ng great disgrace upon
himself, he then and there stopped the marriage and the next day started
her off to school. This custom of child-marriage is one of the very
fruitful causes of the ignorance of the women.

Ignorance and superstition always go hand in hand and they jointly are
both a cause and an effect of the degradation of women in Egypt.
Superstition might almost be called the religion of feminine Egypt. The
people have many curious beliefs about the influence of the "evil eye"
and as many curious charms to protect them from this influence. Many
mothers will not wash their children for fear they may be made
attractive and thus fall under the influence of the evil eye. One woman
never compliments another woman's child for the same reason. Two women
were companions in travel on the train; by way of introducing the
conversation, one said to the other, "What is that ugly thing black as
tar in your arms?" The other smiling held out her little baby. "Ugh! how
ugly!" said the first woman. "Is it a boy or a girl?"--"A girl," said
the mother, but it was quite understood that it was a boy. Boys on
account of the very high premium put upon them in Egypt are considered
to be very much subject to the influence of the "evil eye," so often he
is dressed as a girl and called by a girl's name till he reaches the age
when he rebels.

The social evils of Egypt are endless, but there is a hope of better
things for the future. One of the characteristics of the "New Egypt" is
a reaching out after higher ideals. The ideal of the marriage relation
is rising, the educated young Egyptian is beginning to claim his right
to choose his own bride, thus making the marriage relation more stable
because the grounds of compatibility are surer. With this change of
ideas on the marriage question and because an educated man would rather
choose an educated wife, there is a growing demand for female education.

The evangelical community has the reputation of being the best educated
class of people in Egypt. The last census of all Egypt showed that only
forty-eight in one thousand could read. A special census of the native
evangelical community showed that three hundred and sixty-five in one
thousand could read. The census also brought out the fact that in the
evangelical community female education has taken a great step in
advance, showing that while in all Egypt only six women in one thousand
could read, in the evangelical community two hundred in