National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-05-02
Romance Of d Life,
The story or Lady Eiicnborough...An
English Lady WEEDS an Arab Chief

!
English Lady WEEDS ma Arab Chief.
Mrs. Isabel Burton writes from Trieste
TO the PaH MaH Gazette:
viii you allow me to contradict, ~
the editor of the Triester Zcitung has
done here, the correspondent at Bey'
rout. who writes to the German Ga=eht,
Of Vienna concerning the late Lady
Peterborough?
About sixteen years ago, tired OF
Europe, Lady Peterborough conceived
the idea Of visiting the East, and of
initiating Lady Hester Stanhope and
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. There
is also French lady, Nine. de Ia Tour
dAuvergne, who has built herself n
temple on the top of Mount Olivet, and
i. es there still,) Lady Marlborough
arrived at Beyroutand went to Damascus,
where she arranged to go to Bagdad
across the Desert A Bedouin escort
for this journey was necessary, and as
the Mezrab tribe occupied the ground
the duty of commanding the escort de-
volved upon Shaykh Mijwal, young
brother Of Shaykh Mohammad, chief of
this tribe, which is branch of the
great Anazeh tribe. On the journey the
young Shaykh fell i'll love with this
beautiful woman, who possessed all the
qualities that could fire the Arab i'm
agination. Even two years ago she was
more attractive than half the young
girls of our time. 1t ended by his pro-
posing to divorce his Moslem wives and
to marry her to pass half the year in
Damascus (Which to him was like what
London or Paris would be to us), for
her pleasure, and half in the desert, to
lead his natural life. The romantic
picture of becoming queen Of the
desert and of the wild Bedouin tribes
exactly suited her wild fancies, AMI was
Mt once accepted, and she was married
in spite of all opposition made by her
friends and the British Consulate. She
was married according to the Moham-
medan law, changed her name to that of
the Hon. Mrs. Digby Ell Mezrab, and
was Mortified when she found that she
had lost her nationality by her marriaGa,
and had become Turkish subject.
For fifteen years she lived, as she died,
the faithful and affectionate wife of the
Shaykh, to whom she was devotedly at
tached. Half the year was passed III a
very pretty house she built at Damascus,
just without the gates of the city, and
the other six months were passed ac-
cording to his nature in the desert in
the Bedouin tents of the tribe. In
spite of this hard life necessitated by
herself to his habits
for they were never apart-she never
lost anything of the English lady, nor
the softness of woman. She was
" grande dame au bout des doigts in
voice, manners, and speech.
She never said or did anything you
could wish otherwise. She kept all his
and was the mother and the
queen of his tribe. In Damascus we
were only nineteen Europeans, but we
all floeked around her with affection and
friendship. The natives the same. As
to strangers, she only received those
who brought letter of introduction
from friend or relative, but this did
not hinder every ill-conditioned passer-
by from boosting of his intimacy with
the House of Mczrab, and recounting
the untruths which he invented, to sell
his book or newspaper at better profit.
She understood friendship in its best |
and fullest sense, and for those who en-
ioyed her confidence it was treat to
pass the hours with her. She spoke
French, Italian, German, Slav, Spanish,
Arabic, Turkish, and Greek as she spoke |
her native tongue. She had all the |
tastes of a country life, and occupied |
herself alternately with painting, sculp-
ture, music, or with her garden-howers
Or poultry, or with her thoroughbred
Arab mares, or carrying out some i'm
She was thoroughly con-
loisseur in each of her amusements or
To the last she was fresh
md young; beautiful, brave, refined,
md delicate. " Bon sang nc peut
nentir." Her heart al fond was noble
he was charitable to the poor. She
egularly attended the Protestant
hurch, and often twice on Sundays.
She fulfilled all the duties of good
christian lady and an English woman.
She is dead. All those who knew her
n her latter days will weep for her.
She had but one fault land who knows
it was hers, washed out by fifteen
ears of goodness and repentance. Let
is hide it and shame those who seek to
rag up the adventures of her wild
outh to tarnish so good memory.
in pace.