considered, in the East, a curse and a reproach; and it is regarded as disgraceful in a man to divorce, without some cogent reason, a wife who has borne him a child, especially while her child is living. If, therefore, a woman desire her husband’s love, or the respect of others, her giving birth to a child is a source of great joy to herself and him, and her own interest alone is a sufficient motive for maternal tenderness. Very little expense is required, in Egypt, for the maintenance of a numerous offspring.[83] However much the children are caressed and fondled, in general they feel and manifest a most profound and praiseworthy respect for their parents. Disobedience to parents is considered by the Muslims as one of the greatest of sins, and classed, in point of heinousness, with six other sins, which are idolatry, murder, falsely accusing modest women of adultery, wasting the property of orphans, taking usury, and desertion in an expedition against infidels. An undutiful child is very seldom heard of among the Egyptians or the Arabs in general. Among the middle and higher classes, the child usually greets the father in the morning by kissing his hand, and then stands before him in an humble attitude, with the left hand covered by the right, to receive any order, or to await his permission to depart; but after the respectful kiss, is often taken on the lap; and nearly the same respect is shown towards the mother. Other members of the family, according to age, relationship, and station, are also similarly regarded by the young; and hence arise that ease and propriety with which a child, emerging from the hareem, conducts himself in every society, and that loyalty which is often improperly regarded as the result of Eastern despotism.[84] Sons scarcely ever sit, or eat, or smoke, in the presence of the father, unless bidden to do so; and they often even wait upon him, and upon his guests, at meals and on other occasions: they do not cease to act thus when they have become men.—I once partook of breakfast with an Egyptian merchant, before the door of his house, in the month of Ramadán (and therefore a little after sunset); and though every person who passed by, however poor, was invited to partake of the meal, we were waited upon by two of my host’s sons; the elder about forty years of age. As they had been fasting during the whole of the day, and had as yet only taken a draught of water, I begged the father to allow them to sit down and eat with us: he immediately told them that they might do so; but they declined.—The mothers generally enjoy, in a greater degree than the fathers, the affection of their children; though they do not receive from them equal outward marks of respect. I have often known servants to hoard their wages for their mothers, though seldom for their fathers.