No. 7. The letter closed. No. 8. The letter sealed. No 9. The letter directed.

Richard Pooe,
Boston.

TITLES.

In the superscription of a letter, the title of Honourable 1a generally given by courtesy to the Vice-President of the United States; to the Lieutenant-Governor of a State; to the Senators and Representatives of the United States; to the Senators of the respective States, and to the Judges of all the courts; to the Mayor of a city; to the Heads of De partments, &c. In addressing the President of the United States, the Governor of a Commonwealth, or an Ambassador of the United States, the title "His Excellency" * is gener ally used. †

*See Antonomasia, page 82.

† No titles are formally recognized by law in this country, except in Massachusetts, where the legal title of the Governor is "His Excellency,' and that of the Lieutenant-Governor, "His Honor;" and, therefore, as it is stated above, it is by courtesy only, that the usage has obtained. As it is possible that this volume may fall into the hands of some individuals who are curious to know something of the forms of address in the mother coun try, the following directions are extracted from the grammar of Mr. Lennie, published in Edinburgh a few years ago.

"Directions for Superscriptions and Forms of Address to Persons of every Rank.

[The superscription, or what is put on the outside of a letter, is printed it Roman characters, and begins with To. The terms of address used in beginning either a letter, a petition, or verbal address, are printed in Italic letters, immediately after the superscription. The blanks are to be filled up with the real name and title.]

"To the King's Most Excellent Majesty, Sire, or May it please your Majesty. Conclude a petition, or speech, with, -Your Majesty's most Loyal and Dutiful Subject.

To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, Madam, or, May it please your Majesty.

To his Royal Highness, Frederick, Duke of York, - May it please your Royal Highness.

In the same manner address every other member of the Royal Family, male or female.

Nobility. To his Grace the Duke of

May it please your Grace.

To the Most Noble the Marquis of
To the Right Honorable

Earl of

To the Right Honorable Lord Viscount
Lordship.

My Lord Duke, Your Grace, or,

My Lord Marquis, Your Lordship
My Lord, Your Lordship.
My Lord, May it please your

To the Right Honorable Baron, My Lord, May it please your Lordship.
The wives of noblemen have the same Titles with their husbands, thus:
To her Grace the Duchess of, May it please your Grace.

To the Right Honorable Lady Ann Rose, My Lady, May it please your Ladyship.

The titles of Lord and Right Honorable are given to all the sons of Dukes

The members of house of representatives, or of a board of aldermen, taken collectively, should be addressed as "The 'Honorable," &c.

The title of Esquire is also given by courtesy in the superscription of a letter, to all gentlemen to whom we wish to show respect; but, when the title of Hon. or Hcnorable is

and Marquises, ard to the eldest sons of Earls; and the title of Lady and Right Honorable to all their daughters. The younger sons of Earls are all Honorables and Esquires.

Right Honorable is due to Earls, Viscounts, and Barons, and to all the members of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, to the Lord Mayors of London, York, and Dublin, and to the Lord Provost of Edin burgh, during the time they are in office; to the Speaker of the House of Commons; to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, Admiralty, Trade, and Plantations, &c.

The House of Peers is addressed thus,-To the Right Honorable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled. My Lords, May it please your Lordships.

The House of Commons is addressed thus, - To the Honorable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled. Gentlemen, or, May it please your Honors.

The sons of Viscounts and Barons are styled Honorabię and Esquire; and their daughters have their letters addressed thus, -to the Honorable Miss or Mrs. D. B.

The king's commission confers the title of Honorable on any gentleman in a place of honor or trust; such as, the Commissioners of Excise, His Majesty's Customs, Board of Control, &c., Admirals of the Navy, Generals, Lieutenant-Generals, and Colonels in the Army.

All'noblemen, or men of title, in the army and navy, use their title by right, such as Hororable, before their title of rank, such as Captain, &c.; thus, the Honorabe Captain James James of the, Sir, or Your Honor. Honorable is due, also, to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, the Governors and Deputy-Governors of the Bank of England. The title Excellency is given to all Ambassadors, Plenipotentiaries, Gov ernors in foreign countries, to the Lord-Lieutenant, and to the Lords Justices of the Kingdom of Ireland. Address such thus,

To his Excellency Sir —, Bart., Her Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraor dinary, and Plenipotentiary to the Court of Rome, - Your Excellency May it please your Excellency.

The title Right Worshipful, is given to the Sheriffs, Aldermen, and Re corder of London; and Worshipful, to the Aldermen and Recorders of other Corporations, and to Justices of the Peace in England,- Sir, o Your Worship.

The Clergy are all styled Reverend, except the Archbishops and Bishops, who have something additional; thus,

To his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, or, To the Most Reverend Father in God, Charles, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury,-My Lord, or, Your Grace.

To the Right Reverend Father in God, John, Lord Bishop of

Lord, or, Your Lordship.

My

The Privy Counsellors, taken collectively, are styled his Majesty's Most Honor

able Privy Council.

used, that of Esquire is always to be omitted, on the principle that the greater contains the less. For the same reason, the title Mr. should never precede that of Esquire.*

OF NOTES OF INVITATION.

Notes of invitation, except where a great degree of familiarity is used, are generally written in the third person, and on paper of smaller size, called billet paper. The answers should also be written in the third person, and the same forms of expression should be used, as those employed in the invitation. A departure from the form seems like arrogance of superior knowledge of propriety; but where an expression is manifestly out of place, or improper, the writer of the reply is by no means bound to sacrifice his own sense of propriety to the carelessness or the ignorance of the one who addresses him.

The same observations that were made with regard to the date of a letter addressed in the third person, apply also to

In the address on the outside of a letter, note, &c., when the residence of the person addressed is unknown, but it is known that he is an inhabitant of the town or city in which we write, the word " Present" is frequently introduced to supply the place of the residence.

To the very Rev. Dr. A. B., Dean of

Sır.

To the Rev. Mr. Desk, or, To the Rev. John Desk. *

The general address to clergymen is, Sir, and when written to, Reverena Sir. Deans and Archdeacons are usually called Mr. Dean, Mr. Archdeacon.

Address the Principal of the University of Edinburgh thus,-To the Very Rev. Dr. B., Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Doctor; when

written to, Very Rev. Doctor. The other Professors thus, - To Dr. D. R., Professor of Logic in the University of E., Doctor. If a Clergyman say, -To the Rev. Dr. J. M., Professor of, &c.,- Reverend Doctor. Those who are not Drs. are styled Esquire, but not Mr. too; thus, - To J. P., Esq., Professor of Humanity in the University of Edinburgh, If he has a literary title, it may be added. Thus, To J. P., Esq., A. M. Professor of, &c.

Sir

Magistrates, Barristers at Law, or Advocates, and Members of Parliament, viz. of the House of Commons (these last have M. P. after Esq.,) and all gentlemen in independent circumstances, are styled Esquire, and their wives Mrs."

It seems to be unsettled whether Mr. should be used after Reverend, or not. In my opinion (says Mr. Lennie) it should, because it gives a clergyman his own honerary title over and above the common one. May we not use the Rev. Mr. as well as the Rev. Dr. ? Besides, we do not always recollect whether his name is James, or John, &c. Mr., in such a case, would look better on the back of a letter than a long, -drawn dash, thus, The Rev. Desk. In short, Mr. is used by our best writers after Reverend, but not uniformly. The words To the, not being necessary on the back of a letter, are seldom used; but, in addressir g it in the inside, left hand corner, at the bottom, they are generally used.

notes of invitation.

The date should be at the bottom of the

note, and at the left hand. *

Example 5th.

FORM OF NOTES OF INVITATION, WITH THE REPLY.

INVITATION FOR THE EVENING.

Mrs. Smith

requests

the pleasure of

Mr. and Mrs. Chapman's company on

Thursday Eve'g, the 5th inst.

Beacon St.

Aug. 20.

Example 6th.

THE REPLY.

Mr. and Mrs. Chapman accept with pleasure Mrs. Smith's invitation for Thursday Evening, the 5th inst.‡ Chestnut St.

Feb. 12th.

*When notes or letters are addressed to gentlemen of the same name, they should be addressed, "The Messrs.," or, "Messrs. ;" if to two single ladies, "The Misses," not the "Miss." Thus, "The Misses Smith, or, "The Misses Davies," not, "The Miss Smiths," nor "The Miss Davises."

As the lady is generally considered the head of the tea- table, there seems to be a propriety in the invitation to tea, or the evening, coming from the lady of the house alore.

Or, Mr. and Mrs Chapman regret that a previous engagement will dr