Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-10-25

ENsAetAAe Iott Wrtte9 20 "a EnRll2h
newspapeF the following account Of the
xOneo Of Egyrt as they are today. She
says:
The Egypilzn women are generally sup
posed IN Europe I'd he ahus ip ia the bar
ems, like slaves, subiecE ID ali me capriees
ef1hsir lords, 'Ffsho1i Eny soeiEly whatever.
| Thai IS far from being the case. They are
cumming and shseWd enough to Learn, -
soon as they are married, to make their
lives pass AwaF pleasantly enough. Rsins
aecnssoEaed b confinement, and tan1hs.
from their earliest days that it is theft
duty to study the whims and fancies Oh
those to whom they are to be married, they
seek 70 do 90, and by that means posseas
great infueHce over their husbands, ID
maintain which is the sole occupation Of
their lives. There are more females than
males in Egypt. They are divided iRto
two classes, Irrespective of the black slave,
the native bora and foreigners, among
whom We class the Georgians, Circaksiahs,
snd Mingrelinns. The former are par-
chased By the grandees, and peopls the
haKenas OF the Prices and individnals
attached 70 he Viceseasl oonrt. and
sse esaily Distinguished b The fair-
ASps " si-sAr stsst9i llcAtoA. While t4a
others are much darker, AID have Dofnled
features. Ths soreiaa srsuaen wele leza
ch<istsa,ls bat Hers 1issse to enlbfees tie
M1slem isi.h belize bein4 brought irso
Egypt. These 10 iTssfkey, but especially
10 CsnataBsinspls, have bsea endowed
with ideas and manners totalIs difesent
from those OF their own sex 10 their res
peeIiye countries. As they know, as
soab rs they enter the harema hat liey
are dsaained to live in oPuIenee and fhsf !
every respect will be shown shenl--ior i |
have zlready pointed cot In = HAfem Life /
in TarkeY and Egyps,p the esiapsfie thsl /
the slavess observe to the prime aes-fhe /
seeds OF hmbition soon begin 70 BE devel- /
oped amone them, and they so0n become /
blgots in then spew religion. The Tnrks /
take great cares Of this kind of Wonen.
Those who, by reason OF their rank, or the /.
post that they OceaRy in the goVeFnmenl,
disdain an alliance with Irue-hoRn Egyp- /
tian woman, no matter of what rank she |
may be, generally purchase af q crest |
price, varying from three hundrsd TO one |
thousand pounds, Georgian on Circas- |
sian, whom they marry immediately AFTER |
ward, and who, when she las obtaiDed n
hold on her husbands affections assisted |
by the counsels of the mother Of her |
harem, very Machiavellian Princes-
enters heart and soul into, polis- |
ical intrigues. The women are nol /
constrained in their tastes nor ia, thsir /
habits; they eat, drink coffee and liquors
and smoke to their hearts content. Ae-
companied by their personal and faYorite |
slave attendant, the head eunuch, they |
L. hoxovv, nh tharv lfba
coed to the hamman, (bath the gossiping |
shop Of the Orient-visit other harems, and |
60 shopping into the bazaars. They are |
entirely free in all their actions, and there |
is no fear of their transgressing the bounds |
of decorum or etiquette, for can safely say
that such a line of conduct never enters |
the heads of Moslem women. In the first
place they are too bigoted to engage in
any liaisoas with an infidel and secondly,
they know, from their own mother of the
harem and others, the fate that awaits
them if they were so imprudent az 10 COM
NIT such suicidal sct-that death would
be their punishment, as well as that of
their paramour, their habitual converse
ton among themselves is disgusting be-
yOnd conception to European ears but |
they have been trained up from childhood |
to converse in that manner without having |
the slightest idea that by so doing they
outrage the feelings of their sex they do
not think there is any harm in SO doing
and all a European WOMAN could say TO
them would not convince them TO the
contrary.
The Egyptian women generally pass
their time in frivOlities, except on certain
days, when they attend to their me9dge, as
have already explained in "The English
Governess in Egypt" in pleasing and
wheedling their husbands, studying their
whims and caprices They delight in re-
lating stories themselves TO their ladies OF
the harem, slaves and eunuchs, congregated
of an evening sa tdmiile, kind of cOtCrersd-
gione, or in listening to the songs of the
almehs or their own slaves, having their
own horoscopes cast, and asking their
mothers of their harmon TO interpret the
dreams they have had during their kef as
Joseph did those of Pharaoh of old.
The splendid halls of "the mansion OF
bliss" of the great, resound also with COM
plants. One woman murmurs at her bar
renness; another at the favor bestowed by
her lord upon her ikbal for the tine, which
raises her jealous feelings to fever pitch.
A question of engrossiDg interest Is how
they can obtain heirs. Most Of the Turks
adopt rigid system of economy as regards
the pin money which they allow their
wives, and the baksheesh they bestow upon
their ikbals, slaves, eunuchs and other at
tendants Many limit their toilet expenses
to fred sum per meRsum and do not allow
them to give too expensive fantasies. The
Memlock women, on the contrary who
possessed large landed property, were very
wealthy and disbursed large sums most
generously-expended their paras with no
sparing hand for fantasies, and lived in
such state of independence that they had
quite the upper hand over their husbands.