Snowdrops.—Certainly, wear your gloves in church. Why not? A correspondent some time ago advised that maidenhair ferns should be watered with tea, and tea-leaves from the tea-pot should be put round them.
Inez and Philip.—We are of opinion that the amount allowed by your brother for his dinner is much in excess of what is needed, and may prove a temptation to him if continued. We were interested in your letter, and we hope your mutual happiness will long be continued.
One You Have Benefited.—Many thanks for your kind letter. We quite see all your difficulties, but we think you must not make too much of them. The real use of all training at home is to help young people to stand alone some day, and act in the fear of God, for themselves; they cannot be always children, nor in leading strings, so you must excite in them conscientiousness and a constant desire to do right. The conduct they propose, i.e., of going out and in, of accepting invitations as they please, without consulting you, is, in the first place, ill-bred and unladylike. No one treats the lady of the house, be she mother or step-mother, in that manner, and even in society they would not be guests a second time in any house where they ignored the lady who invited them.
Alea Europea.—In the “Chapel in the Tower,” by Mr. Bell, we find the following notice of Arthur Pole, who, with his brother Edmund, was imprisoned for life, and died in the Tower—They were the sons of Sir Geoffrey Pole, and grandsons of Margaret of Clarence, Countess of Salisbury. Cardinal Pole was, therefore, their uncle. In 1562 they were implicated in a conspiracy to depose Queen Elizabeth, and place Mary Queen of Scots on the throne. It was also alleged that one of them designed to marry her. They were tried for high treason at Westminster Hall, 26th February, 1562, and sentenced to be executed as traitors at Tyburn. The sentence was commuted by Queen Elizabeth to imprisonment for life in the Tower, and on the walls of the Beauchamp Tower, which was their prison, their names will be found carved several times. The last written was as follows:—“A passage perillous makethe a port pleasante, I. H. S., 1568, Arthur Pole, aged 37.” The date of his death and that of his brother seems not to be known, but both were dead in 1578, and buried in the chapel in the Tower.
Daisy.—Take no notice of the matter, unless you are directly charged, when you can deny truthfully the authorship of such an unmaidenly epistle.
Alicia.—If the jewellery be good and old, it is better to employ a jeweller to clean it.
Snowstorm.—We think you should go to New Zealand to your affianced husband, and keep your promise, especially as you leave a sister at home to take care of your mother. It would indeed be foolish to bring him to England if he be doing well out there, and is able to marry and give you a comfortable home.
Sybil.—We think you may need a tonic of some kind. A little alum and water is sometimes good for moist hands, but it is never safe to check perspirations, unless under a doctor’s orders.
Buttercup.—We know of no situation easier than a nurse’s, where there are only one or two children, unless, perhaps, you could manage to get one as parlour-maid only.
A. S. F. T. F. (New South Wales).—There would be no value if the dates of the half-crowns were erased, because coins of the House of Brunswick are only valuable when in perfect order.