The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-06-29
THE HAREM.
The Tulips PaIace-The Real Turkish
Harem-A Patrfnrchal View OF Ii.


/ From the New York Commercial Advertiser
The tragedy which has Just been en-
acted on the shores of the Bospherus, il
the Palace of the Tulips, where the OK
Sultan was temporarily residing, excite:
in the reader desire to learn something
more than he already knows relative Il
the inner life of the Turks. 1t can bt
said that Abdul AZiz owes his dethrone'
ment and his death--either suicidal oil
otherwise-to his fondness for the
harem. In.thesbcginning of his reigr
he had declared himself TO be Monog-
! amist, but lately he reconstructed his
( harem, and spent there his strength
and his treasures. Still, the harem--ai
lesst that Of the ordinary Turk is MOI
as bad as is ordinarily thought; and,
( though written from a pro-Turkist
standpoint, the following letter from
/ Mr.. Butler-J ohnstone, recently publish
cd in the London papers, gives pretty
fair idea of it. lie says that it would
astonish many people to be told thu tnC
harem Is nothing more nor less then tie
Turkish ''home, and es sucn is invest
ed with quite as much sanctity and
purity VI the eyes of q Turk as in those
~ a European. / am certainly not go.
ing TO enter into the stupendous CUES
tion,of the. - ~
RELATION OF THE. SEXES, -.
nor to defend the Mussulnlan in com,
lparison with the Christian view on this
subject, but [ would wish 20 make one
or two observations with reference TO 1t.
The first is that the prevalent belief in
Europe that the MussHlman system 3e-
mics the possession of soGlsby the we.
men is like SO many othet current no.
tons, SIMPLY erroneous; secondly, that
/ althcugn polygamy is not prohibited by
the Mohammedan any more than by
the Jewish code, yet that public opin-
ion in Turkey has set strongly in favor
of mOnogamy, which has now become
the rule, and that, as a matter Of fact.
the instances of double sgse7t19eS are
rarer in Turkey than elsewhere; and,
lastly, although do not think that
either philosophy or religion he's seid
its last word upon this ssblect, yet that,
all things considered, if the choice only
lay between the inmate of the harem
and the emancipated female" l do
not think that any rational man would
for a moment hesitate.
However innocent the Turkish wo-
man may be of women's rights" out
side the home, within the
PRECINTs OF TIE HAREM
she is absolutely supreme. The cere-
monial and etiquette observed within
its walls would, ! fancy, rather astonish
the fippant critics of the institution.
The Difference, especially, which is paid
to the mother has no parallel in the
West. The Sultan himself does not
dream of sitting down without leave in
the presence of the Valdez Sultan. Ger
tain Institutions sanctioned and hallow-
ed in the West would be absolutely in
conceivable to a Turk; such for in
stance as the widow mother quitting the
home and abdicating her position in
favor of the sons wife. This would APP
pear to him an act of leSe-nGture. So
would other institutions and laws, the
story of our age-such as the provisions
OF the Code Napoleon, which enioin the
compulsory division of a mans prop
ty among all his children; and univer-
sal suffrage, as contradistinguished
from household or domestic suffrage.
For both these Institutions would ap-
pear incompatible with parental author
ity, and in direct conflict with his do
nestle instincts, which are at the root
of his whole character, and upon which
reposeS the whole fabric of Eastern So
ciety. For the patriarchal character of
THE TURKISH HOME
is its chief characteristic. Every morn
ing the household gather round their
head and respectfully kiss his hand
no empty formality with them, but a
necessity and even indispensable token,
in their eyes, of respectful allegiance.
In the household, too, are included not
only the children, but those whom we
are obliged by the poverty of our Ian
guage to designate as "slaves." No
where in Turkey is the precept of st.
Paul so fully realized, "Ser-
wants, be Obedient to your masters"
and " the son shall be even as SER
want" If, on the one hand, it be true
that the unit of the State is the family
and not the individual; on the other
hand, it may be said that the true idea
of the family only exists in the East.
Nowhere else, too, do people live so
continually in the presence of each.
other. A Roman once said, "Build
me house where l shall be seen by
every one every hour in the day." This
is literally the case in the East Living,
too, continually in the presence of each
other, their conduct is subject to and
influenced by the public opinion of
those around them in a way that no
can be. Two things are to
be seen in Turkey which at first sight
may seem contradictory, but are in re-
ahty Intimately connected-tke entire
ABSENCE OF CASTE, r. ..
and the instructive Difference and re-
spect paid to every degree of rank.
There is no such thing in Turkey as the
separation of classes, each living shut
up by itself, suspicious of each other,
Like antagonistic and hostile forces
there is no such thing, therefore, as
I ltOoo Wv AoiOllS, O4doH utilISuS, ClstSS III
tereSts, and the revolutionary passions
they engender. Consider for mo-
ment, when you talk so glibly of driv-
ing the barbarians out of Europe, of
the strength which such a fact as this
gives to Nation. l am inclined to
think, deliberately, that the only Ma
tion-in the proper sense of the term
in Europe is the Ottoman. Now, what
renders this intermiXture of all classes
in Turkey possible, and the absence of
which would render the same thing inn
possible in Europe, is exactly Turkish
pOliteness, formulated in a fixed code
Of politeness, which regulates the inter-
course of the different classes with each
other, and renders impossible that
to which, but for this barrier,
such general intermixture would
be liable, and which would quickly dis
solve it into general confusion and mu-
tual contempt. If this view is correct,
with such facts before our eyes it would
be very difficult to talk lightly of the
value of politeness and etiquette. 1t is
not too much to say that the very bond
Of society in Turkey is respect; that po-
likeness is with them the elaborated
code of respect, and that this re-