are used in this state? Of course, our sewers are
not to be compared to yours, mon Dieu, but we have recently
completed a pumping station on the outskirts of the city which I
think might almost be denominated an objet d’art.
I am enclosing a visitor’s card to the City Club here, which I
wish you would use during your stay. I am sure that you will find
there several bon vivants who will be glad to join you in a game
of vingt et un, and in the large room on the second floor is a
victrola with splendid instrumental and vocal records of “La
Marseillaise.”
Au revoir until I see you this afternoon.
Robert C. Crocker.
And above all, in writing to strangers or comparative strangers, seek to avoid the mention of subjects which might be distasteful to the recipient of the letter. Many a friendship has been utterly ruined because one of the parties, in her correspondence or conversation, carelessly referred to some matter—perhaps some physical peculiarity—upon which the other was extremely sensitive. The following letter well illustrates how the use of a little tact may go “a long way.”