"Mons. D., of the University of France." Now Englishmen who address Frenchmen as "Mons."[14] should be forgiven. They unsuccessfully aim at doing a correct thing. But a Frenchman dubbing himself "Mons." publishes a certificate of his ignorance. [14] "_Mons._, a familiar and contemptuous abbreviation of Monsieur."--LITTRÉ, "Dictionnaire de la Langue Française." The house was a double-fronted one. On the right window there was the inscription: "French Classes for Ladies." On the left one: "French Classes for Gentlemen." The sexes were separated as at the Turkish Baths. On a huge board, placed over the front door, I read the following: "_French Classes for Ladies and Gentlemen. Greek, Latin, and Mathematical Classes. Art and Science Department. Music, Singing, and Dancing taught. Private Lessons given, Families waited upon. Schools attended. For Terms and Curriculum, apply within._" What a saving of trouble and expense it would have been to this living encyclopædia if he had only mentioned what he did not teach! Since I have called your attention to the expression _Mons._, and reminded you of its proper meaning, never send a letter to a Frenchman with the envelope addressed as _Mons._ I know, dear American reader, that _you_ never do. But you have friends. Well, tell them to write _Monsieur_ in full; or, as cobblers in their back parlors are now addressed as _Esquires_, rather confer the same honor upon a Frenchman. He will take it as a compliment. Democracy is making progress in England. Where is the time when only land-owners, barristers, graduates of the Universities, were addressed as Esquires? All ladies and gentlemen in England now. * * * * * Not all, though. A young lady friend, who visits the poor in her district, called one day at a humble dwelling. She knocked at the door, and on a woman opening it, asked to see Mrs. ----. "Oh! very well," said the woman, and, leaving the young lady in the street, she went inside, and called out at the top of her voice: "Ada, tell the _lady_ on the second floor that a _young person_ from the district wants to see her." _Apropos_ of "Esquire" I should like to take the opportunity of paying a well-deserved compliment to the Postal Authorities in England. Some eight years ago, I lived in the Herbert Road, Shooter's Hill, near London. After three weeks of wonderful peregrinations, a letter, addressed in the following manner, duly reached me from France: Angleterre Esquire Monsieur.... Erbet Villa près Londres. My dear compatriot had heard that "Esquire" had to be put somewhere, or else the letter would not reach me. * * * * * This is not the only letter addressed to me calculated to puzzle the postman. A letter was once brought to me with the following high-flown inscription: