fortunately found in religion itself a method of combating scruples derived from that same religion.

In the time of the Prophet, a village in the Hedjaz had been attacked by the plague. The Ambassador of God, on being consulted as to what should be done, replied, "None of those without must enter the town-none of those within must leave it. The safety of one human being must not be risked unnecessarily." This hadi, opportunely remembered, removed all the scruples, and the fetva authorising the quarantine measures was issued. It was the same with the formation of the new military, and we could quote other instances to prove that popular prejudices, however deeply rooted and apparently opposed to every attempt at reform they may be, cannot create any real obstacle for the Government, as they can always be combated in the name of that religion upon which they are founded.

POLYGAMY.

It is certain that polygamy has existed from the earliest times in the East, where it appears to be a consequence of the idea of moral inferiority on the part of the woman through her dependence on man, which was admitted by all ancient legislation from Persia, the cradle of despotism, down to the Grecian republics. Von Hammer remarks that the majority of Asiatic languages have no expression serving to indicate the mistress of the house; the Persian word Ketkhoda, of which the Turks have made Kiahia or Kiaia, is applied exclusively to the husband, or head of the family. The terms employed to characterize the relations of the wife to the husband, fully represent the idea of absolute separation or of an inviolable sanctuary, reserved solely for the husband, and which must not be profaned by the glance or even the thought of a stranger. Such is the meaning of the word "harem," which is used both to indicate the apartment of the women, and the two sacred

cities of Mecca and Medina; harémi 'mekkè, the sanctuary of Mecca; harémi nebevi, the sanctuary of the Prophet (Medina). Thus the orientals never mention their wives in the presence of a third person. Even at the present day to ask an old Osmanli about the health of his wife and daughters, is regarded a mortal offence, and in the very rare instances, when they are obliged to mention them, they designate them by the comprehensive title of "the house," evincing the greatest care to avoid the proper term. Thus, too, when a father comes to announce the birth of a daughter, he will say, a veiled one, a hidden one; a stranger (Mussafir) has been given me.

A whole chapter in the Koran is devoted to women, and discusses with the most minute care all that relates to their condition, whether married or single. After recommending that honour be generally paid to the sex, the sacred text adds:

"Men are superior to women in consequence of the qualities by which God has raised the former above the latter, and because men employ their property to give women their dower. Virtuous women are obedient and submissive; they carefully preserve, during the absence of their husband, what God has ordered to be preserved untouched; ye will reprimand those whose disobedience ye have to complain of; you will order them separate beds; you will beat them, but as soon as they obey you, do not seek a quarrel with them. God is great!"

Such are the terms in which Muhammad pronounces the moral inferiority of the wife, and the husband's rights over her. If women are enjoined in the Koran to be submissive to their husbands, the latter are equally enjoined to honour their wives, though in a lesser degree. "They (the women) are your garments, and you are theirs, that is, you are necessary to each other, and you should give your mutual aid and support."

As for the pretended belief of the Muhammadans, that women possess no souls, or if they do possess one, that it must perish like that of the brutes, and that they will receive no reward in the other worldit is one of the countless myths current about the East. The principle of female responsibility is everywhere admitted in the Koran, which expressly declares that, in the future distribution of rewards and punishments, there will not be any distinction between the sexes.

"The men and women who devote themselves entirely to God, the men and women who believe, pious persons of both sexes-all will obtain a divine recompense and an eternal reward." Still, it is not stated absolutely where the same place is set apart for men and women, and it even intimates that the happiness of the latter will be less exquisite, because their actions in this life cannot have been either so important or so meritorious.

The Multequa, following the example of the Koran,

has laid down the civil inferiority of woman; but as in Turkey, even more than elsewhere, the manners of the people serve as a corrective to their institutions, this inferiority disappears in ordinary life. In the first place, instances of polygamy are extremely rare in Turkey. Mr White tells us-and he speaks from practical knowledge of the subject that polygamy in the capital does not amount to five per cent. It is rarely met with save among the richest and most powerful functionaries; and even then plurality of wives is an exception. In Constantinople, the Ulema, the employés of the Government, the higher officers of the army and navy, those persons in the service of grandees, workmen, and artizans of the different guilds, have generally only one wife. In the provinces this number is still higher. The proof is furnished by examining the number of male and female inhabitants of the town, when it will be found, that in Constantinople, the latter are only one seventh more than the former, while in the provinces the difference is only about one thirty-fifth. On one hand, the express recommendations of the Koran, which states that though it is permissible to marry several women, it is meritorious to marry only one; on the other, the obligation which the law imposes on the husband of giving his wife a dowry and to provide for her support, have greatly contributed to restrain the instances of polygamy among private persons. Again, the Ministers and principal officers of the