the loftier sphere, the wider horizon, and the more intellectual tone of the society of men. By stopping the excessive facility of divorce, the unsightly and ghastly covering of the face could be safely dispensed with, and womankind restored to society, both to their own inestimable benefit, and that of the stronger sex.

It may also be worth mentioning that, as an indirect result of the facility of divorce, and of the complete separation of the sexes, the strange custom has become universally prevalent, that parties entering on the married state are not allowed to have any personal or friendly intercourse, but must individually remain strangers to each other up to the day of marriage. The only way in which they can hear or know any thing of each other before marriage, is through the medium of near relatives and friends. It is therefore impossible to judge for themselves whether their characters and tempers, their habits and tastes, their principles and views of life, or even their personal appearance, are likely to coalesce and prove mutually agreeable. Whilst no man willingly buys a house or horse, without first seeing them for himself, and no woman thinks of purchasing an article of dress or ornament, without first looking at it, yet so great is the tyranny of Muhammadan custom as to require that two persons going to marry shall have no acquaintance with each other, but that in this most weighty matter they shall depend solely

on the information and judgement of others. It cannot be wondered at, therefore, that cases are not rare in which two persons, utterly unacquainted with each other, join in marriage but find out directly afterwards that their characters, tastes and views of life are so uncongenial, or even the personal appearance is so different from what had been expected, that a dissolution of the marriage union is sought almost from the very day they have come together. It is even said, that sometimes, especially in large towns, unprincipled girls induce men to marry them, simply for the sake of the sum of money to be settled upon them in the marriage-contract, and with the intention, from the very first, of so annoying and troubling their husband as to force him to divorce them. Thus we see that the excessive facility of divorce leads to levity in marrying; and marrying without that mutual esteem and love which can flow only from knowledge and sympathy, leads again to a .deplorable increase of divorces. Every one must acknowledge that such a state of things cannot but act most injuriously on society in general, and the, well-being of individuals in particular.

It is now abundantly evident that the Qur'an, instead of further developing the true religion in regard to matrimony and divorce, stops even far short of the teaching of the gospel and the Mosaic law on the subject. But there is one enactment, in the Qur'anic law which must still be mentioned as a