M. S. S., 24; Nigra, 24; Old Maid, 36; Pic, 24; Polly, 24; Rule of Three, 6; Saccharissa, 16; Sandalwood, 22; Scott,6; Sir Percival, 18; Štarling, 2; Syndicate, 36; The Cousins, 16; The Muffin-Man, 28; Victoria, 18; Vita, 8; White Cat, 28; White Lion, 30; Willow-Pattern, 36.

Hedwig and others. Please read the Notes to Competitors in the January number.

SEARCH QUESTIONS FOR MARCH.

1. Who defined rocking a baby as two piggets and a thump'?

2. Who wore a silver-grey silk gown and coral ornaments from motives of sisterly affection?

3. Who were Will Wimble, Legree, The Wild Boar of Ardennes, Monna Brigida, Learoyd, Constance Neville?

4. Who thought that in matrimony it was 'safest to begin with a little aversion'?

5. What was supposed to happen to the maiden who found a red ear of corn in the husking?

6. Who calls himself the 'idle singer of an empty day'?

Chelsea China regrets much that Vanessa, Gray Squirrel, and others were not received by the 25th of the month in time to be credited.

Of a poem, 'The Loss of the Revenge.'-FELIX HOLME.
('The Revenge : A Ballad of the Fleet,' by Tennyson.)
Of the saying, 'To pour oil on the troubled waters.'-ETTA.

CALVERLEY.

(A proverbial saying, based on the fact. Author probably unknown.) Will any reader kindly lend undersigned the following books, of which she will take the greatest care?-'The Great Prophecies' (new edition), Pember; the series of six prophetic works by Professor Tother; any works of Horace Bushnell's.-MRS. SMITH, 4, Kempley Road, Hampstead.

Can any one lend me, or tell me where to get, a child's book, 'How many Lives a Cat has got '? And will any one lend me Miss Williams' Poems, containing 'No, no, by all the martyrs and the dear dead Christ'? Postage paid. THE MUFFIN-MAN.

C. E. M. would be glad if any one could tell her where to find a short tale by Theodore Hook, which describes his going up the river with a friend and laying a wager that he will get an invitation to join a party having dessert on a lawn. He pretends to be an engineer, and to take measurements. Wanted, last verse of little song beginning

"Give," said the little stream.’

Also a child's song beginning

'First there was a cherry without any stone.'

And where can I get 'Old Mother Tabbyskins'?—L. P. D.

ANSWERS.

Emily P. But, Father, take my hand,' etc., from a poem by S. J. Vail, set to music in The Family Friend for April, 1870. If Emily P. will send her address to Miss Minty, Petersfield, she will gladly copy it for her.

Étoile.-Once, and only once,' from 'One Word More,' by Robert Browning.-HISPANIA.

The Sister in charge of the Mission of the Good Shepherd begs to acknowledge most gratefully £1 from 'A reader of The Monthly Packet, in answer to Appeal, The Good Shepherd with a Kid.'

PRACTICAL LETTERS OF ADVICE.

Three letters of advice have been received for our Society Maidens. Chelsea China prints two. She considers Sigrid's the fullest, and it reads as if the experience was fled. In spite of Terrapin's opening anecdote, in the truth of which Chelsea China entirely concurs, she will set occasional subjects for practical letters. Indeed, it is because stored-up experience, like old boots, is so often unsuitable that the advice of one girl to another is so valuable. The gist of all the advice is, 'Give pleasure, and you'll get it.'

Eaton Place, S.W., March, 1894.

MY DEAR MARY,-So you are to be presented to-morrow! Well, I only hope you will enjoy it and your season as much as I have done. It is all very well to talk of the 'hollowness of Society' and its badness; but, take it the right way, and I believe one can not only derive intense enjoyment from it, but also in an unobtrusive way do good. That doesn't mean preaching, though. Miss Cholmondeley's most delightful sketch of Madeline Thesiger in Diana Tempest' shows one the awfulness (using the word in its true sense) of fashionable religion and its jargon.

First,

You asked me, as an old Society girl, to give you a little advice. then, from a worldly point of view. Be sure you dress well. That is half the battle. By well I don't mean ultra-fashionably-dresses so made are generally hideous-but suitably and becomingly. Of course,'a tenth or more of your allowance should be set aside for charity, but don't fall into the mistake of dressing scrubbily in order to give more away. That is not fair to your people.

To succeed in Society one should never think of oneself. Make yourself as agreeable as you can; don't tread on people's moral corns; and, above all, be a good listener. Then take great care how you repeat chance remarks made by one person upon another. You may do no end of mischief that way. That is a point, however, on which one generally learns by burning one's fingers once or twice! Keep up to topics of the day as much as you can, frivolous, literary, artistic, musical, etc., and take care not to talk of things you don't understand. If you are bored by any one's conversation, don't show it.

If you can get in a few minutes' steady reading every day it is a good thing, and don't begin a novel before lunch at least. It unsettles one so. Read newspapers regularly, by all means missing all law-court news. More harm is done by reading and discussing those topics than by anything else probably.

When you know you will come home at night very late and tired, it is a good thing to say your prayers before starting. Then just a prayer and verse can be said on returning. This is Miss Sewell's advice, I think. I should scarcely like to give it on my own authority. Early Mattins when possible, but don't overtax your strength. See what your mother wishes. To sum up this long jaw,' as the boys would call it (by-the-by, don't use slang), just think of giving other people a 'good time' and don't mind yourself.

Ever your very affectionate cousin,

SIGRID.

January 12th, 1894. MY DEAR MONA,-In reply to yours, asking for the benefit of my 'experiences,' let me remind you of the old story of the Irishman who bequeathed his experience and boots to a friend. Neither fitted.

But if these few hints from the cousin who is just three years ahead of you in the great race are of any good, you are welcome to them.

To begin with-Don't try to get over your shyness. The more you try the worse it will be, because you will be thinking of yourself all the time. Throw yourself into other people's affairs; be interested in what interests them. Follow your partner's lead, and don't trump his best card. Shyness will vanish of itself, and you will be found very fascinating.

If you are not sure of what is quite correct in any little matter, I think the best plan is not to try and find out in a roundabout way, but to ask some one who is competent to give you advice. People are always pleased at this tacit acknowledgment of their wisdom.

I have never been placed in the dreadful predicament of finding it impossible to combine truth with politeness. If you are, I should say let politeness go to the wall. It will, at all events, be believed in next time. Be nice to every one. Niceness is so seldom thrown away.

Now, I prophesy that at the end of the season you will have proved a great success, which will delight the heart of your affectionate cousin,-TERRAPIN.

SUBJECT FOR MARCH.

Letter from a Musical Student in Germany, to girl just about to begin the same career.

CORRESPONDENCE.

ART versus INTEREST.

DEAR CHELSEA CHINA,-Two points strike me as to Gladys and Mary. Mary has an ear and eye for fiction, a power of realising imaginary personalities, which has no recognised name, but which is as distinct a gift as an ear for music. According to proportion, its possessors are inventors or enjoyers of the characters of fiction. But they don't make up the public. Again, Gladys has a sense of form. Her short, sharp flashes, though true in themselves to life, and hence truly valuable material, as she says, are false to life because of their limitation. One scene of life is never unmodified by others. The long story is the truer. Yours truly,—UNDINE.

BOOK NOTICES.

The Witness of Ancient Monuments, by Professor Sayce (No. 32, R.T.S.). This is one of a series of 'Present-day Tracts,' and is most earnestly to be recommended for its intrinsic interest, and likewise for its usefulness in confuting shallow cavillers. For instance, we have been told that the early Hebrews were savage and ignorant. Writing on the ancient monuments has been found far older than the days of Abraham. Moreover, Chedorlaomer's conquests have been traced beyond Palestine, and his ally, Arioch, King of Ellasar, has been identified. Again, the very wars of Assyria with Judah, Israel, and Syria are all recorded on Assyrian bricks, and the tribute received from the kings whose names are familiar to us. The Moabite stone also appears, and some of the Egyptian records. We cannot but be amused when we hear that an Egyptian Polite Letter-writer' is extant. It is a book to be sent among the men who may have heard unbelieving lectures, and also to dissipate in our own minds such arguments as are unhappily afloat respecting the authenticity of the Biblical record. Those who talk of the Scriptural times not being advanced enough in civilisation to warrant the authorship of the Sacred Books, have only to look at Chaldea and Egypt to be confounded.

Poems by Harriet McEwen Kimball (Randall, New York). This is a collection much read and liked in America, and full of tender loyalty to the Church.

Polly Oliver's Problem, by Kate Wiggin (Gay and Bird). Polly or Pauline is a very charming damsel, and Mrs. Wiggin is a writer almost though not quite as delightful as Mary Wilkin; though, indeed, we think Mary Wilkin better in her very short stories than in her longer ones. Mrs. Wiggin in her Bird's Christmas Carol' and' Patsy' has a great charm and pathos, but her Cathedral Courtship, though amusing, should not have come after the American Girl in England.

We wish that enough readers would conspire to order, Lectures on France in the Nineteenth Century, and on Russia in the Nineteenth Century, by Mrs. Latimer (M'Clung, Chicago), to force their libraries to order them, or better still, an English edition to be called for. Many of our readers know how well Mrs. Latimer writes; and these lectures are especially brilliant, and teach us that contemporaneous history of which we are all too ignorant. C. M. YONGE. Old Caleb's Will, by Frances Armstrong (Jarrold & Sons). We regret that by an accident this little book did not receive an earlier notice. It is a particularly good specimen of the temperance' story, dealing with the temptations of educated people, and is in itself interesting and suitable for parish libraries.

PRACTICAL CHARITIES.

ROMAN CATHOLIC HOME FOR THE DYING, DUBLIN.

DEAR MADAM,-A little time ago some friends of mine inspected a hospital for the dying in Dublin, and I thought the account might interest your' China Cupboard' readers.

The building to which the travellers were directed was plain and neat, but large. The door was opened by a sweet-faced Sister, who willingly admitted them. On entering, they were immediately struck by the bright and cheerful appearance of the hall and staircase, the colouring everywhere being most exquisitely tender and pure.

We study to have everything bright around us,' said the Sister, with a sweet smile. 'It does not look like a home for the dying, does it? No; we try to smooth the passage of the dying, both for this life and the life beyond the grave. Oh, if you could only see the wretched slums and alleys from which we bring our poor patients, you would not be astonished at the wonder and joy manifested by those who are well enough to take notice. One poor child, brought from a drunkard's miserable home, asked, when settled in her pretty ward, "if this were heaven?"

The visitors were much touched by this recital, and deeply interested in looking through the wards.

All the apartments were large and lofty, and exquisitely clean and comfortable. The nurses seemed much beloved by the patients, and this was especially evidenced in the convalescent ward, for, strange to say, some of the poor creatures given over for death actually recovered under the influence of good and tender nursing.

After a lengthened inspection, the travellers left the Home, with the fervent hope that in many of our great cities, and under the shadow of our beloved Church of England, many such hospitals may arise. Yours faithfully, SARAH CATHERINE BUdd. Chelsea China sees no reason against an opportunity of learning from the good work of another communion.

'MONTHLY PACKET' NOTICES.

CORRESPONDENCE.

The readers of the 'Monthly Packet' are invited to address CHELSEA CHINA on any subject the discussion of which occurs to them as likely to interest others, especially in connection with articles appearing in the Magazine.

COMPETITIONS.

(1) DANTE. At the conclusion of the series of Dante papers, Mr. Butler will set an examination-paper, and prizes will be awarded. The conditions of entry and the amount of the prizes will be announced later.

(2) CHRISTMAS NUMBER PRIZE STORY. The proverb 'It is a long lane that has no turning' is set as the subject for a story. The writer of the one selected as best will receive £10; and others accepted for publication will receive not more than £5. Stories intended for the competition must be addressed to the Editor, marked outside 'Christmas Number,' and sent in not earlier than June 1st, nor later than June 30th. They must not be less than 4000 words in length, nor more than 12,000. The competition is entirely open.

N.B. The Christmas Number is not made up of competition stories, which take their chance with others of acceptance. Non-competitive stories are paid for as ordinary contributions.

(3) CHINA CUPBOARD COMPETITIONS—

Variety Specimens. Prize monthly, 5s.

Search Questions (Who, When, and Where). Prize, for six months taken together, LI IS.

Verse Competition. Monthly Prize, 5s., or 10s., according to merit. Rules for the above

(1) Papers must be sent by the 25th of each month, addressed to CHELSEA CHINA, care of Messrs. A. D. Innes & Co.; they must NOT be addressed to 'the Editors.' (2) Each envelope must be marked outside with the subject to which it refers. Papers under separate competitions or discussions must be in separate envelopes. (3) The correspondent's name and address must be written on every paper: the use of a nom de plume for the lists is optional. (4) If competitors fail to comply with any rule, their papers will be disqualified. (5) The real name of the prize-winner is published in each case.

There are no fees for any China Cupboard competitions. Unless otherwise stated, all readers of the Magazine may enter. No China Cupboard

contributions can be returned.

[The Editors of the Monthly Packet' will feel obliged if All Contributors will write their names and addresses clearly on their MSS., and will enclose stamps for return. Unless these conditions are complied with, the Editors cannot undertake to preserve, return, or enter into correspondence about MSS. Much trouble is saved if accompanying letters are enclosed in the parcel instead of being sent separately.

The utmost care is taken in returning MSS., but the Editors can only hold themselves absolutely responsible for such as are sent to them at their own request.]