tablished, and, although
the attendance is still small and the work elementary, yet it shows the
trend of opinion, and gives great hope of soon bettering the condition
of women in the empire."

Another observer writes concerning more progressive portions of Turkey:
"The power of education is proving a sure disintegrator to the seclusion
of Moslem social life. Turkish women have already taken enviable places
among the writers of their nation. Others are musicians, physicians,
nurses, and a constantly increasing number are availing themselves of
the educational facilities afforded by the German, French, and other
foreign institutions which have been established at Constantinople,
Smyrna, and elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire. In the beautiful American
College for Girls, on the heights of Scutari, Constantinople, Turkish
girls, as well as those of all nationalities of the Orient and Franks,
eagerly take advantage of the course, and a few have graduated with
honor. A far larger number, however, are removed to the seclusion of
their homes as they approach maidenhood. On the day when the first six
girls from Moslem families were received, more than one of them learned
the entire English alphabet. What a need for prayer that the Spirit of
God shall reach those receptive young hearts from the very first day, in
this and every other Christian educational institution to which Moslem
girls turn their steps!" The most tactful and consecrated work of their
missionary or native teachers must be done every day, for such Turkish
girls, whether in more elementary schools or in colleges, inasmuch as
the proverb of the country: "Either marry your daughter at sixteen or
bury her!" is still very much in force beyond those limited districts
where the influence of Western ideas has availed to modify somewhat the
old thought. What they gain during the short time when they may remain
in school, must be the food of their lives, in multitudes of instances.

We know the paucity of literature of all kinds in Turkey, where
government press regulations prohibit any general output of
publications; this, combined with the very general poverty of the
people, makes many a home bookless, and the great majority of lives
barren. Sometimes in missionary tours we have seen far up on the
hillside a group of poor peasants descending. The sudden turning of the
women of that party, drawing their filthy veils closer across their
faces on hot July or August days, re