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 ally undo those hard, servile customs. When those princesses saw me walk upright in the presence of the king they would naturally think, "Why are we not permitted to do the same?" and thus one little step is taken to remove the shackles.

One day, as our attendant was leading me to our teaching-hall, we were near meeting a lady of high rank with her long train of servants. Now, I did not require my attendant to crouch before me, and she would naturally infer that with her I would prostrate myself in the presence of this lady of rank. So, touching my arm, she warned me of the approach of the royal personage, expecting me to meet her as an inferior and prostrate myself before her. "Oh," I said, "I am an American; our customs are different from yours." I had met this lady before, and she knew me and met me with a pleasant salutation, while my attendant and all the train of maidens were down to the earth in a moment. Now, the natural thought among these prostrate ones would be, "Here is a person who stands on a footing with our great ones, yet she does not require us to prostrate ourselves before her." Little by little are such miserable customs worn away by persistent Christian effort.

Our visits to the houses of the different ladies of the palace became more and more extended. These houses were not the clean, sweet, pleasant