an honor,
and a proof of the value set upon them. Even the very poorest people
seclude their wives; while soldiers on the march hang up blankets,
sheets, and even rags to form a little enclosure for their wives at each
halting place. Though individual women will often speak of their many
troubles they rarely mention their isolation, and truly pity those of
other nations who are not taken equal care of. With education this
aspect of affairs will change, and girls who have been educated in
mission schools view things in a very different light and no doubt long
for greater freedom.

The best and only method of helping these poor secluded women is to
spread amongst them the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else
can really help them, and the great means of doing so is by education.
Educating them to read so that they can read of Him in their seclusion,
and educating them as thoroughly as possible in schools and
house-to-house visitation so that they can understand what they read.

Let me give one illustration of what can be done in this way. Some years
ago I was called in to a small zenana, where the family were of noble
birth but extremely poor; so proud that they would all rather starve
than take money or tell of their troubles. Three little girls read with
me, and very bright and intelligent I found them. The mother was in bad
health and seemed sad, though her husband was always very kind to her.
The girls read regularly and got very fond of their lessons and wished
they could live like English girls. One day I was told that the elder
girl was to be married the next week. She was in great distress, for she
knew nothing of the man who had been chosen for her and feared naturally
that he might be uneducated and ignorant. I was unable to go to the
wedding, and to my great distress the young bride was taken away to a
distant town without my seeing her again. Some months passed and then I
got a letter from a stranger. It was well written and well expressed in
English and I found to my great delight that it was from the husband of
my old pupil. He said he felt he must write to thank me for having
educated his wife to be a friend and companion for him. He had heard
from a friend that some girls of his own class were being educated in
Madras and he had asked for one in marriage. His dread for years had
been to be bound to an ignorant woman and now his fears were dispersed;
his wife was a great pleasure to him and her ju