CORRESPONDENCE 327 



The incidental parts are: 



1. The postscript, with its continuations or iterations, 

 paulo-postscript, post-paulo-postscript, and so on. 



2. Nota bene. 



3. Enclosure. 



4. Stamp. 



5. Return directions. 



The writing of the place and date at the lower left- 

 hand corner of the paper, at the end of a letter, though 

 quite admissible and somewhat customary in the matter 

 of social letters, is, in the case of business letters, 

 annoying to those that desire to note at once the date 

 of the letter. It is better not to indulge in any eccen- 

 tricities in such matters. For people that do not have 

 anything else to do it may be allowable; but busy 

 people do not have time to look in unusual places for 

 headings, addresses, signatures, etc. 



The salutation is the greeting, as "Dear Sir," "Sir," 

 "My dear George," and the like, tvith which it is usual 

 to begin a letter. What the salutation shall be must be 

 determined, of course, by the relation between the writer 

 and the party addressed. The most formal, private, or 

 unofficial salutations are "Sir" and "Madame." These are 

 almost impersonal and belong to such persons as we may 

 wish to accost with civility. "Sir" is the correct salu- 

 tation in addressing officers of the government who have 

 no special title inherent in the office they hold. When 

 it is used the complimentary close should be "Yours 

 respectfully," or something correspondingly distant. 



General Form. The following letter shows the usual 

 arrangement of the various parts of an ordinary business 

 letter. If the street address is given in the heading, the 

 heading and date should be written in two lines; if 

 the street address is not given, the heading and date 

 should be written in one line. The address, if of more 

 than two lines, should be neatly balanced. A colon 

 should follow the salutation; a dash is often used after 

 the colon, but this is unnecessary. 



