so the situation is improved, for a
while, until another visit to her parents becomes imperative. It is
natural enough that the mother-in-law should thus deal harshly with
her daughter-in-law; for is it not her revenge for the similar
treatment which she received many years ago as daughter-in-law? The
real attitude of the Hindu toward his wife is doubtless more cordial
than it appears to a Westerner. He seems to delight in revealing an
indifference to her feelings and a contempt for her position. In the
household, she is not permitted to eat with him; she must wait upon
his lordship and take the leavings of his meal. Upon a journey, it
would be gross impropriety for her to walk by his side. Etiquette
demands that she walk behind him at a respectable distance of, say,
ten paces.

The love of jewellery is a marked passion with the women of India.
Millions of money are expended every year in the manufacture of female
adornments. And in this work there are more than four hundred thousand
goldsmiths constantly employed. The wealth of a family, especially
among the middle classes, is largely measured by the amount of
jewellery which the women of the household possess. No one would
grudge to these women a certain amount of these personal ornaments;
but when it becomes a mad craze to convert all their wealth into such
vanity, and thus to render their wealth entirely unremunerative, it
becomes a serious matter. The loading down of a woman or a girl with
precious stones, gold, silver, or cheaper metal, adds anything but
attractiveness to the person. It gives them a gross conception of
personal attractiveness as well as a monetary value to beauty, which
degrades the ideals of the country. When a woman's ears and nose, the
crown of her head, her neck, arms, hands, waist, ankles, and toes are
made to sparkle with the wealth of the family, and to bear down the
frail body of the proud victim, they cease entirely to set off the
personal beauty of the woman herself, and become rather a counter
attraction; and she is admired not for what she is, but for what she
carries.

Moreover, it is well known that these women are not satisfied, on
public occasions, to wear their own jewels only; they borrow also
those of their neighbours and shine with a borrowed light, which
reflects a great deal more their vanity than their beauty. Many a time
has the writer seen bright little Brahman girls carrying upon their
person the combined glittering w