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this is said in many instances, with a large reservation. The absence of the pledge to obey the husband in the religious marriage ceremony of my people, ought of itself, to Save us from certain strictures and unjust criticisms, and our women from consignment in your belief to a state of abject chattelhood, degredation, and groveling subserviency to their husbands. I hope you will understand that I do not assume to sit in judgment upon your institutions, nor for one moment to institute invidious comparisons. As a Hindu I honor womanhood throughout the world and bow in proper worship to those sacred qualities which constitute wife-hood and motherhood. The greatest of all honors are those that cluster about the name and character of mother and wife.
Oh, my brothers and sisters, whatever privileges and rights may seem to be denied the women of your country, and whatever duties of a more public nature may seem to demand their attention and their care, let nothing be said or done or thought, that shall detract from the crown of motherhood and wifehood, the glorious lustre that is found only there. But this I must say, that no Hindu women in all the history-the sorrowful, sad and changing history of my race,-has ever sought relief from the holy vows of marriage in divorce. We, of India, do not forget that we are under the
Govern
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