he bodies and souls of
her children?"

Mr. Bistany then speaks of the importance of teaching woman domestic
economy, sewing, cooking, and the care of the sick, as well as
geography, arithmetic, and history, giving as reasons for the foregoing
remarks, that the education of woman will benefit herself, her husband,
her children and her country.

"How can she be an intelligent wife, a kind companion, a wise
counsellor, a faithful spouse, aiding her husband, lightening his
sufferings, training his children, and caring for his home, without
education? Without education, her taste is corrupt. She will seek only
outward ornament, and dress, and painting, as if unsatisfied with her
Creator's work; becoming a mere doll to be gazed at, or a trap to catch
the men. She will believe in countless superstitions, such as the Evil
Eye, the howling of dogs, the crying of foxes, etc., which are too well
known to need mention here. He who would examine this subject, should
consult that huge unwritten book, that famous volume called "Ketab en
Nissa," the "Book of the Women," a work which has no existence among
civilized women; or ask the old wives who have read it, and taught it in
their schools of superstition.

"Let him who would know the evils of neglecting to educate woman, look
at the ignorant, untaught woman in her language and dress, her conduct
at home and abroad; her notions, thoughts, and caprices on religion and
the world; her morals, inclinations and tastes; her house, her husband,
her children and acquaintances, when she rejoices or mourns, when sick
or well; and he will agree with us that an uneducated woman is a great
evil in the world, not to say the greatest evil possible to be imagined.

"In the reformation of a nation, then, the first step in the ladder is
the education of the women from their childhood. And those who neglect
the women and girls, and expect the elevation of the people by the mere
training of men and boys, are like one walking with one foot on the
earth, and the other in the clouds! They fail in accomplishing their
purpose and are barely able, by the utmost energy, to repair that which
woman has corrupted and destroyed. They build a wall, and woman tears
down a castle. They elevate boys one degree, and women depress them many
degrees.

"Perhaps I have now said enough on a subject never before written upon
by any of our ancestors of the sons of the Arabs. My object has been to
prove the importance of