and virtue of the females in so wandering and uncertain a mode of life ; and the want of it, among the American Indians,47 leads to the utter extinction of delicacy, and that sense of shame, which form the amiableness of women. 48 Among the Arabs of Yemen and Hejas, neither the necessity nor the practice of seclusion prevailed, in the infancy of the Saracen empire. We even find the Hamyarite women trained, like men, to the use of the bow, and to support all the fatigues of war "like the Amazons of old," says Ockley; and Voltaire very justly observes, that the heroines of Tasso appeared unnatural only to those who were ignorant of Arabian manners. Cadijah, the Prophet's first and most beloved wife, carried on an extensive commerce with Syria; and his widow Ayesha was constantly seen mingling in all the wars and political feuds that arose immediately after his death. In the Arabian Nights we have the best account extant of the manners of Oriental women; and constantly find them mixing with the men, transacting business with them, rejecting or yielding to their love, with a liberty never supposed to have existed for the sex in the East." Real history informs us that Zobeide, the wife of Haroun al Raschid, (who, together with that monarch, makes such a figure in those inimitable tales,) was so anxious to promote among her own sex, that species of learning which is most valued by the professors of Islamism, that she had a hundred virgins in her palace who could repeat the whole Koran by heart, the sound of whose recitations re-echoed through the lofty halls like the murmuring of bees." This celebrated lady is said to have been the founder of the city of Tabriz; and to have expended enormous sums in charity on her pilgrimage to Mecca." Haroun gave twenty thousand sequins for a learned female slave, who was afterwards known by the appellation of Taouadad Khatoun.“ 49 In Persia the women are more secluded than in any other part of the world; and the practice appears to have been very ancient in that country. We find Vashti, the queen of Ahasuerus, refusing, even at his own command, to appear at a drunken festival. But Xenophon describes Mandane, the mother of Cyrus, as being present among the noblemen at the court of Media; and Plutarch informs us that Artaxerxes commanded his queen to take away the curtains from her chariot, that persons might be able to speak to her on the road. The women of ancient Babylon" were compelled, by law, to prostitute themselves once in their lives in the temple of Venus; and the same practice prevailed in Lydia, and various other countries.54 But this was the effect of superstition, and did not corrupt the manners of the sex, because they 47 Robertson's History of America, b. iv. Let. Edif. et Cur. t. vi. 48 Ockley, History of the Saracens, vol. i. p. 67,71, 103, 239. Lamberti relates that among the modern Tartars, there are women who go to war in company with their husbands. A republic of Amazons was attempted in Bohemia, but lasted only seven years. See Coray on Hippocrates, De Aëre et Locis'; and Petit, De Amazonibus. 49 See the story of the Three Calendars, of the Sleeper Awakened, of Noureddin and the Fair Persian, &c. 50 D'Herbelot, t. iii. p. 618. See also art. Abassa, the sister of Haroun. 51 Idem, p. 364. 53 Herodotus, b. i. 52 Idem, 402. 54 Goguet, Origine des Loix, t. v. were not thereby degraded in the eyes of the men, who, wherever the custom prevailed, were observed to prefer those women who had been public in the temple of the goddess, to all others. Superstition is the characteristic of the Persian ladies to this day; for Tavernier relates that, being exceedingly desirous of children, they even swallow that which is cut off in the circumcision of infants, under a persuasion that it will promote their fecundity." Though living in so much retirement, their dress is superb; and during their lives they do nothing but what contributes to their own amusement. Their days are passed in smoking tobacco, or at the bath, where it is their whole ambition to display more splendid dresses and delicate viands (for they eat there) than their neighbours and acquaintances. The more opulent of the ladies employ female slaves to rub their limbs till they fall asleep; and thus their lives are passed in harmless voluptuousness, conversing only with their husbands, their near relations, and female friends. 56 The ladies of Turkey are more free, according to Lady Montague, than those of Europe. But though this may be disputed, it yet remains certain that their share of liberty is very considerable; much more considerable than has ever been enjoyed by their husbands. Enveloped in their ample veils, they go wherever they please: no one questions them, no one interrupts their walks; and it appears from a recent proclamation of the Sultan's," that plain dresses have been set aside, and that " embroidered feredjis, condemnable colours, and veils artfully contrived to show their faces," have made their appearance on the Propontis. From the terms of the Firman we also learn, that the Turkish husbands are by no means averse to their wives showing their faces, for the Sultan thinks it necessary to threaten them with punishment if they do not repress the fashionable propensities of their women. It is also worthy of remark, that no threat is held forth against the women themselves-their husbands are supposed to be the only persons having any power over them. "I was very well pleased," says Lady Montague, "with having seen this ceremony (a marriage); and you may believe me, that the Turkish ladies have at least as much wit and civility, nay liberty, as among us.' "I had the curiosity to go to see the Exchange in my Turkish dress, which is disguise sufficient. Yet I own, I was not very easy when I saw it crowded with Janizaries; but they dare not be rude to a woman, and made way for me with as much respect as if I had been in my own figure." "Tis very easy to see they have more liberty than we have." "Neither have they much to apprehend from the resentment of their husbands; those ladies that are rich having all their money in their own hands. Upon the whole, I look upon the Turkish women 59 66 55 Tom. ii. p. 350. 58 56 Tavernier, Voyages, t, ii. p. 369. See in Juvenal a description of the same practice, as it prevailed among the Roman ladies, Sat. vi. vers. 421, 422. 57 Oriental Herald, vol. iii. p. 580.-A feredji is "a thing with strait sleeves, that reach to their fingers' ends, and it laps all round them, not unlike a ridinghood. In winter, 'tis of cloth; and in summer of plain stuff, or silk." Lady Montague. Letter xxix.-The Jews of Jerusalem think it proper to separate their women from the men in their synagogue. "The female worshippers were above, looking down on the congregatiou through a screen of lattice-work." Travels in Palestine, 2nd edit. 8vo. vol. i. p. 395. 58 Letter xlii. 59 Letter xxxiv. C Go Letter xxix. as the only free people in the empire; the very Divan pays a respect to them, and the Grand Signior himself, when a Bassa (Pasha) is exe¬ cuted, never violates the privileges of the haram, which remains unsearched and entire to the widow. They are queens of their slaves, whom the husband has no permission so much as to look upon, except it be an old woman or two that his lady chooses. 'Tis true their law permits them four wives, but there is no instance of a man of quality that makes use of this liberty, or of a woman of rank that would suffer it. When a husband happens to be inconstant, (as those things will happen,) he keeps his mistress in a house apart, and visits her as privately as he can, just as 'tis with you. Amongst all the great men here, I only know the Tefterdar (treasurer) that keeps a number of she-slaves for his own use, (that is, on his own side of the house, for a slave once given to serve a lady, is entirely at her disposal,) and he is spoke of as a libertine, or what we should call a rake; and his wife won't see him, though she continues to live in his house." 61 61 Letter xxix. We have carefully avoided every temptation to mix the question of polygamy with our present subject; there is no question, however, about which men have indulged more absurd speculations and conjectures, or which they have so artfully turned into a two-handled argument in favour of contrary opinions. Every body knows, or believes, that by the progeny of eight persons the whole world was peopled to an extraordinary degree in the space of four hundred years; and this miracle is accounted for by the help of polygamy. At present it is an understood thing, that polygamy is unfavourable to population. (See Malthus, vol. i. p. 264. &c.) If it be unfavourable now, it must always have been so; for the difficulties which could not but surround the inhabitants of a newly ravaged world, and which invariably attend the peopling of new countries, may be supposed to have carried off at least as many children as the jealousies and revenges of the haram, which are assumed not to have existed among the women of those ancient harams. Mr. Malthus opposes Eton's stupid notion, that the population of the Ottoman empire would be extinct in another century, observing that it is" without doubt erroneous." Erroneous! it is so contemptible that no man ought to think it worth refutation. Another curious opinion of our contemporaries respecting the effects of polygamy is, that it encourages unnatural crimes, and promotes every species of vice among the women. Nevertheless, whatever has been related of Eastern ladies, falls infinitely short of those things disclosed by Christian ladies in the confessional, and partly published by a Spanish Jesuit. We refer the reader to Father Sanchez' three folio volumes of crimes and casuistry, if he is curious respecting the matter; and we promise him that he will thenceforward be inclined to doubt that polygamy, or any other the most abominable institution, could originate more unspeakable impurity. Many of the abominations of the middle ages are now happily forgotten; but the reader may perhaps have heard of a certain law by which a practice called the Congress was commanded, in France, when a woman sued for divorce from her husband. If not, it is impossible that we should explain it to him in English. "Erumpit interdum inverecunda intemperies mulierum. Erumpit, inquam, impudens, et in facie erubescentium populorum, genialis tori revelat et denudat arcana, et de mariti frigiditate conqueritur, allegans hanc sufficientem et evidentem repudii vel divortii causam, quod semivir est et inutilis matrimonio, qui non est promptus ad coitum." Johan. Sarisb. Policrat. 1. viii. c. xi. For the rest we must refer to the original author, or to Bayle, Dict. Hist. et Crit. art. Quellenec. With regard to the sin of polygamy, we may observe, that Christians, both Catholics and Protestants, have practised it by permission of their respective Churches. The Pope allowed a certain German Count to have two wives at the same time (See Bayle, Dict. Hist. et Crit. art. Gleichen.); and Luther and his brother reformers granted the same leave to the Landgrave of Hesse. "Rien ne luy fit de la peine dans l'idée qu'il en conçut, que la nouveauté de la chose mais il supposa que l'approbation de Luther, et des autres Théo For a full description of the Turkish women's beauty, amusements, splendid dresses, jewels, luxurious baths, and cool kiosks, we must refer the reader to Lady Mary herself, and to Castellan's delightful little work on the Manners of the Turks." Busbequius, Rycaut, Tournefort, and the older voyagers, were observing, but credulous; and in the light of fuller information, we can only smile at their wonder and exaggeration." Yet the tales imported into Europe by those old travellers, still subsist among the mass of the people, and it will require something more than an article to unroot them. It is probable, indeed, that the interest excited by the present war of the Greeks against the crumbling despotism of the Ottomans, may produce a more persevering curiosity than has hitherto arisen in this part of the world, respecting Oriental manners; but hardly any thing exact can be expected till the fury of the contest is over. The Greeks themselves will cause a good deal of misapprehension on the subject of Turkish manners; and knowledge may thus for a while be impeded by the circumstance that will in the end tend most strongly to its perfection. But this is a trifling inconvenience arising from a great and permanent good. 64 logiens les plus celebres de sa secte, la purgeroit de ce défaut. Il les fit assembler à Vittemberg en 1539, en forme de Concile. L'affaire y fut examinée avec toutes les précautions que l'on jugeoit capable d'empecher, que ce qui y seroit decidé ne fût tourné en ridicule. L'on prévit les fâcheuses suites de ce qu'on alloit faire: mais enfin la crainte de désobliger le Landgrave l'emporta dans le sentiment de Luther et de ses principaux disciples, sur la loy de Jesus Christ, sur la conscience, sur la reputation, et sur toutes les autres raisons humaines et divines." Varillas, Hist. de l'Heresie, liv. xii. In the act which authorized this prince to practise polygamy, two other cases are specified in which it would be lawful for a Christian to have two wives: the first, if a man being captive in a foreign country should judge it necessary for his health; the second, if his wife were leprous: but in both instances he is advised to take counsel with his parish priest. The instructions given by the Landgrave to Martin Bucer, upon this occasion, are curious, and contain his reasons for seeking another wife. In these he says, his wife is disgusting, is subject to intoxication; but, above all, that he never loved her. Bayle very judiciously observes upon this singular document:-"Il joignit à tout cela je ne sai quelles menaces et quelles promises, qui donnèrent à penser à ses casuïstes; car il y a beaucoup d'apparence que si un simple gentilhomme les eût consultez sur un pareil fait, il n'eût rien obtenu d'eux. On peut donc s'imaginer raisonablement qu'ils furent de petite foi: ils n'eurent la confiance qu'ils devoient avoir aux promesses de Jesus Christ; ils craignirent que si la Reformation d'Allemagne n'étoit soutenue par les princes qui en faisoient profession, elle ne fût étouffée. L'experience du passé les rendoit timides; ils voioient que la violence des persecutions, et les armes emploiées par les princes Catholiques contre ceux qui etoient sortis de la Communion Romaine, avoient toujours extirpé ces reformations naissantes. Il étoit naturel de craindre un semblable sort, à moins que la force ne fut repoussée par la force. Mais quoi qu'il en soit, on ne peut nier generalement parlant que les livres de Luther ne contiennent plusieurs choses favorables aux Polygames." Article LUTHER, rem. Q. Let us not, after this, hear Cato reproached with his pagan licentiousness, for being willing to lend his wife to his friend: the Christian Reformer and the Christian Prince trafficked in women with much more reprehensible views than the stoic. But most of our modern enlightened censors of antiquity are ignorant of what may be retorted against the professors of modern systems and creeds, and therefore coinmit themselves in their premature triumphs. 62 Paris, 6 tomes, 8vo., 72 planches. Rycaut and Busbequius speak of the love of one woman for another, as prevailing among the Turks; but it is nothing more than a revival of the old tales about Sappho. See her art. in Bayle. Recent travellers represent the manners of the Christians of Syria as most abandoned. We cannot help expressing our sorrow that the Greeks have justified the We have now cast a hasty glance over the continent of Asia, and seen that women are not universally secluded, as is commonly believed; that,' in general, their situation is as good as could well be reached under such governments as prevail in that part of the world; and that the degree of restraint which is put upon them is necessary for the preservation of their virtue, and the peace of families and society. From the facts we have adduced, we flatter ourselves that the reader will be inclined to conclude with us, that the only way to better the condition of women, in any country, is to bend the government, as much as possible, towards the popular form; that, in fact, their liberty always bears a very strong relation to that of their husbands; and that in no country is an indiscriminate intercourse between the sexes favourable to morals or freedom. No kind of virtue is so strictly inculcated under a monarchy as in a free state; but female virtue in the higher circles, is almost always, in the former government, lax and accommodating. We take this to be so serious a truth, that we are inclined to attribute the incapability of the French to acquire rapidly the republican character, as much as any thing to the character and influence of their women. Who could expect to see republicans born of mothers who had lived at the courts of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.? The whole nation had sucked in passive obedience, and a deference for tyranny, from their mothers' breasts; and infinite honour is due to those who freed their souls from such an inherent bias towards slavery. It has been long the cant of a certain class of politicians, to attribute to the influence of women in modern society the superiority of civilization, which it is assumed we possess over the great nations of antiquity; and, as an accompaniment, comes also a panegyric on the ages of chivalry. Now it is a rule with us to suspect both the knowledge and capacity to reason, of any man who proposes the times of chivalry as a model in any point of view whatever; for never were men more thoroughly brutal, corrupt, and ignorant; and never were women more abandonedly vicious and profligate than during that boasted era." The reader who is sceptical opinion of Du Pauw, that the first use they would make of their liberty, would be to excite "a crusade" against the Turks. Coray indignantly repelled the insinuation; and we doubt not but the better sort of Greeks contemn, as well as he, that "brick-and-mortar piety" which imagines holiness confined to walls and places. See Du Pauw, Recherches, &c. sur les Grecs-(a most shallow performance) and Coray, Notes to Hippocrates, De Aëre, Locis et Aquis. 2 tomes, 8vo. Paris, 1800. 65 The following extracts will give some faint notion of the excesses of the "gentle knights and courteous dames."." Cette mauvais coûtume de fair le jour de la nuit, joint à la liberté de boire et de manger avec excès, fit prendre des libertés à beaucoup de gens, aussi indigne du présence du Roi que de la sainteté du lieu (a monastery) où il tenoit sa cour. Chacun chercha à satisfaire ses passions; et c'est tout dire qu'il y eut des marys qui patirent de la mauvais conduite de leurs femmes, et qu'il y eut aussi des filles qui perdirent le soin de leur honneur." Hist. de S. Denys, ch. vi. p. 170, 171. In the works that describe the manners of those times," on verra," says St. Palaye, " des particularités singulières qui donnent une étrange idée des mœurs et de la politesse de ces siècles aussi corrompus qu' ignorans." t. ii. p. 69. When the great lords received each other as guests, they were in the habit of accommodating the travellers with their wives; and it is observed that the ladies, who could not take this office upon themselves, unless commanded by their husbands, never failed to solace their poble guests with one of their maids. In one of the Fabliaux a grande dame tells her maid, as a reason why she could not lie with her knightly guest that night, that her own lord was not yet asleep. St. Palaye, notes, ii. p. 70. See |