The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-12-17

: course or events IN the Orient. Untn
now the seraglio has been, 80 to speak, q
sealed book TO the Christian powers Of
the civilized West. In the North Of AZ
RIGA and throughout Asia, where the
harem system is In vogue, Irrespective or
religious belief, since the Buddhist king
of Siam, the Confucian emperor CT China,
the Shintoist mikafo of Japan AMI the
BraEnin 1a;ahs sf India all maintain
great seraglioE in the same way as the
sultans of Turkey and Morocco, the
khedtve of Egypt and the shah of Persia,
no male save the sovereign is permitted
to cross the threshold Of a mans zenana
The latter Is closed even to the judicial
authorities and to the police. This in
formation is impaired by ''Ex-Attachsr
ip the New York Tribune. Murder ara
crime of every conceivable character can
be perpetrated with tmpunity behind Hs
doors. To such IN extent, indeed, is the
'harem secure from, the visitation OF any
save Its owner that, although the au-
thcrities of British India have all along
.beena ware that large numbers Of those
many hlEdr eds OF young English women
land little girls who disappeared during
the great seroy unutiny of 1857 were and
ARE still detained as inmates Of tho zen
ianas Of rajahs, native dignitaries and richj
merchants of India, they have never
dared to Institute any search for these
1captives or to deliver them from the
1bordage In which they were held This
perhaps demonstrates better than any.
thing else the degree to which the harems
of the Orient have remained impene&rable
mysteries tc Europeans. -.
Under the circumstances 1t is not sur
pr1sing that much ignorance should pre-
wall in the Occident concerning the true
character Of the women Of the ORIENT
and, 1LaEmuch las the sole knowledge of
their Individuality and of their. inte!lec-
tual capacity Is derived from the stories
of women tourists, usually frivolous and
only able to converse with the inmates of
the h1rem:. Though interpreters, and
from the rare and derogatory remarks
Of the male na tives who affect a profound
Contempt for the fair sex, it. has been
taken for granted In this country and
likewise III Europe that the mental caliber
OF the Inmates OF the seraglios is ex-
ceedingly low and even degraded. Am
Oriental will never refer in polite society
to his hSren:. and 1T is regarded as a
breach of etiquette to question him about
the latter or even to inquire after the
health 'of It's inmates, while the: general
tenor OF his ,utterances concerning the
weaker sex Is entirely in keeping with
that Oriental legend according to which
the Almighty created woman not with a
rib Of Adam, but of the tail of a.cur.
According to this story, which tn a.
slightly different form is current through
OUT Asia and the greater part of Africa,
Allah, while sewing up the side of Adam,
after removing the rib which was to
serve as the basis for the construction of
Eve, had laid 1T down by his side on the
grass. A hungry. yellow dog happened
along and, catching sight of the rib,
seized it and bolted. Allah started in hot
pursuit, and would have recovered the
Lone had not the tail Of the dog given
ny md in n 40 hor i,,c%
he managed to clutch hold Of it. Thanks
to the fresh Roadway which the cur thus,
obtained, it was able to escape and to
swallow the rib before being once more
caught Unwilling to deprive Adam of
al other bone, Allah resolved to use the
dogs tail in lieu of the rib for the con-
struction Of Eve, and it is alleged that it
is precisely because there is so much of
the caudal .appendage Of the dog in the
composition OF woman that It Is just as
impossible for her to remain quiet for any
length of time as it is to keep dogs
tail from waggfng.
Yet no greater mistake can possibly be
made than to set down the inmates Of the
harems Of the Orient as what the French
are wont to term a negligible quantity
Women are the same all the world over,
land they exercise quite as much influence
in the East as they do in this country.
Indeed, their influence Is probably greater.
For whereas in Europe and especially In
America, pretty faces and comely figures
'unsettle land distract a mans attention
at every step, in the Orient his infatua-
ton is restricted to the inmates of his
o.yn ,harem, who have nothing to fear
from the wiles or charms of their friends
or acQdaintances.f In fact he is amenable
to mo influence save their own, and. in
.asmuch as their main object in life is to
win his affection, and to devise means for
the retention Of his obedience to their
every caprice and fancy, an aim which
they generally manage to attain, 1t natur- !
ally follows that the harem is a far more
important factor TN the course OF events
IN Asia and in Africa than the people OF
the West have been willing to believe.
1t is with the object Of awaiting them
selves,ef this harem influence for political
purposes that the Russian government has
Just organized at st. Petersburg special
school for the training of female students
for secret diplomatic service in the rerag-
Hus tOf the Orient land 1t Is prObab bic that
other foreign ma tionse having interests IN /,
Asia and in the north of Africa will very /,
shortly .follow-suit. Indeed, they will have
TO alternative but to do so. For, maze
diplomats being forced to remain outside
the gates of che 'harem, Russia's female Y
agents will have, automatically speaking,
an altogether free hand and an unhind-
cred course witRlin the yseraglio, until thes
are caaed upon to cope with pol teal rivals
OF their own sex who enjoy the same
means OF access as themselves to the
zeIana- The students rOf this new govern
ment school at ST. Petersburg are being
instructed NOT only In the Turkish, Chi
nese, Sfanese Persian and Japanese LAM
guages, tsrt likewise In the various dia-
lects SPOKEN in India. which naturally
leads to the Inference that In beginning
this novel department the Russians have
in view political intrigue and propaganda
in l..e great Oriental empire of Queen Vic
toria, by means Of the hare1n. Emperor
William, too. has become alive to the pos
sibilities Of this species Of diplomatic
negotiations since there is every reason to
believe that his dispatch Of his sister tn
law. Princess Henry OF Prussia to the
China seas. is not SO much Cor the pur-t
pose OF spending Christmas with her hus-
band at Hongkong, ,ass with the object Of
making the acquaintance and securing for
Germany the goodwill Of the expresses. OF
China and Of Japan.
THESE two great ladies' OF the Orient con-
stitute by no means isolated instances Of 4
women playing a predomfnating role ct
AsAtic courts. Thus the present queen OF
Siam Is remarkable woman. and ruled
her husbands kingdom with the utmost
sagacity and craftsmanship during his !.
sjoEs visit to Europe. n Egypt. too. the !