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I am, sir,
Very respectfully,
Your humble servant,
J. F. Carpenter.
Hon. Edward Everett,
Secretary of State, for the U. S.
Be careful to remember that it is unsuitable to commence a communication to an entire stranger an official letter, or one of ceremony, in reply to a gentleman acting in the name of a committee, etc., etc., with "Dear Sir." This familiarity is wholly out of place under such circumstances, and it is matter of surprise that our public men so frequently fall into it, even in addressing public functionaries representing foreign countries here, etc. In this respect, as in many others, their "quality," as that most discerning satirist, Punch, has recently said of the style of one of our men in high office—is not "strained!" The veterans of Diplomatic or of Congressional life should let us see that practice has refined their style of speaking and writing, rather than remind us that they have come to the lees of intellect!
I have, for several years past, remarked the published letters of one of the distinguished men of the Empire State, as models of graceful rhetoric and good taste. I refer now, not to the political opinions they may have expressed, but to their literary execution. They indicate the pen of genius—no matter what the occasion—whether declining to break ground for a canal, to lay the corner-stone of a university, acknowledging a public serenade, or expounding a political dogma, a certain indescribable something always redeems them alike from common-place ideas, and from inelegance of language. See if your newspaper profundity will enable you to "guess" the name of the individual to whom I refer.
Diplomatic Letters require a style peculiar to themselves, in relation to which it would be the height of temerity in me to adventure even a hint. The Public Documents of our own country and of England, afford models for those of you who shall have occasion for them, as members of the "Corps Diplomatique."
Letters of Friendship and Affection must, of course, vary in style with the occasions and the correspondents that elicit them. A light, easy, playful style is most appropriate. And one should aim rather at correctness of diction than at anything like an elaborate parade of language.