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    into her footsteps , and that my house should nave been irradiated by y ^ nr presence ? To what can I attribute the distinction you would confer on us ?" He looked at the governess , and she at him : at last he an * swered , —

    " Sir , I was desirous of obtaining * the advantages of your acquaintance and friendship , knowing your excellent qualities from universal report . " " Excellent qualities ! Of what kind , pray ? " * ' Of heart and person . "

    " I am not noble , " said Sidi , " and therefore am unfit for your society ; besides , I am a Mussulman / 7

    < c I am without any prejudices , " said Signor Giovanni Battista . " So much the worse , " said Sidi , " if you have nothing to put in the place of them .

    Prejudices are quite requisite for nine-tenths of mankind : they are the screws and cramping irons that keep the distorted a little more upright . I have

    itold you what I am ; you have Itold me what you are ; and now lit is only necessary that you should learn what my pupil is . SShe is not a Christian . "

    " I know it . " 4 i And could you take for m wife the daughter of Infiflelity ?" Tne young gentleman hesixated a moment , and then

    laaid , — Signor Sidi , there are two p rinds of infidelity in a wife : nnfidelity in the mysteries of riritir lioly faith ; and infidelity to

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    the forms and ceremonies of matrimony , or what is called the marriage-bed . Certainly it is a horrible thing in a man ,

    and a more horrible thing in a woman , to renounce the faith they were born in , provided that faith is Catholic . But

    although matrimony is a sacrament and cannot be dissolved , yet it may be a trifle loosened . A young woman would , however , do very wrong who should take a cavaliere without the

    consent of her husband , unless he treated her cruelly , and would not hear reason . The thing should always be mentioned , and fair means tried in order to induce him ; and it is only in cases of contumacy , and when he is not to be induced

    at all , that the lady should substitute her own ideas , and confer with one who is as ready to be persuaded as to persuade . " " Signor , " said the Mussulman , " you have given mei a clear and comprehensive view

    both of your religion and your morality . In every city of Italy we pick up some scattered pages of them , but you appear to possess the complete textbook . Many Christian matrons , and all the Mahometans , think that a man ' s honour and his

    children ' s depend on the honour of his wife . Few like to marry , even among * Christians , the daughter of a loose woman , and no one who does marry her treats her with respect . "

    " Signor Sidi speaks well , " said Signor Giovanni Battista ;; " but this lady knows that I came with no chains or bars in

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    104 High and Low lAfein Italy .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 1, 1837, page 104, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1834/page/32/