and other letters of this description are important affairs that may
all be transacted through the medium of correspondence, but it is to
be hoped that a matter so closely personal will quicken the
imagination and inspire the pen of the dullest swain.
Let him woo his Dulcinea swiftly and tempestuously, as King Hal wooed
Kate, or let him serve twice seven years as Jacob served for Rachel,
but let him never search out printed forms whereby to declare his
passion; nor fit the measure of his love to the lines of the "Model
Letter-Writer." As to "naming the day," 'twere a wordless lover indeed
who could not say, as the poet says:
"Sun comes, moon comes,
Time slips away.
Sun sets, moon sets,
Love, fix a day."
The note has become a factor in modern social life. We send a note
when we send a gift, when we ask a favor, when we acknowledge a favor,
when we offer an apology, when we postpone an engagement, and when we
give, accept, or refuse an informal invitation. These forms will be
given here for reference, excepting those pertaining to invitations,
which are discussed in their place.