PT. ni. Progress and Civilisation. 139 



honour, or moral principle. Their attachment to 

 their religion, whether Buddhist, Hindoo, or Ma- 

 hometan, is very tenacious, and would be an en- 

 nobling sentiment but that the religions themselves 

 are so inherently false and corrupt. Their treatment 

 of their women appears to be another strong distin- 

 guishing trait ; everywhere the females are more or 

 less secluded, and have been so from the earliest 

 times. I was reading lately narratives of two 

 English ladies who resided for a considerable period 

 in the capacity of governesses in the harems of two 

 Asiatic Princes at the opposite extremities of that 

 Continent. One lady was engaged to instruct the 

 numerous offspring of the Sultan of Siam, the other 

 the children of the Viceroy of Egypt. Perhaps 

 hypercritics may object that Egypt is not Asia, but 

 Africa. No doubt it is so, but the race belong, by 

 habits, customs, religion, and I believe origin, to the 

 Asiatic family. It is singular to find how closely 

 these two narratives resemble each other. 



Another feature of the Asiatic character is its 

 immobility, which pervades all the nations which 

 compose it, whatever their religion. Chinese, Japa- 

 nese, Persians, Turks, and Hindoos, all adhere perti- 

 naciously to the customs and habits of their ancestors, 



