th rich and poor, may still be found.

Among the uneducated rich men (and by the term uneducated, I mean those
who have not completed their studies in Egypt or Europe) you will often
find one having two wives. Also among the landowners, or sheikhs of
villages, who travel from place to place to overlook their property, you
will be told that they have a wife in each village living with a
suitable retinue of servants. The Arabic word for the second wife means
"the one that troubles me." This word is used in 1 Samuel i. in the
story of Hannah, and is translated "adversary." I know of an educated
gentleman, living in a large city, who added a young bride to his
family, but his first wife was treated with every consideration. The
rich can afford to put their wives in different suites of apartments
with different servants, and by this means quarrelling is prevented; but
the case is very different among the poor.

Not long ago a sad case came under my own notice. A prosperous
pharmacist was married to a very nice woman, and they were a happy
couple with sons and daughters growing up around them. By degrees, the
wife perceived a change in her husband's temper. If anything went wrong,
he immediately threatened her, not with divorce, but to introduce a
second wife into their happy home. This threat he finally carried out,
and the wife had the chagrin of welcoming the bride, and she was obliged
to behave pleasantly over the business. These two women appear to live
in harmony, there is no alternative, for over the first wife Damocles'
sword hangs but by a hair. But you can imagine the bitterness in her
heart, her anger against the husband, and her hatred of the bride. You
can imagine also the loss of respect for their father which the sons
will feel.

Among the poorer classes it is the usual thing to find a man with two
wives. One of these is old. She acts as housekeeper, and is consulted
and considered by the husband. The other is usually quite a young woman,
who must obey the older wife and treat her as a mother-in-law. These two
are generally fairly happy, and, as a rule, live in peace. I have seen a
man with three wives, all under the same roof. He acts impartially to
all--but the quarrelling among themselves and among their children in
his absence is very sad. The effect of polygamy upon the home is most
disastrous. What effect it may have on the domestic happiness of the man
I cannot say, but one can make a guess and that no