you will be mutually pleased with each other, 1 have asked her to inform you of her presence in your city. Any attention you may show her will be highly appreciated by

Letters Asking Favors.

Yours affectionately,

LIZZIE BRIGHT.

A letter asking a favor should be worded as simply and plainly as possible. The writer should avoid expressing himself too strongly.

A letter granting a favor should be cordial and hearty, that the recipient may see that it is a pleasure to you to grant his request.

A letter refusing a favor should be written with the greatest consideration for the feelings of your correspondent. Make the refusal as kind as possible, and

state the reason why you cannot grant the request.

Request for a Loan of Money.

NEW YORK, March 6th

DEAR GREEN:

I am obliged to raise a certain sum of money by the 8th inst., and am not able to procure the whole amount.

Can you, without inconvenience, lend me fifty dollars for one month? I will give you my note for that amount, and pay it promptly at maturity. Let me hear from you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

GEORGE BLACK.

A Favorable Reply.

NEW YORK, March 7th,

DEAR GEORGE:

Yours of the 6th at hand. I enclose my cheque for fifty dollars, and am glad to be able to accommodate you.

You can send me your note at your convenience.

Yours sincerely,

ROBERT GREEN.

An Unfavorable Reply.

NEW YORK, March 7th,

DEAR GEORGE:

Yours of the 6th at hand. I regret that I am unable to comply with your request. I have several heavy payments to make to-morrow and on the 10th, and these will require every dollar I can raise. Were it not for this, I would take pleasure in assisting you, and sincerely regret my inability to do so. Yours sincerely,

ROBERT GREEN.

DEAR JENNIE:

Requesting the Loan of a Book.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

Will you lend me your copy of Owen Meredith's Poems? I will take good care of it, and eturn it in a few days.

Yours,

Reply Granting the Request.

JESSIE FRENCH.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

DEAR JESSIE:

I send with this the copy of Owen Meredith. I hope it may prove as great a source of pleas ure to you as it has been to me. Keep it as long as you wish, and return it at your convenience. Yours affectionately,

JENNIE.

Letters of Excuse.

A letter of excuse should be written as promptly as circumstances will permit. Should the letter be one of apology for misconduct, or a failure to keep an engagement, state the cause frankly, and make your excuse in a dignified manDo not be too gushing; neither be too cool, nor too abject.

ner.

MR. HUGH BLAKE,

Apology for Failing to Keep an Engagement.

PHILADELPHIA.

MY DEAR SIR:

POTTSVILLE, PA., May 24th,

I was very sorry to be obliged to break my engagement with you yesterday afternoon. I would not have done so had I been able to leave my house; but yesterday morning I was seized with a sudden indisposition which rendered me unable to walk, and which still confines me to the house.

Be good enough to appoint another day for our meeting. Suit yourself as to the time.

Yours truly,

DAVID BRANCH.

To a Lady, Apologizing for a Broken Engagement.

MY DEAR MISS LEE:

RICHMOND, IND., May 10th,

Permit me to explain my failure to keep my appointment with you this evening. I was on my way to your house, with the assurance of a pleasant evening, when I unfortunately stepped upon some slippery substance, lost my footing and fell to the ground, spraining my ankle severely. I am now confined to the house in consequence of this accident.

I regret my disappointment as much as the accident, but hope that the future may afford us many pleasant meetings. Sincerely your friend,

ALBERT HOLLIDAY.

Form of Excuse for a Pupil.

THURSDAY MORNING, April 4th,

MR. HITCHCOCK:

You will please excuse William for non-attendance at school yesterday, as I was compelled to keep him at home to attend to a matter of business.

JOHN ARTHUR.

From a Tenant to a Landlord, Excusing Delay in Paying his Rent. 29 W. FORTY-Third St., New York, March 1st,

SIR: For ten years I have been your tenant, and you are aware that I never failed to pay my rent when it was due; but now, owing to sickness and the general business depression, which ha prevented me from obtaining regular employment, I am reluctantly compelled to ask your indulgence. Next month I will be in receipt of funds from a friend in the western part of this State, when I will liquidate your just demand. Your concession of this favor will be ever gratefully acknowledged by,

TO JOHN JAY, ESQR.,

WEST FOURTEeenth St., New York.

Yours very respectfully,

GEORGE HILL.

LETTERS OF ADVICE should not be written unless there is an absolute necessity for them, as it is well to be cautious in offering your counsel to persons, even to tnose who seek it. As a general thing, a man has all he can do in managing his own affairs. Still, where your counsel is asked, or where you can assist a friend by it, give it frankly and simply, not with an affectation of superiority, but with the interest and cordiality of a friend.

Should your friend see fit to disregard your advice, do not be offended. In asking it he does not pledge himself to follow it, and doubtless has good reasons for his course.

Never give advice from interested motives. Let your counsel be dictated by your experience, and an honest desire to promote your friend's welfare.

From an Elderly Gentleman to a Young Lady.

CRAVEN STREET, May 16th, 1790.

I send my good girl the books I mentioned to her last night. I beg of her to accept of them as a small mark of my esteem and friendship. They are written in the familiar, easy manner, for which the French are so remarkable, and afford a good deal of philosophy and practical knowledge, unembarrassed with the dry mathematics, used by more exact reasoners, but which is apt to discourage young beginners.

I would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and enter in a little book short hints of what you find that is curious, or that may be useful; for this will be the best method of imprinting such particulars in your memory, where they will be ready, either for practice on some future occasion, if they are matters of utility, or at least to adorn and improve your conversation, if they are rather points of curiosity. And, as many of the terms of science are such as you cannot have met with in your common reading, and may therefore be unacquainted with, I think it would be well for you to have a good dictionary at hand, to consult immediately when you meet with a word you do not comprehend the precise meaning of. This may at first seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more acquainted with the terms; and, in the meantime, you will read with more satisfaction, because with more understanding. When any point occurs, in which you would be glad to have further information than your book affords you, I beg you would not in the least apprehend that I should think it a trouble to receive and answer your questions. It will be a pleasure, and no trouble. For though I may not be able, out of my own little stock of knowledge, to afford you what you require, I can easily direct you to the books where it may most readily be found. Adieu, and believe me ever, my dear friend, Yours affectionately,

B. FRANKLIN.

A Father's Counsel to a Son.

The Earl of Strafford's Dying Advice to his Son.

THE TOWER, May 11th, 1641.

MY DEAREST WILLIAM: These lines are the last you will receive from a father who tenderly loves you. I wish I had greater leisure to impart my mind to you; but, I trust, our merciful God will supply all things by his grace, and guide and protect you in all his ways. To his infinite goodness I bequeath you. Therefore, be not discouraged; serve him, and trust in him, and he will preserve and prosper you.

Be sure you give all respect to my wife, which will well become you, for she has ever had a great love for you. Never be wanting in your care to your sisters, but let them ever be most dear to you; this is a duty that you owe to the memory of your excellent mother and myself. And the like regard you must have to your younger sister; for, indeed, you owe it to her also, both for her father's and her mother's sake.

Serve God diligently, morning and evening; recommend yourself to him; and have him before your eyes in all your ways. Be careful to take the counsel of those friends whom I have desired to advise you in your education. With patience hear their instructions, and diligently follow their counsel; for, till you have experience in the world, it will be far safer to trust to their judgments than to your own.

Lose not the time of your youth; but gather those seeds of virtue and of knowledge, which may be of use to yourself, and to your friends, for the rest of your life. And that this may be the better effected, attend to it with patience; and be sure to refrain from anger. Suffer not sorrow to cast you down; but, with cheerfulness and good courage, and in all sobriety and truth, go on in the race which you have to run. Be sure, with a hallowed care, to have regard to all the commandments of God; and do not allow yourself to neglect them in the least respect, lest by degrees you come to forget them in the greatest; for the heart of man is deceitful above all things. Perform all your duties and devotions towards God, rather joyfully than pensively, for he loves a cheerful giver. As for your religion, let it be directed by those who are in God's church the proper teachers of it, rather than by your own fancy, or by men who are singular in their opinions, and delight to go in ways of their own finding out: you will certainly find soberness and truth in the one, and much unsteadiness and vanity in the other.

The king, I trust, will deal graciously with you, and restore to you those honors and that fortune of which a distempered time ha. deprived you, together with the life of your father: which I rather advise may be by a new gift and creation from himself than by any other means, in order that you may pay thanks to him without having obligation to any other.

Be sure you avoid, as much as you can, inquiring after those who have been sharp in their judgments towards me; and I charge you never to suffer a thought of revenge to enter your heart. But be careful to inform yourself who were my friends in this prosecution, and apply yourself to make them your friends also: on them you may rely, and bestow much of your conversation.

You must not fail to behave yourself toward my lady Clare, your grandmother, with all duty and observance, for she loves you most tenderly, and she has been very kind to me. God reward her for it; and in this and all the rest, what I counsel you, the same I direct also to your sisters. And once more I do, from my very soul, beseech our gracious God to bless and govern you: to save you in the day of his visitation; and to unite us again in the communion of his blessed saints, where there is fulness of joy and bliss forever.

God Almighty of his infinite goodness bless you, and your sisters; perfect you in every good work; and give you right understandings in all things!

I am your most loving father,

THOMAS WENTWORTH.

Letter of Advice to a Young Merchant.

(From "Webster's Business Man.")

MR. HENRY MOORE, Buffalo, N. Y.:

NEW YORK, June 12th, 1879.

MY DEAR SIR :-Your favor of the 1st inst. has been duly received, wherein you are pleased to solicit my advice touching your intention of establishing yourself in business; and to express a desire for ascertaining the best means whereby to insure respectability and success in a mercantile line of life.

I am not aware of the extent of means which you intend to invest permanently, but I presume that you have calculated the chances and risks of a competition from other sources, and hav therefore set aside a sufficient sum to sustain your enterprise until a fair trial can be had of the locality in which you seek to establish yourself. This consideration is all-important, for, as you cannot expect to realize, at the utmost, more than a living, for a year or so, you must expect to sink the interest upon your investment until such a time as you can master the features of your market. Moreover, I presume you have taken your age into consideration, for it is idle to suppose that a man can establish himself too early in life; for then he lacks both the knowledge and experience for successful competition. However, I would not advise you to defer your project to an over remote period, for long waiting may perchance rob you of that zeal and courage indispensable for business purposes. Generally, the exuberance of youth tempts toward visionary speculation; apathy in middle age closes the eyes to brilliant opportunities, while an excess of caution very frequently induces unexpected ruin.

Your first ambition to prove a competent trader should be the acquisition of knowledge, and particularly of information appertaining to your business. You will find yourself thrown in contact with men of various dispositions and tendencies; some may be ignorant, yet crafty; others intelligent and still disingenuous. To combat both of these classes requires a deal of worldly wisdom; nevertheless this wisdom is readily acquired through studious observation of men and of books. Where a dealer finds you thoroughly conversant with the history of the articles in which you trade, it induces him to confidence in your judgment; besides conversational abilities is one of the most appropriate accessories to successful traffic, as you can attract through its means friends, who may prove reliable patrons; and in addition to enabling you to sustain a mixed conversation, general learning is an absolute requirement for a man of commerce.

Above all things, acquire a correct epistolary style 'which I am sorry to say is a rare accomplishment with even prominent merchants) as those with whom you correspond are tempted to judge of your abilities through the manner and expression of your letter writing.

Before establishing yourself, you should estimate the extent of business which can be done with a portion of your capital, and make close calculations as to the probable cost of your personal expenses and that of maintaining your establishment. You should be always cautious to keep a reserve fund, in order to anticipate the annoyance of bad debts, or the chance occurrence of contingencies of such a nature as cannot be instantaneously provided against. With this reserve I would advise you to open a bank account, and in doing so to select a bank of large capital, as in such an one facilities for discount and for the collection of distant drafts are better :han in an institution with moderate resources. Maintain the strictest faith with your banker, so that when you desire accommodation you can enjoy a preference over those who keep vacillating or doubtful accounts.

Do not enter into copartnership unless upon most advantageous terms, as it is more agreeable to labor and accumulate through your own exertions; still, should an opportunity offer to consolidate with some older and well established house, avail yourself of it, for it is wiser to be the junior of a highly respectable firm than to be the head of one struggling to obtain a foothold. Let the arrangement of your books precede all other operations, and if possible, make all the