Just a Fancy Way of Saying Hello

I can't look at this text without Charlotte's Web coming to mind immediately. When Charlotte first greets Wilbur, she does so by saying to him "salutations." When the pig is confused, Charlotte explains "salutations" as just a fancy way of saying "hello." The "salutations" are an envelope device that opens as Wilbur and Charlotte first meet and closes as Wilbur witnesses Charlotte's eggs hatching and greets the three spiders that stay behind with him with "salutations."

In The Principles of Letter Writing, a guide is presented to give writers an example of how they should give "salutations" to one another. Depending on the status of the speaker and the status of the recipient, the greeting changes. The Pope, who is always speaking to his inferiors (because he has no superior but God), has but one "Universal Salutation," while the salutations that a bishop may have necessity to write are varied based on whom he is writing to.

In a way, this is the English equivalent to a linguistic element of certain other languages. In Japanese, for example, one's whole manner of speaking must change depending on whom one is speaking with. Let's look at a simple salutation: Good Morning.

If I were talking to Sabrina (and it were morning, instead of afternoon when I usually see her), I would greet her by saying :
"Ohayoo" (like Ohio with a long "o" at the end). Because Sabrina and I are both students, and therefore equal to one another. No honorifics are necessary.

If I were to give morning salutations to Dr. Ryan, however, it would be very rude of me to simply say "Ohayoo" to her. I would be equating her with myself. For this, an honorific is used, and I say:
"Ohayoo Gozaimasu" (The "u" at the end is unvoiced)

The same concept is at work in The Principles of Letter Writing. Anonymous is delineating a guide with which one may avoid social blunders when writing letters(specifically to one's superiors).