Morning journal and courier., 1893-07-12
Women in RgypI.


 IDuc d'Harcourt in the Correspondent
 Egypt exhibits the spectseie, of which know no other example, of people util- izsd for centuries solely for the profit, not of eonqueriDg foreign rsce, but of indi- vidual foreigners born In ruder climates The condition of a people which does not know how to handle the sword and never re2ists force in the preseacs of brutal bar barians, like the Turks or the Msmelukes, cannot be far removed from a state of ser vitude. Such has been, for centuries, the lot of the Egyptians. In race sunk SO low, to what degree of slavery must We not expect to see the women reducedi The condition of women, among any people whatever, is always difficult to determine with precision, and especially difficult among 8 MussuIuan people. In Egypt, in all classes of society, they try to keep women hidden, and when the income per mits, they lock them up. Among the rich the seclusion from the world Is almost sb- solute; their houses, In Cairo, are general ly fqusre ediices one story high and sur mounted by a terrace.
 Great numbers of such are seen in the quarters of Ismailieh and BAb el-Lnk. They are surrounded by gardens, which sep ate them from the street. The windows, large and numerous enough, all have blinds, which gre kept dramatically closed. i Tas balconies and terraces comnun!cati3g | with the apartments are closed surrounded | with wooden graiDgs rising about six feet
 and half from the ground, through which | nothing can be seen from tie outside. The house Is entirely devoted to the hArem, the
 master being the only man who enters il. | He may have business with other men, and find 1t necessary to receive them. For that | purpose, special wing. completely isolEs- | ed, very email, corresponding in aspect 10 | & porier's lodge among us, Is placed along | side of the entrance door. This wing con
 stitutes the ''selamlik," or apartment of
 reception. It is generally a single room, | of which the limited dimensions and the
 shAbbY appearance testify how small s
 place its uses occupy in the daily life Of | the owner. In the street, before the en-
 trance. squat some chat:ering servants; but
 the principal edltioe, go fAr as can be seen,
 Is deserted. All the hAb!tstIons, some Of
 which are msguihcently built, do not seem
 to be made for the living; accompanied by
 cypress trees and entire silence, they have
 the appearance of huge mausolrums.
 In proportion as the means of the house-
 holder diminish, the space occupied by the
 dwelling becomes less. Men are in closer
 contact, without gaining anything in co
 ciAbility or the houses losing their appear
 snce of bsiDg prisons. h those streets of
 Cairo in which the houses are contiguous,
 the outside walls are pierced with few and
 small openings. When the low doors are
 open, you see nothing but wall shur;
 distance back, at the side of which Is s
 narrow, dark and toTtuous passage, giving | access to the interior. In such houses there
 is no room accessible to strangers. One
 day, during an excursion in the suburbs,
 met distinguished professor belonging to one of the great educational establishments of Cairo, and We exchanged come words O!
 politeness. On our return to the city, hs
 very courteously invited me to take coffe,
 with him. accepted his invitation and ! followed him. "Here we Are," he said suddenly stopping in the narrow lane II which We were walking; ''be good snougl
 to wait a few minutes." He entered hi house, from which he soon emerged, bring ing with him some chhiTs, for which b 3 searched for a level place in the street l Then, inviting us to sit, be called out hi neighbor, the coffee-hOuse keeper, to briD some coffee. This is what he styled 'rs fl csiving us as his houssl" Certainly it ws 3 far removed from sn English home or eve 3 from the hospitality which you will fin | B suits of the position of women Amun , people quite poor 1t Is impossible 10 hay [ sufficient space to allow their women [ t go about without being seen- Such are n 8 longer protected by their veils, and often : when engaged in hard work they seem | g be indifferent ss to keeping their faces GOV 6 cred.
 I Itmust be supposed that the custom
 which led men to hide women from all eye | .lz 10 ss,Ey lima all such customs were necessry. The socis 8 state in which they originated, and whicl ], lasted long enough to cause them 10 be e come deeply rooted ir the manners of th e people, was altogster different from the l. pescsable and well-Tegulated state whic l. we too readily imagine 10 be the norms It state of all society. In Egypt, on the con d trsry, the normal condition wss one | d which all the property Of private person d as well as the state almost inevitably bs O came the prey of the strong and the cur
 ming, the weak having no means of prs e serving their wealth, save by hiding 1t cars e fully snd assuming sn exterior of poyert F. and even or sordid misery. Such a sociI
 stste was the traditional ceuturies-old COT ,s dition of Egypt. To-day, 1t Is true, sue 8 A state of things exists no more, but this if due to European influence, represented { Ie this moment by English bayonets, and e WAS but yesterday that 1t ended. In aI if counts of Egypt twenty or thirty year l. ago, you will ind such incidents As th e following: In lS4l the governor of Zane 'e sst eyes on a young and pretty woman, an n had her carried away from her house an n brought 10 him. The husband of the VI g man went to lay claim to her, and receive l. 200 blows with a stick. A fortnight sftel
 wards the Tsvisher gave his victim her III 6 erty, and she returned to the coniugi l. roof. The fellAh received her with appsl 70 ent sa.isfsction and cut her throat durin Id the night Then he cent 6 petition to S' al linn Pasha relating the facts of the cas- t. The petition was forwarded to the governc
 of Esneh, who had the poor devil seize a. and put to death.