Western cyclone., 1886-12-16
A TURKISH WEDDING.
Marriage Customs Among the Faithful
Servants of the Sultan.

All weddings in Turkey, among
Turks, whether in provinces or cities.
are arranged by old women and are
complicated. tedious affairs. The bride
groom holds fete several days at his
home for his men friends, and the
prospective bride at her home with her
young fr;cnds-girls, of course. The
night before the wedding the married
women Of her acquaintance come and
eat the married woman's dinner with
her. which consists principally, rs Sam
Weller would say. of a ''Swarry" of leg of
mutton and trimmings The next day
the bride is taken to the bridegroom's
house in sedan chair, with 4 retinue
Of slayes carrying her wedding presents
on trays on their heads. covered with
colored tarlatan. The procession is
sometimes quite imposing. The brides
female relatives are also there in the
new harem until nightfall, and they re-
tire TO their homes, leaving tho bride
sitting on q sort of throne, veiled. The
bridegroom is then admitted, and he is
to throw himself at the brides feet and
offer her his wedding present of some
handsome jewelry and beg her to raise
her veil and strike him blind by her
beauty. Sometimes he is struck dumb
by her uglinesS, for he never looks on
her face until after the wedding
When a babe is born in any house
there is great rejoicing if it be a boy,
less If a girl. The wife is proud for
mhile, but Turkish women are not good
wothers. They are too child-like them
selves. When a girl is born to a Sultan
they fire seven guns; when a boy, twen-
ty-one. The boys die early; the girls
are more apt to live. This is supposed
to be a divine interposition of Provi-
dence to prevent too many claimants
to the throne. Babies are dressed like
mummies in swaddling clothes for six
months; then the boys are put in trous-
ers, sometimes in generals or colonels'
uniforms. regularly made.
When the Sultan takes wife no cere-
mony is considered necessary more
than to present his bride. The new
Sultan inherits all the widows and
slaves of his predecessor, and every
year of his reign, at the feast Of the
Ramazan, he receives a new one from
his mother and takes any other girl or
woman to his harem who happens to
strike his fancy Slaves who become
mothers are instantly promoted to the
rank of Sultana. Six months before
the feast of RamaZan the Valide Sultana
orders that all the young candidates be
brought to her, and she chooses fifteen
and sometimes more of the lot. These
are Immediately put under diet and
training. and at the beginning of the
great feast she again chooses, and this
time the choice is final At the evening
of the appointed day the Sultan. upon
retiring, finds his new bride standing
nude, with folded hands and lowered
eyes at the foot of his bed. After he
has retired she must lift the bed-clothes
at the foot and crawl into bed in that
way as 4 sign of subjection.
Girls arrive at legal majority at 9
years of age and are frequently married
at 10. Children of II and IS are often
seen with babies of their own. They
are old at rs. The old Turkish women
have hard lot Of it. Beyond respect
for age which they contrive to inspire
by tooth and nail among other wives
younger than they, their lives are not
happy. Still they are provided for, and
as long as man lives he feeds his
family, one and all alike. -Brooklyn
AdgaElne.