, 1862-12-24

means welcome guest, burst forth ut the mo- /
nlcnt when thc noble visitors were embarking I
in 4 splendid kajiah sent BY the Sultan to CON |
rey them from the Emirghian Palace on the |
residence, to his OWL imperial abode, whose |
riches and luxury realized the tablcs Of the |
Arabian Nights. They were met at the land |
ing by Fuad Pasha, Minister Of Foreign AZ !
fairs, and other dignltarlcs, and the national
lynn Of Russia gaye d resounding welcome. |
2 His Turkish Majesty himself received them ut
the foot Of the palace stairs, and conducted
them up into hall, resting on pillars, whose |
dome, composed entirely Of ruby tinted glass. |
suffused the apartment with gorgeous at
From this, tlley passed into the |
great auaience-room, where were already as
eembIed the Diplomatic Corps. From this
room, blazing with ten thousand lights from
the immense chandeliers depending from the
richly ornamented ceiling, the Sultan, after q
brief delay, conducted thc Grand Duchess,
attended by her son and two ladies, into the
Throne room. Here, clustered around the
throne, stood The highest members Of the Ipa-
Ills sister and daughter, these being born Sui
ta1,as, then his two wives, who bore the title
Of kadincn, aud his four SONS. Then pointing
toward i door, he said: "Behold, Madam, the
Harem!'' and disappeared.
TIE B4REu OPENS.
At the talisnanic word thus uttered by the
Sultan, the mysterious apartments were re-
leased from their inviollble seal, and the
Grand Duchess entered the harcn1 The chief
court directress, the supreme gouycrnante Of
leu tAc way, the Sultana sister following the
guest, the others in due order behind them
Two Armenian women, skilled in both the
French and Turkish languages, acted as in-
terpTete1s.
nm, ,F
mcnts, thronged by the gayly attired female
population, about 1900 iii number, which
constitutes the family Of this favored ruler
The light admitted to this strange little world
through the windows Of blue glass added to
The bewildering effect Of the scene, and it
were moving in the realm Of fable She, in
turn, passed like vision before the eyes Of
these Gagged birds Of the East. They hoyered
around her steps, respect and awe scarce able
10 resi- rain their curiosity, and seeming hardly
to .71 IT. nenG On whom they were
At length the train reached . large and
splendid hall, where they were received with
military music by n band, gorgeously arraycd
i'll uniform Of scarlet military coat, heavily
embroidered with gold, white trowsers and
first surprise at finding corps Of dashing SOL
niers 60 familiarly established in the Imperial
sanctuary, WAS succeeded by a second when it
was explained that these trained and re-
ally skillful musicians were females Of the
HArems
Out Of the music hall opened a smaller
apartment in which was laid table in strict
European style. The Sultana sister took tic
head of the table, placing the Grand Duchess
on her right hand, and the young Duke Oh
her left. Next to The Grand Duchess sat the
first Kailine, Il beautiful Circassian, whose
charms, though sue was not much less than
forty years of age, ehone out pre- eminent
above all the inferior fayorites. To say the
truth, q large proportion Of these were long
since past their bloom, or, to judge from a1.
peara1ices, had never bloomed ut al. On the
right Of the young Duke sat the second wife
the mother Of Murad Ehendi, the cldest
daughters Of the Sultan, and the two ladies o;
the Grand Duchess. The Turkish toilette had
Eayished for the occasion its enormous wealth
Of diamonds. An Immense solitaire, blazing
on the little finger Of each Of the princesses
particularly attracted the attention Of tht
visitors.
THE CoTRT-DIRECTREss.
The Court -Dircctress is entitled to wori
Of special mention. Her Office is twofold
| To her is committed the whole government o
the little state, and the duty Of filling yacan
cies. The first task, though not impeded b.
| Democratic ideas, is By no means 4 light one
| Flower bushes planted so near each other
| sionnl1y. The second office is one Of publl'
| responsibility, and she is held ansWer:lble tt
the highest tribunal for the wives she select
| for the head Of the empire. The gravity 0
her position did not. however, seem to weigl
| on her spirits, and she rertly expressed to til
I illustrious stranger her regret that the mos
beautiful woman in the world, as she declarc'
| her to be, was already married; as otherwis
she siould certainly have selected her for til
Sultan. The Duchess promptly replied TIM
she, on the contrary, was most happy IN hay
ing already 4 husband whom size dearly loved
This answer was heard with universal salts
faction by the Turkish Indies, who, bcin
thus relieved from the apprehension Of
rival, layishcd on their guest the most tlatte1
ing compliments. The beautiful Circassia
eStoled the grace Of The Sultan in gra,,tin
them the unprecedented felicity Of entertain
ing such i visitor.
/ THE BANQUET.
As dinner progressed, the Turkish princes
,es grew extremely gay. To them this occ:
sion was 1aughablc trial as well as trea
For fortnight previous they had been pra
tising eating with knives and forks. but the
were still SO unskilful that nearly al1 the
food fell under the table. They were in G
stacics, however, over the new giittering in
plements, which they held up, in childis
nlirth, for the adulirliion Of the hand-mai
ems and walters in tho background. Aft
much persuasion on the part Of their gucs
their deSterity in plying the Instruments fu
nished By mother Nature was still more +
narkable than their previous i'll success.
!, Meantime, throngs Of female slayes,
called, though differing greatly in raj
:mcng themselves, and all Of them eligib
to the very highest promotion. succeed
each other in their dining hall. They We
an dressed in white; and That nothing mig
l,c wanting to complete the idea Of Il
Hareln, many Of them carried little c!ildr
!, in their arms. (Lans0ich, siHlicA.) Not sat
), | pressed up to the Grand Duchess, aud ask
t If they might look at her as much as til
! pleased. With her ladies' they used still le
ceremony, touching them with the ends
their fingers to sec if they were really fl
; and blood. ~
:. was mixture Of the East and West, and y
4 found TO be Of exquisite relish, except that
: lad too great preponderance Of swt
h dishes. During its progress, the Turkish
= dies we're served by their attendants With
T. most obsequious devotion. They drew
$ their gloves, adjusted their napkins. wash
y y their hands and hung upon every glance a
+ gesture Tic music, in spite Of the fem
chattering, continued to play, and in q ST.
i which charmed even European CRITICS
., Among the pieces were selections from 4
SC zart,s Flight from the Harcn,:a
| 1a1tEE I'LL l1dA lDI. la1I NEAaGt CHILL
81 and the dishes had been merely passed
ne show, the Chief Directress inquired Of
es.: G2and Duchess If she wou1d be helped
ang1hing more. On her replying in the ne
i've, the company rpse and adjonrued:to
spacious music-hall, where band Of viii
, robed nlnldens performed national dances
- the entertainment Of the yisitors. In
= midst Of the dancing terrific clap Of fthun
ut shook the windows, aud caused every be
cx- to trcmble. The lightning had struck diret
,9E below, On the deck of the little Steamer vii
~ had brought the officers Of the frigate to
Imperial dinner. The occurrence harm
for lied with the extraordinary character Of
day; happily, no lives were lost
r Half IN hour later, message from the
tan announced his approach to conduct
Grand Duchess to her husband: He recei
her in the Throne room, whittier she
: attended, BY the Turkish princesses, gave
- his arm, and led her back to the andiel
Of room, where the guests of the day were as
CO. assembled ard tn0k HIS 1eore 1T ti,n flln afr
~ 1a5r at tl,n foot of the nslaca stairs wharf