Moreover, the Prophet says: "If a man proves to be partial to one of his two wives, even to the extent of a hair's-breadth, he will rise on the day of judgment with half of his body lifeless." The example of the Prophet, in this respect, has been forbidden to be followed, simply because his action was based on the interest of the common weal, for all his wives, with the exception of one, were widows pretty well advanced in age. Hence the general practice among Muslims is monogamy, excepting with the aristocracy, which in every land has been, more or less, notorious for its transgression of the laws of morality.

POLITICS

Islamic history bears testimony to the fact that Muslim women have played from time to time a prominent part in the government of their country. But, as a rule, they seldom meddle with politics. Even now, the influence of the wives and the mothers of ruling sovereigns is often visible in the management of public affairs. As regards the management of state affairs by Muslim ladies, we cannot find a better example than that of the present Begum of Bhopal, India. Her Highness Shah-jehan Begum is the only Muslim queen under her Majesty the Queen-Empress. The Begum has been reigning for about a quarter of a century, and many improvements have been made during her reign. in the Bhopal state. Shah-jehan Begum possesses a head as well as a heart. As a proof of the first, she weathered the storms during the grave crisis which resulted in the degradation of her late husband, Nawwab Siddeeq Hasan Khan, about thirteen years ago, and acted with remarkable sagacity, to the credit of herself and her state; and as for the second, she has endeared herself to her subjects, and stood by her husband through thick and thin. It is a curious thing

that the Bhopal state has been, for three generations, governed by successive queens, and the present heirapparent to the throne of Bhopal is also a lady-Sultanjehan Begum. Seconder Begum, the mother of Shahjehan Begum, was a woman of great abilities, and was considered as one of the wisest rulers in her time. She rendered great services to the Indian Government at the time of the Mutiny, and saved many Europeans' lives, and therefore received the district of Bairusya, from the Indian Government, as a reward for her services. The Viceroy of the time eulogised Seconder Begum in the presence of all the ruling princes of India, in a durbar held at Jabalpoore.

There is another peculiarity of Muslim ladies, that they have, up to this time, preferred social happiness to organising societies for the political rights of women. Nor have they yet entered into competition with men, in the fields of public service, industries, or labour. But in the evolution of time, which works such miracles in its own mysterious ways, who knows what surprises may yet be in store for the world among the generations yet unborn.

PARSEE WOMEN

BY ZULIRKA SORALJI CAVALIER

PARSEES are Zoroastrians. They are not only theists, but monotheists; they tolerate no other worship than that of the Supreme Being. Parsees are not idolaters; Zoroaster was successful in putting down idol-worship for his followers.

The charge of worshipping the elements has oftener than once been brought against the Parsees, but it is a false charge entirely. God, according to the Parsee faith, is the emblem of glory, refulgence, and light; and in this view a Parsee, while engaged in prayer, is directed to stand before the fire, or to turn his face towards the sun, because they appear to be the most proper symbols of the Almighty.

All Eastern historians agree that the Persians, from the earliest times, were not idolaters, and that they worshipped one God, the creator of the world, under the symbol of fire. This is still the practice of their descendants in India.

A Parsee worships fire or through fire-(1) Because it is the most perfect symbol of the Deity, on account of its purity, brightness, activity, subtilty, fecundity, and incorruptibility. (2) Fire is the noblest, the most excellent of God's creations. (3) Because in the fire temples of the Parsees, having undergone several ceremonies, it has added a new element of purity to itself, and for this reason is most sacred.

While the Parsee loves his religion dearly, he is not a bigot, and he never thinks ill of the religion

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of others. When strangers arrive in India, and are told that the Parsees of Bombay are the descendants of a small band of Persian emigrants who were in the most miserable circumstances at one time, it is a great mystery to them how these people have gained their present pre-eminent position. The enigma should be an easy one to solve, for are not they the descendants of an enterprising, courageous, industrious, selfsacrificing people, who at one time were masters of a vast empire, and who can never lose what has been bequeathed to them as an inheritance? The Parsees are probably the smallest community in the whole world, for they number scarcely 100,000. They are chiefly to be found in India, where Bombay has been for nearly a century their headquarters.

It would seem that the writer is a long time coming to the subject in hand-the womenfolk of these remarkable people, but it is always well to be perfectly au fait with the history, religion, &c., of the people in question, short though that history be, than to start in ignorance, hence this explanation. The most learned amongst the Parsee emigrants prepared sixteen sentences, which give an idea, though a very very vague one, of the Parsee faith. It may interest our readers to hear them :—

1st. We are worshippers of the Supreme Being, and the sun and the five elements.

2nd. We observe silence while bathing, praying, making offerings to fire, and eating.

3rd. We use incense, perfumes, and flowers in our religious ceremonies.

4th. We are worshippers of the cow.

5th. We wear the sacred garment, the "sudra" or shirt, the "kusti" or cincture for the loins, and the cap of two folds.

6th. We rejoice in songs and with instruments of music on the occasion of our marriages.

7th. We ornament and perfume our wives.

8th. We are enjoined to be liberal in our charities, and especially in excavating tanks and wells.

9th. We are enjoined to extend our sympathies towards males as well as females.

10th. We practise ablutions.

11th. We wear the sacred girdle when praying and eating.

12th. We feed the sacred flame with incense. 13th. We practise devotion five times a day. 14th. We are careful observers of conjugal fidelity and purity.

15th. We perform annual religious ceremonies on behalf of our ancestors.

16th. We place great restraints on our women during and after their confinements.

These are by no means the fundamental principles of the Parsee religion, but only a vague idea of their faith as whole.

The first ceremonial that comes in the life of a Parsee child is when it is given a name, and its future is predicted.

The second ceremonial is the investiture of the child, whether boy or girl, with the sacred shirt and the sacred cord. The candidate sits before the Parsee high-priest, who utters certain prayers, and makes him or her drink three times of a sacred drink and chew the leaf of the pomegranate tree; and the child having gone through ablutions, the priests, attired in their spotless white, in the midst of a gorgeously dressed assembly of men and women (only Parsees), perform the ceremony. There is strict silence whilst the child goes on with his confession of faith under the priests' guidance; this corresponds with the confirmation of the Church of England. The next is the betrothal ceremony. According to Zoroastrian law, a child ought not to marry before the age of fifteen, but unfortunately, in mixing