Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-09-18

y,
pretenders whose claims to the throne
might prove quite as good as his own.
The loyalty Of the people, which is great
toward the office of Padishah, is al
most null as regards the individual
who holds the Office; SO that, provided
there be a sultan, the people care very
little VINO he is, nor would they be
disposed to take up arms for any Pa
dishah who had been depOsed by q pal
ace plot.
The Seraglios-for there are two: the
new one where the court of the reign
ing sultan resides, and the old one to
which the favorites of depated sultans
are reguIated-harbo between them
some 1000 persons, and are a source Of
runOus expense to the treasury. Not
only are the allowances of the sultan's
kadlnes, lkbals ifavorites) and guleuzdes
(asplrant fayorites( large, but the ways
OF the place are extravaganza Each Of
the imperial ladies has her daira, or
retlnue of companions, male and fe-
male servants; and all these people
scatter gold about without counting
whenever they have whim to satisfy.
sultans do not contract regular mar
rlages, and the reigning lady in the
seragllo is never the sultan's wife, but
his mother. She bears the title of
Sultana Valide, and all the inmates of
the seraglio owe her servile obedience
Her household consists of about 200
servants and guards. Next to her in
rank comes the hasnadar ousta, or mis-
tress OF the treasury, who is generally
a shreWd Old woman promoted from the
ranks of domestictity for her talents in
gossip and housekeeping. If the Sui
tana Vallde dies, the hasnadar succeeds
her as queen Of the seraglio; and this
arrangement sometime les leads to strange
consequences. Under Abdul Mediid
the palace was ruled for years by q
hasnadar who had been washerwo-
man, and whose chief adviser was a
churlish bartadii (hewer of wood who
could not read, but who had the power
of dismissing vizers. 1t was, in fact,
baltadji who ruled Turkey. After the
hasnadar comes the sultan's semi-laW-
full wives and favorites in the following
order First, the four kadines, who rank
as spouses until his majesty divorces
them and gives them in marriage to
some pasta, which he does pretty often;
the ikbals, or favorites, to the number
Of five or six; and then the guieuzdes,
or aspirant favorites, whose number is
unlimited. A girl in the seraglio, even
if she be a simple cavedji, or coffee
bearer, becomes a guieuzde from the
mere fact of the sultan making COM
plimentary remark on her. The word
is derived from yuiens, eye, and it
means a girl who, has attracted her
masters glance. IF, for instance, his
majesty, while visiting one Of his rela-
tiyes, remarks carelessly, "What pref
ty girl that is who brought in the coffee"
the damsel is at once and without
further parley promoted to the rank
of guieuzde: which gives her a suite
Of apartments, a daira, and O.
claim on the imperial exchequer
for the remainder of her life, or until
such time as the Sultan finds her hus-
band. AS every woman who marries
from the Seraglio takes with her her
clothes, jewels, furniture, servants, car
rage, and q lump sum In money,
which often amounts to thousands of
pounds, 1t may be imagined how the
civil list is mulcted when there are
many guieuzdes. After the Sultan's
favorites precedence is given to the
kadines- efendis, mother. of some prince
or princess; then to the Sultanas, I'M
married princesses Of the blood. and,
finally, to the foster-mothers and foster
sisters Of the Sultans, or Of princes and
princesses Of the blood. Foster-parents
and their children are always regarded
as permanent members of a Turks
household; and during several years
Nahir-Hanun, Abdul Mediid's foster
sister, held a paramount influence in
his household. Coming now to the
male members of the Seraglio, we find,
in addition to the necessary staff of
chamberlains, secretaries, guards, eu-
nuchs, solutions and cooks, a CORDS of
200 pages and musicians, and very
army Of BARRIERS, shampooers, tasters of
the Sultan's food, athletes. buffoons,
cOck-tighters, ram-fghters, astrologers
and grOOms. The cOck-fghters and
ram-fghters were appointed to amuse
Abdul Azlz, but they have been main
tanned by the present Sultan because it
is almost impossible to dismiss any one
who has once held office in the palace
without giving him a pension. The
edlue may ue sdIu OF the aStrOlOgerS,
whose functions have become a sine
cure, though they are occasionally sum-
moned into the haremlik to entertain
the ladies by fortune-telling. AS for the
buffoons and dwarfs, they have always
been numerous, for ladies living in Sc
clusion must be made to laugh when
time hangs heavy on their hands and
when the music and jigging of the dane
ing girls begin to pail These dancing
girls form corps of 800 strong, and, as
they are splendidly dressed and richly
fed, they cost more to keep than a cav
airy regiment. One need not enumer-
ate the staff Of servants and officials re-
CURED for the stables (which contain
500 horses), for the kitchen. the baths
and gardens-nor yet the staff of court
priests, but enough has been said per-
haps to warrant the inference that the
Sultan's court is at once the cOstliest