It is surety possible to be civil and even polite in business correspondence without using the deplorable commercial slang which exists, I believe, in every modern language. The proof that such abstinence is possible is that some of the most efficient and most active men of business never have recourse to it at all. This commercial slang consists in the substitution of conventional terms originally intended to be more courteous than plain English, French, etc., but which, in fact, from their mechanical use, become wholly destitute of that best politeness which is personal, and does not depend upon set phrases that can be copied out of a tradesman's model letter-writer. Anybody but a tradesman calls your letter a letter; why should an English tradesman call it "your favor," and a French one "_votre honorée_"? A gentleman writing in the month of May speaks of April, May, and June, when a tradesman carefully avoids the names of the months, and calls them _ultimo_, _courant_, and _proximo_; whilst instead of saying "by" or "according to," like other Englishmen, he says _per_. This style was touched upon by Scott in Provost Crosbie's letter to Alexander Fairford: "Dear Sir--Your _respected favor_ of 25th _ultimo_, _per_ favor of Mr. Darsie Latimer, reached me in safety." This is thought to be a finished commercial style. One sometimes meets with the most astonishing and complicated specimens of it, which the authors are evidently proud of as proofs of their high commercial training. I regret not to have kept some fine examples of these, as their perfections are far beyond all imitation. This is not surprising when we reflect that the very worst commercial style is the result of a striving by many minds, during several generations, after a preposterous ideal. Tradesmen deserve credit for understanding the one element of courtesy in letter-writing which has been neglected by gentlemen. They value legible handwriting, and they print clear names and addresses on their letter-paper, by which they spare much trouble.