Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-08-23
HAREM LIFE.
How Women are Loved and Petted in
Pharaoh's Land.

General Loring throws rs much light as
circumstances permit, in his recent book
on Egypt, upon life in the harem. One
can naturally see that from the peculiar
manner III which marriages are made in
Egypt, there is little domestic life Of the
sort we understand:
The ladies constituting the family OF
the late khedive, Ismail Pasha, and of his
numerous sons, are in many respects an
exception to = general rule in their accom-
phshmentS, education and manners.
While they have, in many respects, Euro
pean customs and habits, these are modi-
fed by restraints of seciusion. and they
share with their sisters of all classes the
odiouS law Of the Prophet-that they
should be held prisoners under a rigid sur
VIGILANCE of guardians especially prepared
for the unholy Office.
Statements are made that serious mis-
understandings often occur among them in
consequence of this oppression. There is
no doubt that the beautiful Young daugh-
ter of the Khcdivc. who was accustomed
until - years Ofage To visit the opera with
out a veil, rebelled when the time came for
incarceration, and that she lamented in
tears her unfortunate fate. Marrying soon
after seclusion, she lived but few months
Universally. the MoSlcm women know
/
niture in their homes. With no education
they are strangers to the interests and af-
fairs of their masters; deckcd out with fine
dresses and jewelry, they are sensuously
content.
They amusc themselves in crunching
melon seeds, eating candy, smoking cigar
cites and showing their jewelry and fine
toilets to their friends. Living life of
ease and incidence, they are never sup
posed to soil their hands with labor or rack
their brains with thought When they
toll their sole occupation is to beautifv
themselves. When young they are well
made; their eXtremities are fine and their
hands are soft, white and supple, and they
might be likened TO the budding flower
which opens at the first rays of the morn
ing sun. Their compilations are white
and their cheeks tingcd with rose: their
eyes are sometimes blue, but that is excep-
tional; they are generally black as let and
when fully open are of almond form and
full of sensibility and delicate sweetness
They never conceal them, and gallant men
often confess that they have interfered
with their rcpose of mind. 1t is pleasing
to speak of these beauties, for they
have few to admire even this much of their
cOmeliness. The houses, many of them
are elegant, and so constructed as to com
pletely conceal the hidden glances of the
fair who are doomed to eternal isolation
when without q veil, as no woman can be
seen lawfully by any other man than her
husband. She is forbidden the homage
that all nature demands Controlled by Il
powerful hand, and bound irrevocably by
custom, she is compelled not only to kiss
the hand of her tyrant, but to hug the
chain which manacles her.
- This GpSDpti the mast
binary on the part of the men, inasmuch
as they pretend 10 feel delight in beautiful
objects OF nature; they will watch the play
OF birds for hours and think il crime to
disturb or deprive them of the free air
they breathe Yet they incarcerate the
loveliest and most beautiful of all the
Creators works, and think it a great favor
to permit woman's enjoyment of 4 flower
ing shrub i'll some hidden recess.
" In tearing aside the impenetrablc cur
tain OF the harcm it is only to see its in
mates, like the flower which the heated
khamsin touches, whitening under q ieal-
Gus deSpOt whom the law arms with COM
plCtc power, and whose cruel suspicion is
endured in Slayish silence Such is the rule
of custom, which alone regulates society
among Mohammedans, if intercourse be
tween the sexes there can be dignilied with
so exalted a term. The women rarely
leave their homes, or even enjoy the beau
ties OF nature Is do the men, who profess
great love for cXOtics and beautiful flowers.
They are employed III preserving their
competitions, the delicate tint OF which Is
never blemisAed by the light of the sun.
and enhancing their beauty by every means
that lung-studied art can effect, only to
please one whose delight is assured when
he knows that his prisoner is safely con-
fined. 1t seems incredible to men used to
our Western civilization that in the nine
tecnth century among so large Il portion of
the human family there should be an in
paSSable barrier drawn between the two
sexes, when every manly inspiration die
tates a generous sympathy for the delicate
and graceful woman whose instincts prompt
her To trust i'll man as the natural protector
OF her sex. Here she finds in him. on the
contrary, ylOlat0r of a great law of nature
who assumes the right not only TO shacklc
her mind, but also to contine her person by
a law its own operation.
SO binding is the law that 70 man shall
see the face Of Il woman not his property
that i'll case of a violation of its sanctity it
looks with favor on the action of the in
jurcd husband should he solace his jealousy
with the life of the intruder 1t is not even
permitted to recognize Il woman outside of
tons and the difficulties which environ
them, Moslem women GLIDING the greatest
watchfulncss, are fond of coquetting like
their Western sisters. Though entirely
uncutiyated they have delicate and pretty
ways, and show, as if by accident, their
beautiful dresses and jewelry i'll opening
the black silk havaran which envelops
them on the street. No women excel them
in the language of the eyes, which with
them, are always large and wide open.
Society among the inmates of the harem
means simply smoking cigarettes and pipes
and the most trivial amusementS. Instead
OF the sparkling conversation and pleasant
music with which the sexes reciprocally
entertain each other among Western peo-
pie, horrible SCREENINGS, the monotonous
noise OF drums and the clang of tambour-
ines are here the solacc of woman in her
hours of ease. The boasted luxury of the
palaces offers in its isolation no attraction
to a refined nature. This life makes peo
pie prematurely old; man of fifty is
and superannuated, and a woman !
of thirty has passed her meridian No one
works unless compelled TO it, as tranquil |
lily of mind and person best pleases the |
Oriental taste. They ignore the passage of |
time, which never disturbs them with the |
cry of bullrah tto-morrow); yet people |
write of the destinations of Eastern life |
1t may be the climate, with its sunny sky |
and quickening air ofthe desert, or possibly |
the stagnation of existence which deludcS |
them. 1t cannot be the effort of thinking |
or of feeling that awakens pleasing impress
sions, for there is nothing here that does |
not clash with every sentiment, habit and |
custom OF intellectual life"
Wages and Taxes in France. |
At best the population of France grows |
in numbers very slowly. Allowing for the |
mil linn and a nalf fnl.n1n n,,-n,r liz q ~ |