which they throw, in a graceful fashion, a veil which seldom touches, and never wholly conceals, the face. The women of the principal people, in the manner of the Mahometans, are kept in private apartments: this practice, existing in a country* where little danger is apprehended from foreign intrusion, affords a belief, that the concealment of the higher ranks of women has been an established custom of the Hindoos, previously to the date of the Mahometan conquest of India. It was once my opinion, that the Hindoos had secluded them from the public view that they might not be exposed to the intemperance of the Mahometan conquerors; but after perceiving the usage adopted amongst the sequestered Mountaineers, and also amongst the various independent Marhatta states, I am induced to think that the exclusion of women from society, prevailed in India before the period of the Afghan or Tartar invasions. At the same time, were a conclusion to be drawn from certain customs of the Hindoos, now obso-, Jete, but noticed in their history, I would say, that they did not, in more ancient times, confine any class of their women; but, as their manners, from the influx of wealth, and consequent luxury, became less simple, that the princes

4

* Mountainous and difficult of access to a hostile nation.

and nobles of the country produced the innovation from a desire of impressing the populace with a greater respect for their families. The story of the incarnations of Vystnow, and other ancient legends, shews that the Hindoo women were admitted into the assembly of men, and often possessed an extensive sway. In the history of their celebrated Ram, who appears to have been a powerful soldier, is seen a passage which serves to illustrate this position, and to trace also, to a high source, a mode of trial formerly established in Europe.

Ir is necessary to inform you, that Sree Mun Narrain, the Supreme Deity of the Hindoos, together with his indivisible associates, Mhah Letchimy, and the Snake, for the purpose of correcting certain evils which had at that time deranged our terrestrial world, found it expedient to personify human creatures: Narrain assumed the form of Ram, a renowned soldier; Letchimy became his wife, under the name of Seetah Devee; and the Snake was transformed into the body of Letchimun, the brother and companion of Ram. It is seen that these personages mixed freely in the societies of the world, nor does any part of the history notice the retirement of Seetah she is, indeed, represented coming forth on every occasion which could, with propriety, permit the interference of her

sex.

A service of importance calling upon Ram's individual exertion, he consigned Seetah to the charge of Letchimun: the lady and her guardian remained some time in security and quiet; when a famed magician, instigated no doubt by the devil, who is ever on the watch to draw astray mortals, particularly the female division of them, came that way, saw Seetah, and became violently enamoured. This subtle man, having discovered, it is supposed by his spells and incantations, that the eyes of women are the soonest ensnared, let fly, full in the sight of Seetah, a bird of brilliant and beautiful plumage. This artifice had the most powerful effect; for the deluded fair-one instantly conjured Letchimun, by every pledge he held dear, by the affection he bore to her, by his friendship for Ram, to procure for her the charming bird. Letchimun, amazed and much troubled at this entreaty, endeavoured to describe the imminent danger of quitting her in so perilous a situation, his dread of Ram's displeasure for the desertion of so grand, a trust: in short, he urged every argument which a regard for his own character or her safety could suggest. The dazzling hues of the bird had so amply filled the mind of Seetah, that no space remained for the counsel of Letchimun; she must possess this charming object of her wishes, or become the most mise

enter.

rable of women. On the repeated denial of Letchimun to gratify so dangerous a request, blinded by the disappointment of her hopes, and impelled by a paroxysm of rage, she accused him of the design of seduction, which she alleged to be the reason of his refusal to leave her. Letchimun, now convinced of the inefficacy of argument, and the necessity of acquiescence, went in quest of the bird; but previously to his departure he drew a magic circle around the spot where Seetah stood, and told her, that within that space no calamity could Letchimun had no sooner gone, than the plotting necromancer, assuming the appearance of an old man, approached, with a feeble and decrepit step, the place where Seetah stood, and, through an apparent excess of weakness, extended himself on the ground. He besought her in a piteous tone of voice, for a little water to allay his thirst, and restore his exhausted strength. The humane, but ill-fated, Seetah, felt the force of the old man's prayer, and, with a bosom overflowing with benevolence, she stepped, unmindful of her safety, beyond the prescribed bounds, and fell that instant into the power of her betrayer. Here the story wanders into a wilder field of fable; where I should reap little credit, or you improvement. I will, therefore, content myself with men

tioning, that after Ram had recovered Seetah, he ordered, for the removal of certain suspicions which had crept into his own breast, and for effectually shutting the mouth of slander, which began to open, that she should be judged by the ordeal trial. Seetah, eager to banish every doubt from the mind of her lord, and to exhibit to the world a public test of her purity, joyfully heard the mandate; and, without show of dread, walked over the burning iron. But the feet of Seetah, says the story, "being shod with in

nocence, the scorching heat was to her a bed "of flowers."

PARDON me for the intrusion of this Eastern tale, which might justly be deemed a trifling one, did it not indicate that the women of rank, among the more ancient Hindoos, were not excluded from the public eye, and that this people were acquainted with the trial by fire at an early period of time. The same uses may be derived from this story as are contained in the Arabian Nights; where, amidst the olio of talisman, genii, and devils, we are enabled to extract just relations of the manners and dispositions of the people.

As I have thus far entered on a subject which has occasionally engaged my attention, 1 will proceed a little farther, and recite a circumstance which may corroborate the position, that