The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-11-05
a TURKISH GIRLS DESTINY.
The System OF Living in the Land Of
Mahor etaniSm-

From the English Illustrated Magazine.
Orthodox Mahometanism is an enemy 10
social progress. It's attitude toward the
weaker sex dissipates any doubt which may
De felt on this point De,plte acknowledged
claims of gratitude and love the prophet
denied woman her proper place under the
new dlSpensatiOn. It was the z Id OF
h hadilah which raised him from poverty
and enabled him 70 adopt the career Of re-
IRious reformer; II was the wit and devo-
ton OF Ayesha which cheered him amid
sickness and sorrow; yet ali the supreme
and omnipotent architect of Islam did in
payment Of his debt TO woman was To grant
her certain elementary rights OF person and
property.
There he stopped. presumably deeming 1t
lmpOllte and undesirable to make further
! concessions to justice. As be found woman
so then Mahomet left her-the inferior of
man, and strictly subordinate to him from
the cradle to the grave. For she is at once
his helDmate aud Joy, and having accom-
plished her task on earth, may be con-
demned to an eternity Of like labor in par
| sdise should her husband wish to number
her among his celestial wives, as the atern-
alive OF RELOCATING her TO separate eaven,
OF which we are told nothing, and the very
creation of which would appear to be an
atterthought. Whether in the event of a
Moslem's failure 10 satisfy Mir and Sorush
hIs spouse may have TO accompany him 70
hadss the prophet omitted to mention.
That the inevitable tendency OF such doc
! trines is to perpetuate female degradation
the Turkish empire bars witness.
woman" says your Thoroughbred 9th
manll, was made for man. to serve him
and minister 70 his pleasures, as
we have the Koran, Gods word to
prove" Clearly, therefore, a religious
reformati is essential 10 the
browning victory OF civilization over the
sultan's dominions. 1t has already COM
menced. Fatalisrn, as under stood by the
| old Arab warriors, is dying fast, and our
children may not iInpossibly see the Koran
revised in accordance with modern ideas.
But even here the typical Turk will, as
usual. start at the wrong end. laying az to
the sound limbs Of the tree before ne touches
the rotten ones. Ripe to let koranic virtues
| 20 by the board, for its vices he realms the
warmest affection. And to his woman
theory he will cling TO the last, for reasons
| which scarcely enter into the scope Of this
paper. When that relic of barbaric age
has been finally abandoned the whole struct-
ure of sixth-century Mahometanism will be
| in the dust
The Importance attached by intoleraut
| Moslems TO the separation OF men aud
women as shown in the method of building
houses which still prevails at CONSTANT
nople. Every Turk who can afford to do
so, divides his re idence into harem and
seiamllk, and while connecting the
| two from within gives, If practi-
cable, a. street door to each. This is
! symbolical of the regime which com mands
thu sexes to live apart unless united by ties
| OF closest relationship, and requires them
even then to conduct their intercourse
| privately, AID, 81 to say, unrecOgnized by
the outer world. To it the great Fuad
Pasha alluded when striking his hand
| against the harem wall he cried: It'll this
PARTITION is down Turkey can never be re-
| generated"
Thirty years have flown since he thus
| spoke. yet little has been doue toward de-
| stroying the barrier Some few ladies have
| broken out in rebellion, and two or three
actually receive friends as they might in
| London and Paris but the vast majority
want courage and power-in many cases,
perhaps, inclination to boot-to follow the
| lead. aud, instead OF joining the insurgent
ranks. profess themselves content with more
becoming dresses and additions to the COM
| forts and luxuries of their homes 1t
| should, too, be remarked that the move
ment, which was originated by contact
with western civilization, is entirely con-
fined to STEAMBOAT and other large cities.
In the country ladies continue to live
much as they did centuries back, not only
| from attacks OF political necessity and fash
ionable caprice, but also because the COM
plete absence Of temptation prevents any
desire to wander Off the beaten track. Once
exiled from the principal towns an educated
woman, Mosem or Christian. has no re-
source outside her looks, easel and piano
for Intellectual society she signs in vain.
Such, briefly set forth, is the destiny to
which Turkish girl is born. 1t is not,
therefore, surprising if her education be
purely conventional, and in the eyes of her
parents, of slight Importance. She if
petted and spoiled, especially by her father
and the slaves, often Co a dangerous extent,
and, what is worse, not infrequently wit
ness to sights and recipient of chatter de-
moralizing In the extreme. Besides this the
harem and selamlik system stands in the way
Of instruction which, under favorable CIR
cumstsnces, her father might possibly give
her.
She dwells almost exclusively with
women-perhaps all of them, including heI
own mother, purchased slaves-for. as g
rule, her brothers, particularly if pupils In
the higher schools of Constantinople OF
Europe, are seldom at homo after their
education begins. A further drawback il
the rapidity with which she develops int
womanheod. At 10 years old she may b.
an unlettered child and at IA maiden il
the marriage market. Girlhood is toC
short in the east for the welfare Of minC
and body.
CHANCELLOR Won CAPRIvI has brought suit 70