To assist invention and promote order, it may, as some writers on
epistolary composition recommend, occasionally be of use to make, in the
mind, a division of a letter into three parts, the beginning, middle,
and end; or, in other words, the exordium or introduction, the narration
or proposition, and the conclusion. The exordium, or introduction,
should be employed, not indeed with the formality of rhetoric, but with
the ease of genuine politeness and benevolence, in conciliating favor
and attention; the narration or proposition, in stating the business
with clearness and precision; the conclusion, in confirming what has
been premised, in making apologies where any are necessary, and in
cordial expressions of respect, esteem, or affection.

Scrupulously adhere to the rules of grammar. Select and apply all your
words with a strict regard to their proper signification, and whenever
you have any doubts respecting the correctness or propriety of them,
consult a dictionary or some good living authority. Avoid, with
particular care, all errors in orthography, in punctuation, and in the
arrangement of words and phrases.

Dashes, underlinings, and interlineations, are much used by unskillful
and careless writers, merely as substitutes for proper punctuation, and
a correct, regular mode of expression. The frequent recurrence of them
greatly defaces a letter, and is equally inconsistent with neatness of
appearance and regularity of composition. All occasion for
interlineations may usually be superseded by a little previous thought
and attention. Dashes are proper only when the sense evidently requires
a greater pause than the common stops designate. And in a
well-constructed sentence, to underline a word is wholly useless, except
on some very particular occasion we wish to attract peculiar attention