IN writing to a person with whom you have only a slight acquaintance,
it is a sign of proper breeding to attempt to show the stranger that you
are interested in the things in which he is interested. Thus, for
example, if you were to write a letter to a Frenchman who was visiting
your city for the first time, you would endeavor, as in the following
example, to speak to him in his own idiom and put him at his ease by
referring to the things with which he is undoubtedly familiar. It is
only a "boor" who seeks to impose his own hobbies and interests upon a
stranger, disregarding entirely the presumable likes and dislikes of the
latter.
