IVY.—Were you of full age, it would still be your duty to please and requite your parents, and to stretch a great point so to do; but as a mere minor of eighteen, it is an act of rebellion on your part to keep company and flirt with any man. The next time he presumes to address you, say he can do so no more, as your parents object to it, and then walk resolutely away. As he is above you in position, your parents are wise in their view of the case. INVESTOR is reading, we hope, Mr. James Mason’s articles on business for women, in the present numbers of the G.O.P. We do not know anything of the company you mention, and should advise you to write and make inquiries from them; and we also recommend you to divide what money you have, to avoid having “all your eggs in the same basket.” Put £50 each into two things, for instance. Is there not some old and respectable building society where you live that you could inquire about? EMMA HAY.—1. The 23rd April, 1865, was a Saturday. 2. Your writing might be improved. ETHILD MYA B.—We do not know what to suggest, save to teach knitting to all your little class, and then get them some clothing for poor children to make. Boys are taught both plain sewing and knitting in Board schools now. KATHLEEN.—The quotation, “They also serve who only stand and wait,” is from Milton’s poem on his blindness. WILD ROSE L.—1. The numbers are sixpence each. Six would be 3s., and the parcels post about 6d. 2. The 23rd of January, 1863, was a Friday. The word “truly” does not need an “e” in it. SYNGE.—We are much obliged for your letter and its quotation, which we know well. We do not suppose that the writer intended more than half a truth in what he said, probably in allusion to the single watch-notes of the robin. In the limits of a short article it is not possible to go into many particulars. We know many people who never heard a robin sing, as his tones in the spring and summer are always drowned in the general chorus. LILIAN has our sincere sympathy on the three accounts named. May she find rest in the knowledge of that “Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” We regret that she gave no address. Has Lilian a movable desk to accommodate to her convenience as she reclines? If so, she might sometimes prepare scrap-books for hospitals, with every sort of picture and card. Such books are made very entertaining both to the maker and the receiver by decapitating figures and making an exchange of heads, especially in the case of old photographs; also in introducing figures into landscapes and interiors. Such books are a real boon to sufferers in hospitals. S. E. P.—You seem to need a tonic. As your general health must be weak, perhaps some cod-liver oil would answer. Keep your feet dry and warm, and wear flannels next the skin. GINGERBOTTLE.—1. Handel, the composer, was buried in Westminster Abbey. 2. The best thing to do about colds, we think, is not to catch them.