ine; bad eyes, of course,
abound. My love to Watts, and give greetings to any other of my friends.
I grieve over Thackeray much, and more over his girls' lonely sort of
position.

I think you would enjoy, as I do, the peculiar sort of social equality
which prevails here; it is the exact contrary of French _egalite_. There
are the great and powerful people, much honoured (outwardly, at all
events), but nobody has _inferiors_. A man comes in and kisses my hand,
and sits down _off_ the carpet out of respect; but he smokes his pipe,
drinks his coffee, laughs, talks and asks questions as freely as if he
were an Effendi or I were a fellahah; he is not my inferior, he is my
poor brother. The servants in my friends' houses receive me with
profound demonstrations of respect, and wait at dinner reverently, but
they mix freely in the conversation, and take part in all amusements,
music, dancing-girls, or reading of the Koran. Even the dancing-girl is
not an outcast; she is free to talk to me, and it is highly irreligious
to show any contempt or aversion. The rules of politeness are the same
for all. The passer-by greets the one sitting still, or the one who
comes into a room those who are already there, without distinction of
rank. When I have greeted the men they always rise, but if I pass
without, they take no notice of me. All this is very pleasant and
graceful, though it is connected with much that is evil. The fact that
any man may be a Bey or a Pasha to-morrow is not a good fact, for the
promotion is more likely to fall on a bad slave than on a good or
intelligent free man. Thus, the only honourable class are those who have
nothing to hope from the great--I won't say anything to fear, for all
have cause for that. Hence the high respectability and _gentility_ of
the merchants, who are the most independent of the Government. The
English would be a little surprised at Arab judgments of them; they
admire our veracity and honesty, and like us on the whole, but they blame
the men for their conduct to women. They are shocked at the way
Englishmen talk about Hareem among themselves, and think the English hard
and unkind to their wives, and to women in general. English Hareemat is
generally highly approved, and an Arab thinks himself a happy man if he
can marry an English girl. I have had an offer for Sally from the chief
man here for his son, proposing to allow her a free exercise of her
religion and customs as a mat