262  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

are,  unless  he  knows  you  exceedingly  well,  that
he  will  construe  your  letters  as  brusque  and  far
from  courteous.  His  letters  will  be  filled  with
the  sentimental  phrases  of  past  ages.  This  is
his  idea  of  politeness  and  should  be  your  guide
in  addressing  him.  You  cannot  be  too  verbose
in  your  communications.  He  comes  from  a
race  noted  for  its  grandiloquent  declamations
and  this  typical  characteristic,  this  desire  to
figuratively  gild  refined  gold,  add  a  perfume
to  the  violet  and  a  whiteness  to  the  lily,  means
much  to  him.  It  is  one  of  his  ways  of  estimating ­
  your  educational  worth  and  of  calibrating
your  standing  as  a  gentleman.  I  know  of  no
better  exemplification  of  this  than  a  comparison ­
  between  the  flowery  way  Latin  American
letters  are  terminated  and  our  own.  It  is
more  personal,  more  deferential  and  more  impressive ­
  to  sign  yourself,  “Your  attentive  and
secure  servant  who  kisses  your  hand,”  than
briefly  and  harshly,  “Yours  very  truly,”  yet
the  former  method  is  the  one  in  which  practically ­
  all  letters  close  coming  from  these
sunny  lands.