The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-23
WAITED FROM OLD WORLD.

For the first few years of their lives Moor
! ish boys and girls have much the same ex-
perience, says the Englishman, often being
difficult to tell apart by their dress, which
may be either Of the scantiest-perhaps no
more than one small shtrt-or many consist
of two or three gowns, one over the other.
with a sirde ct the waist. Both receive a
fair share of parental interest, though the
boy will probably be made a little more of,
as more promising, according to the Oriental
standard, for the Mcors are by no means
destitute Of affection for their children and
father many often be seen playing with
his youngsters of both sexes at the door Of
his house or stable though not with the
freedom we allow ourselves, for one of the
first principles to be inculcated is deferentia1
bearing towards the parents especially the
father. On being hidden to enter the apart
ment in which he is seated-and they would
not venture to do without permssion-they
respectfully kiss his hands and those of any
guests VINO may be present, maintaining a
respectful silence; it is very seldom that a
Moorish child is permitted to eat in the pres
ence OF his father, and even the men and
women practically never eat from the same
dish, the viands being sent out to the women
when the men Of all grades have had their
turn.
The treatment of the lower classes of
Hindus, numbering more than 5000 OOO by the
higher castles has always been considered dis
graceful. The Christian missionaries and
Mohammedans, therefore find comparatively
numerous and willing converts among them
and their material condition is vastly i'm
proved, change of religion removing them
from the degraded position they occupy In
the Hindu social system. Those who have
come under the influence of Western educa-
ton could not be expected to remain idle
Some Of the educated few in the Madras
presidency now profess to discover that the
community were Buddhists in the olden days,
conquered and degraded by the Brahmins and
their adherents. They say sit Is our heart
felt desire that we should be shown how to
return to our old Buddhist faith only in its
primitive purity" Col Olcott, the Buddhist
representative. promised his help, and appeal
was made to the Ceylon priesthood. Accord
1ngIy meeting, presided over by the Bud
dhfst venerable high priest and attended by
more than 5,00O was held at Colombo not long
since TO hear the colonel and the Indian
delegates.
A woman who recently returned from the
Punjab has some curious tales to tell of the
social difficulties that confront the enthusi-
astc converts to Christianity. One native had
long yearned to become a Christian but the
missionary would not baptiza him because
he had two wives. How to rid himself of his
suPerhuous consort without breaking a Chris
tian commandment became ii problem of alb
sorbing interest to the simple savage. He
evolved scheme after scheme but none of
them impressed the missionary as consistent
with the principles of a Christian Finally
an unmarried brother offered himself as
husband to the second wife. To this arrange
ment the wife herself ard the missionary con-
sented, and the believer with his wife and
three children were baptized.
On the day that Alexander the Great was
married 2O,202 persons by one ceremony were
made husbands and wives. This wedding
occurred upon the conquest by Alexander the
Great of Persia.
Alexander married Statira, the daughter of
the conquered king, and decreed that 100 Of
his chief officers should be united to 100 ladies
from the noblest Persian and Medean families
In addition to this, he stipulated that 10000
of his Greek soldiers should marry 10000 ASH
attic women.
When everything was settled q vast pa
Vllion was erected the pillars of which were
sixty feet high. One hundred gorgeous cham
bers adjoined this for the 100 noble bride
grooms, while for the remaining 10000 an
outer court was inclosed, outside of which
tables were spread for the multitude Each
pair had seats, and ranged themselves in
semi-circle round the royal throne, OF
course, the priests could not marry this vast
number Of couples so Alexander the Great
| devised very simple ceremony He gave
his hand to Statira and kissed her-an ex-
ample that all the bridegrooms followed.
Thus ended the ceremony, and that vast
number were married. Then followed the
festival, which lasted five days, the grand
eur of which has never been equaIed since