[2] “Then the most honoured military character of the day.”—Sir W. Napier. [Illustration] [Illustration: LENT LILIES AND DOCK LEAVES.] ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. STUDY AND STUDIO. K. BARTLETT.—We have attentively read the verses of your friend. It is always a difficult matter to decide from two or three specimens whether a girl should “give up writing altogether.” We cannot, however, say that there are indications here of poetic merit so great as to afford you the hope she may one day become a poet. The phrasing is that of a cultured woman, but there is no originality of thought or expression, and the form needs improvement. In “Springtime,” the best of the three poems, the author uses the second person singular and plural indiscriminately (“thee” and “your”). In the third poem, the conjunction “under unkind” is unmusical. “Flows” in the first poem, is not an apt expression for the outburst of the song of birds at dawn. No doubt the study of good poetry, and practice, would do much to improve your friend’s capacity for verse-writing, and there can be no reason, if she has leisure, why she should not persevere. While we cannot prophesy triumphant success, we can at least say that a measure of success in writing pleasant lyrics is fully possible. THISTLE.—Your lines are unequal, and the form is incorrect. Compare these two extracts— “The fourth of the sisters there Her own mind knows not yet,” and “Outside that little summer-house On the lawn so smooth and green.” Both occupy the same place in the verse, and should therefore correspond in metre. It is no easy task to write verse that will find acceptance. “BILL.”—1. Some friend of yours with a knowledge of musical composition might set “Marie” to music for you. The lines are very irregular, and would need special treatment.—2. Your writing is vigorous and distinctive, but you are inclined to write untidily, omitting fragments of words and scrawling now and again. If you never allowed yourself to scribble, and were very careful, you would write well by-and-by. SESAME.—We advise you to write to the Secretary of Girton College, Miss Shore Nightingale, 11, Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, London; and to the Secretary of Newnham, Miss M. G. Kennedy, Shenstone, Cambridge. From these ladies you will obtain full particulars. With regard to scholarships, we refer you to Mrs. Watson’s articles on “What are the County Councils doing for Girls?” in THE GIRL’S OWN PAPER for March, July, August, and September, 1897. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE. MARJORY INGLE, aged sixteen, Denmark House, Ely, Cambridgeshire, would like a French correspondent about her own age. She would much prefer one well educated and interested in study.