India, Sept. 27 -- General questions about courtship appeared among the first set of personal inquiries published in the Mercury in May 1691. Although some writers persisted in asking such general queries, later correspondents were more likely to describe specific circumstances they wanted the purported experts to address. Because the Mercury had many youthful readers, such questions composed a significant proportion of personal queries posed to the Athenians. Both men and women wondered about the best ways to deal with the opposite sex and how to achieve the desired end of engagement to an appropriate partner. Women and men commonly had different concerns. Women, for example, hoped to preserve their modesty while still conveying interest...