91

Application for a Situation as Coachman.

178

St., BOSTON,

April 10, 18-.

MR. JOHN H. WILLIAMS. Dear Sir: Having been informed that you are in want of a coachman, I take the liberty of enclosing you the accompanying testimonials, to which I ask your attention. Though reared in Deerfield, I have been in Boston for the past fourteen years, having constantly had charge of horses during that time, as I did on the farm before leaving home.

As further evidence of my ability, I may mention that I had chief charge of the Tremont Street Livery Stable until the death of the owner, Mr. Paxton, after which the stock was sold and the stable closed.

Should my application meet your favor, I shall be glad to engage as your coachman, and will do all in my power to merit your approval. Yours Respectfully,

In answer to the above, I would say that I am seeking such a situation as you offer. My present term of teaching will close August 15th, at which time I would be ready to enter upon the work of superintending the education of your daughters.

I have, for several years, taught the higher English studies, besides German, Latin and drawing. For testimonials, I beg to refer you to the principal of my school, Rev. H. B. Watson.

Hoping that I may hear from you soon, and that we may make an arrangement mutually satisfactory, I remain,

Very Respectfully Yours,

HELEN B. CHANDLER.

Requesting the Character of a Governess.

with the higher English branches, and is quite fluent in Latin and German. Should you complete an engagement with her, I feel confident you will have every reason for being pleased with having done so. Very Truly Yours,

HARVEY B. WATSON.

Unfavorable Reply to the Foregoing.

GLENHAVEN SEMINARY, N. Y.,
July 21, 18-.

MRS. CLARA B. WILLIAMS. Dear Madam: In reply to your polite inquiries, I am sorry to say that the educational acquirements of Miss Chandler, I fear, will not be up to the standard you require. While she has taught the higher English for some years, knowing, as I do, the proficiency of your daughters, I doubt if she is capable of advancing them in their studies. Another very unfortunate fault of which she is possessed, which causes me to dispense with her services at the close of the In present term, is her failure to sufficiently command her temper. other respects I have nothing to say to her prejudice. Regretting that I cannot give a more favorable reply to your letter, I remain, Your Most Obedient Servant,

In answer to the above, I respectfully apply for the situation. Though I never took up the business as a trade, I have long been in the habit of doing all the dressmaking for our family, and feel myself competent to do all plainer kinds of sewing neatly and rapidly.

Having recently, by the death of an only brother, been thrown upon my own resources, I am thus induced to seek a position which I think I will enjoy.

Hoping that you will accept my services, I remain,
Very Respectfully Yours,

PAMELIA HARRISON.

My Dear Sir: Having inserted an advertisement in the papers requiring the services of a governess competent to instruct my two daughters, I will esteem it a great favor if you will inform me concern. ing the ability of Miss Chandler to give instructions in the higher English studies, German and drawing, she having referred me to you. I am especially desirous of securing the services of a young lady whose moral influence will guard my children from danger-one whose amiability of character will make her a pleasant companion as well as teacher. I am much pleased with the appearance of Miss Chandler, and, if your report Is favorable, I shall not hesitate to perfect an engagement with her at once.

Seeing your advertisement in to-day's "Journal," I write to offer my services as music-teacher in your family

I am a graduate of Music Vale Seminary, and have taught a musicclass in this institution for the past three terms. My training has been with special reference to teaching the piano, the guitar, and vocal music.

I am permitted by Professor Weston, the teacher of music in the Academy, to refer to him for any testimonial of ability. I am, Yours, Very Respectfully,

NOWLEDGE of persons

recom

mended, of their fitness and capacity for the work they engage in, is always essential, before they can be conscien

tiously commended to others.

A letter of recommendation should be written in a plain hand, in as few words as can be used to express the idea distinctly.

A recommendation, after considering the moral character of the individual, should relate directly to the work of which the person makes a specialty.

An individual giving a recommendation is, in a certain sense, responsible for the character and ability of the person recommended; hence, certificates of character should be given with caution and care.

Your favor of the 4th inst., relative to the ability of Mr. Benjamin Walker, is received. We take great pleasure in testifying to his high moral worth and his business capacity. He was in our employ for four years, as a salesman, during which time his affability and uniform courtesy to customers, coupled with his truthful representations in regard to goods, made him a universal favorite.

Accurate in accounts, ready and graceful as a penman, attentive and kind to all, he is a most useful man in the counting-room; and the firm securing his services may be congratulated on their good fortune. Very Truly Yours,

SMITH & PAXTON.

HARRISBURG, PA., Dec. 20, 18-. This is to certify that Catherine Miller did the cooking for my family some ten months, to my entire satisfaction, serving me both as a plain and fancy cook. She is very attentive to her work, and strictly honest and reliable. MYRA D. ROWE.

Recommending a Washerwoman.

NEW ORLEANS, LA., May 7, 18.

This certifies that Hannah Webber, who has been employed in my laundry for the past year, is an excellent washer and ironer, understanding fine starching, crimping, polishing, etc.

HELEN MAYDWELL.

93

LETTER of sympathy and condolence, though unpleasant to write, may afford inexpressible comfort to a friend in the hour of affliction. Make your letter as brief, but earnest and sincere, as possible.

Do not commit the mistake of insinuating that the misfortune is the fault of your friend. Better leave the letter unwritten. Admit the loss. Do not attempt to make light of it. If you are satisfied that it will eventuate in a blessing, you may gently point the but with a full admission of the presway, ent deep affliction.

To a Friend, on the Death of a Husband.

NEWARK, O., Oct. 18, 18-.

DEAR FRIEND: I know that no words can make amends for the great loss you have sustained. I deeply realize, from having passed through a similar bereavement, that expressions of condolence wholly fail to restore the loved and lost one, yet I cannot but hope that the heartfelt sympathy of a sincere friend will not be deemed intrusion on your grief.

It has been well said, that "we weep for the loved and lost because we know that our tears are in vain." I would ease your sorrow, and yet i know not how. We can only acknowledge that the affliction is God's will. Over in the beautiful land to which I trust your life-companion has gone, we may not doubt, he is free from the pains that he so long endured here; and when we gather at the river, is it not a sweet consolation to think that among the loved and lost he may meet you on the other side?

Commending you to Him who doeth all things well, I remain, in the tenderest friendship,

TO MES. CLARA WAYLAND,

Columbus, O.

Your Sincere Friend,

WINFIELD BROWN.

I can scarcely express to you how grateful I am for your sympathizing letter, yet the loss of my husband has so prostrated me that I am hardly able to write this reply.

My friends assure me that time will reconcile me to my great bereavement. Yes, time, and the great consolation that you speak of, which comes from the hope that we will meet our friends in a world where partings are no more, will, I trust, enable me to bear my sorrow. God bless you for your thought of me in the dark hours, and your sweet words of consolation. Your Friend,

I have just learned, on my return from a visit in the far West, of the death of your mother. Having suffered the loss of my mother when a child, I know how to sympathize with you in your affliction; though, fortunately for you, your mother lived to guide the footsteps of her boy till manhood's years had crowned his intellect with judgment and fixed moral principles. It can truly be said that, in the training of her family, in the church, in the social circle, she always did her duty nobly, and was an ornament to society. Ripened in years, and fully prepared for another state of existence, she passes on now to enjoy the reward of a life well spent on earth.

Restored to maidenhood prime, we cannot doubt that in the flowery walks of spirit life she is the same good woman that we knew so well here.

94

To a Friend, on the Death of a Wife.

MY DEAR DELWIN:

BURLINGTON, Iowa, Nov. 10, 18-.

I know that this letter will find you filled with grief at the loss of your dear wife. You have, indeed, suffered a great affliction. A more faithful partner never lived, and few men, I venture to say, ever enjoyed more domestic tranquility than yourself. A true wife, and a devoted mother! No higher eulogy can be pronounced upon any woman. How the little motherless children will miss her tender care! How those fragile little girls will miss her sweet presence at the evening hour, when she sat by the bedside and listened to their innocent prayers, soothing their little spirits as they dropped off to sleep! Truly the great central sun of your household has gone down, and I most truly, deeply sympathize with you in your affliction.

Let us hope, however, in the language of Scripture, "I go to prepare a place for you," that, in the golden summer of another life, children, mother and father will gather again in a sweet reunion, where partings are unknown.

Though the days are dark now, spring will come once more. Thus, I trust, pleasant days will come again for you and yours.

Send both of the little girls to our home for a month's visit, and come yourself as soon as you can find time to do so. My previously arranged departure, to-morrow, prevents my visiting you.

I have learned, with sorrow, of the death of your sister Helen. Though I never knew her personally, I knew her so well through you, that it seems as if I, myself, had lost a very near and intimate friend. I recollect her from that sweet face and gentleness of manner, as I saw her once in your company, that impressed me with the belief that she was one of the angelic ones of earth.

I know how deeply you must have grieved at her death. No one could mourn her loss so truly as yourself. Younger than you, frail and delicate, her guardianship entrusted to yourself, confiding everything to you, it was natural that to a sister's affection should be added, also, almost a mother's love for your gentle sister Helen. She died, too, at a time when life was apparently all blossoming before her. How hard to reconcile ourselves to the loss of dear kindred, when their continued presence is so necessary to our happiness. But may we not hope that the same sweet voice, and gentle, confiding heart, that was so dear to sister and kindred here, is waiting for you in the summer land? "Not dead, but gone before."

The loss of near friends thus calls for our contemplation of another life toward which we are all tending. You and I, dear M., have

talked these matters over often. I know you expect to meet her on the other side; so do I. Believing that your faith in that golden, sunny Future, which you and I have so often considered, will sustain you, I am, Your Ever Faithful Friend,

JAS. D. HENRY.

To a Friend, on the Death of a Daughter.

HARTFORD, CONN., Nov. 14, 18-.

MY DEAR FRIEND: It is with profound sorrow that I have heard of the death of dear Mary. While you have lost a dutiful and affectionate daughter, I have lost one of the dearest friends on earth. Outside of yourself, I am confident no one could more fully appreciate her loss than myself. We were so much together that I can hardly reconcile myself to the thought that I can no more meet her here. True, her death teaches us that, sooner or later, we must all make the journey across that mystic river. The angels called, and, in the ways of an

all-wise Providence, it was best that she should go. We all have the ordeal to pass. Fortunate it would be if all could be as certain of being among the exalted angels as was our darling Mary. I will come and see you soon. A propos, I send you this little poem, "The Covered Bridge." Your Friend, MYRA.

THE COVERED BRIDGE.

BY DAVID BARKER.

Tell the fainting soul in the weary form,
There's a world of the purest bliss,
That is linked, as the soul and form are linked,
By a Covered Bridge, with this.

Yet to reach that realm on the other shore
We must pass through a transient gloom,
And must walk, unseen, unhelped, and alone,
Through that Covered Bridge-the tomb.

But we all pass over on equal terms,
For the universal toll

Is the outer garb, which the hand of God
Has flung around the soul.

Though the eye is dim, and the bridge is dark,
And the river it spans is wide,

Yet Faith points through to a shining mount,
That looms on the other side.

To enable our feet in the next day's march
To climb up that golden ridge,

We must all lie down for one night's rest
Inside of the Covered Bridge.

To a Friend, on the Death of an Infant.

PEMBERTON, Miss., Nov. 18, 18

MY DEAR FRIEND: I realize that this letter will find you buried in the deepest sorrow at the loss of your darling little Emma, and that words of mine will be entirely inadequate to assuage your overwhelming grief; yet I feel that I must write a few words to assure you that I am thinking of you and praying for you.

If there can be a compensating thought, it is that your darling returned to the God who gave it, pure and unspotted by the world's temptations.

The white rose and bud, I send, I trust you will permit to rest upon your darling's pillow.

With feelings of the deepest sympathy, I remain, dear friend,
Yours, Very Sincerely,

MARION BRADSHAW.

To a Friend, on a Sudden Reverse of Fortune.
HANNIBAL, Mo., Aug. 18, 18-.

FRIEND STEWART: I regret to hear of your sudden and unexpected heavy loss, and hasten to offer you, not only my earnest sympathy, but aid in whatever way I can assist you.

I know your energy and hopeful spirit too well to believe that you will allow this to depress or discourage you from further effort. Perhaps there is, somewhere, a blessing in this reverse. I have had my dark days, but I learned to trust the truth of that little stanza of Cowper:

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning Providence

He hides a smiling face."