Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1873-01-28
The WOmen of the Hdretn.


These ladies enjoy much greater de.
gree of liberty then is generally suppos'
ed They visit each other great deal.
and enjoy all the pleasures OF gossip aud
scandal which their freer sisters can do.
AS they never read. and never work, aud
have no household duties 10 occupy their
leisure. talk, and eating and drinking,
and unlimited smoking, are their only ~.
sources for killing time. At home they
vary these amusements by calling in tho
aid Of the singing and dancing girls, as
they do not consider it digniliod TO prac'
tice these accomplishments themselves.
The singing and dancing women are pro-
fessonals, and generally OF very uns'
quivocal charscler-in fact, they are nj
most universally disreputablc class.
Then, too, on Fridays the ladies go 20 the
bath, and spend the day there chatting
and gossipiag with each other. This Is
their club, and they enjoy il thoroughly
once week.
Shopping, too, is another OF their pas
timei. In ihe bazars you meet them in
great numbers, either on isot or perched
on small donkeys. muilled up and coYOr-
ed with only bright pair of wicked.lo look
ing eyes visible. and guarded by IN old
woman or sable eunuch. They IRE quite
rs eager and All animated in shopping rs
any Western woman can be. The richer
ladies have also goods brought to their
houses by female traders. who make
very profitable trade out of their ianciiul
customers, With are entirely regardless
OF expense in gratifying any whim or
caprice that sezes them.
The expenses OF mans harem in Tur-
key far surpasses all those for the rest OF
his household 1t is his most expensive
luxury.
Tho best trait of these lazy, idle and
unedueated women is their devotion 10
their offspring. They are good mothers,
and their love anu devotion are recipro.
Gated by their children. The strongest
sentiment Turk has is reverence tor
his mother. However elevated his posi-.
ton, he always stands up in her presence
until invited to sit down, n compliment
he pays 10 none besides. II is related oi
the famous lbrahim Pasha. ol Egypt, that
OH one occasion, having offended lis
mother. the old lady Intentionally omit
ted asking him to sit down, and compell-
ell him to stand up for m hour-a severe
punishment for an Oriental. Yet At that
time lie was absolute arbitrator Of lilc
and death throughout all Egypt. aud still p
@ slave to the whim OF An old woman.
because she WAS his mother. Women
who can command reverence and obed'-
ence as unqualified as this surely must
deserve il.
The practice OF purchasing Georgian
and Circassian women for the ha-
rems is still kept up, Constsntinoplo DO.
ing the great or central depot OF these
willing victims.
They prefer the gilded slavery OF the
harems, where they soon become despols
to the lite of hardship and prvation
which would be their lot at home. On all
ths steamers coming from Constantine
pie you may meet some sensuul' looking
Turkish or Egyptian magnate in charge
OF bsvy of yelled females, whom he is
bringing back to replensh his stock oi
wives or slaves. They are carefully Sc
clud.d ia private cabins, aud when per
ni;ted 10 breathe fresh air on deck, re-
scmble walking bundles OF black silk,
SO carefully are they enyoloped, neither
face nor figure to be seen.
The surprise OF foreign visitors to these
Gagged birds is very great when they are
eontemptuously condolcd with on tho
little care their husbands take of them,
and the Indifference they must feel toward
them, in permitting their unveiled faces
to be seen by every eye. The Eastern
woman is proud OF the precaution her
husband takes to insure her fidelity, con-
cciving ii 10 be II mark sl his interest in
hor. At the same time they conceive
themselves perfectly at liberty TO battle
that vigilance ii they can. and intrigue is
passion with them. although the pun
ishment, if detected, is sure and sudden
death.
As to what we regard as the pleasures
OF home and society, they arc neither
known nor priced in those regions. They
live on animal existence, and enjoy lille
in that sense only An educated and
cultivated woman is TGro dciS among
them. Such one was the princess OF
Said Pasha, former Viceroy of Egypi.
She not only was musician, but poet
ess as well, and impressed all foreign
ladies who saw her by the grace and
elegance of her manners.
While very young the Eastern women
may be charming. but they become pre-.
maturely old at All age when Western
women are in their prime. Early devel-
opment Ohey are manageable at ten
years of age) and tho indolent life they
lead, stulling themselves with unwhole'
some food, tend to produce this effect,
together with the enervating effects OF
climate and early maternity.