£20 
ONST A N T INOP L E. 
are always'ffained of a rofe qolour. Such is the taffe of 
Afiatics. The difcriminative trait of beauty between 
the Circadian.and Greek women,, is the more majeffic air 
arid flature of the former; while the latter excel upon 
a fmaller fcale, no lei's in brilliancy of complexion than 
in fymmetry and delicacy of form. The Hatties of Juno, 
Minerva, or the Amazons, are contraffed by that of 
the Medicean Venus. Both very generally anfwer to 
Homer’s defcription of the full-eyed, and the deep-bo- 
fomed. In the ffreets of Conftantinople no female ap¬ 
pears without her Jsredje and rfiahramdh ; the former re- 
fembles .a loole riding coat with a large fquitre cape, co¬ 
vered with quilted lilk, and hanging down low behind, 
made univerfally amonglt the Turks of green cloth, and 
amongft the Greeks and Armenians of brown, or home 
grave colour. The mahramah is formed by two pieces 
of muflin, one of Which is tied under the chin, envelop¬ 
ing the head, and the other acrofs the mouth and half 
the nofe, admitting fpace enough for light. Yellow- 
boots are drawn over the feet ; and thus equipped a wo¬ 
man may meet the public eye without fcandal. This, 
tirefs. is of very ancient invention, calculated for conceal¬ 
ment of the perfon, nor can there be a more complete 
ditguife. 
. In every civilized country, the middle ranks in focicty 
enjoy the trueft comfort, how unwilling foever they 
might be to admit the fa£t. W-hilff the ladies in the 
harems of great or opulent Turks, are confoling them- 
fclves with faftidious indulgence, in luxury unknown to 
the vulgar, the wives and concubines of fober citizens 
are allowed almofi a free intercourfe with each other. 
The men, merchants or mechanics, are engaged in then- 
various occupations, leaving the whole day at the dif- 
pofal of the women, who walk tha>llreets and bazars in 
groupes of muffled figures, orgo to the cemeteries, where, 
upon Hated days, under pretence of faying prayers at the 
graves of deceafed friends, they enjoy the Blade of cy- 
preffes, whilH loitering away many hours; and lliow un- 
reftrained happinefs, by the raoft vehement loquacity. 
Several times a-year they are drawn in arabahs , or painted 
waggons, With a covering of red cloth, by buffaloes gau¬ 
dily harneffed, to lome favourite retreat in the country, 
but never attended by the men of their family. That 
love of fplendid drefs which didinguiflies the nations of 
the eaH, pervades every rank.of females. Thole con¬ 
nected with the meaneil labourer occafionally wear bro¬ 
cade, rich furs, and embroidery of gold or filver, which 
are willingly fupplied by his daily toil. In large harems 
the number of children is proportionably fmall, -where 
few women produce more than three. Much has been 
fad concerning the infidelity of the Turkish women be¬ 
longing to harems of quality.; whoever has paffed a few 
years in this country, muff know that any fcheme of gal¬ 
lantry would be almoff impracticable, however they 
may have been prompted, by perfonal vanity, to impofe 
a falfe opinion On the world. In complete effablifhments 
they are guarded by thofe unfortunate men “ Who youth 
ne’er lov’d, and beauty ne’er enjoy’d and in thofe of 
lefs expence by old women, whole ceafejefs vigilance is 
equally fecure." If fuch things ever happen, it may be 
fuppofed of thofe who are permitted to gad abroad ; but 
this privilege is conditional, and never without a certain 
number of relatives or neighbours. The following in- 
ffance'of fuch an event, however, convinces us that the 
utmoff circumfpedtion is^not at all times effeftual. A 
young Venetian fer.ved in the Hiop of an apothecary at 
Conffantjnople, whom a Turkilh lady, attended only by 
her Have, came to confult, and was Ihewn into another 
room, leaving the apprentice and the fair Circadian alone. 
It is laid that nothing then paffed between them. In a 
few days, returning with her miffrefs, and the fame op¬ 
portunity recurring, Hie opened her heart, propofed 
elopement, and promiled much treafure. She kept lier 
word, and they difappeared without fubfequent detec¬ 
tion. Upon dilcovery, the punilhment of thefe lovers 
i 
would have been horrible ; he would have been impailcd 
alive, and Hie drowned in a fack. Such a penal code as 
that of the Turksdias in no period of cprruption been 
adopted by any nation of Chriffians. 
Infidelity or licentioufnefs in women, is a fubjeft of 
the fevereft crimination amongff the Turks, and their pu- 
niffiment of it borders upon grofs barbarity. That 
branch of police is under the jurildidtion of the boffandji 
baflii, or captain of the guard, with many inferior officers. 
When any of thefe milerable girls are apprehended, for 
thefirff time tliey are put to hard labour, and ffrictly con¬ 
fined ; but for the fecond they are re-committed, and 
many at a time tied up in facks, and taken in a boat to the 
Seraglio-peint, where they are thrown into the tide, in 
the face of all the ladies of the feraglio. The Turks ex- 
cufe this cruelty by pleading the law, and adding that 
every woman has it in her power to be attached to one 
man, by kebbm, or contract for a certain term, before the 
kady, which ceremony would exempt them from the 
cognizance of the police. If an bulb and prefents his 
wife with a female Have, Hie becomes her foie property* 
and he cannot cohabit with her without legal complaint 
of the wife, excepting with her content, which prudence 
generally inclines her to give. No woman of Turkilh 
birth can be an odalik, or domeffic Have. Illegitimacy,is 
unknown, for every child, born of the wife or concubine, 
has nearly equal rights. The fuperior privilege of the 
wife confiffs only in the partition of the hulband's pro¬ 
perty on his deceafe, and the difficulty of procuring a 
divorce without her acquiefcence. Odaliks are difmiffed 
and refold at plealure, if they have borne no child. But 
it frequently happens that they become confidential with 
their miffreffes, are emancipated, and married to hu(bands 
whom they provide for them. Few young men have 
more than one wife, but the elder, if opulent, indulge 
themfelves to the extent of the prophet’s licence. Our 
fair country-women, from fo (light a (ketch of female 
economy in this eccentric nation, may form favourable 
conclufions refpecting that of our own. They may red 
affured, that in no other country are the moral duties 
and rational liberty fo juffly appreciated, or fo generally 
rewarded with happinefs. 
The feraglio is a microcofin, in which the language,, 
ceremonies, and fafhions, are peculiar to itfelf, and differ 
materially from thofe of the capital, or the empire at 
large. The courtiers of either fex affeft the molt orna¬ 
mented diction of the eaff, and intermix many Perfian. 
phrafeswith the Turkifh, and the young men called Itffi 
Oglan, are educated in habits of urbanity and politenefs 
which-might vie with thofe of the more civilized nations. 
So fecluded as they are from intercourfe with their coun¬ 
trymen, and brought up together from their infancy upon 
the fame plan, and with the fame purfuits, one univer- 
fal caff of character and manners diffinguiffies the whole. 
They emerge only to take poffeflion of diffant provinces, 
or offices of Hate, in which capacities they ufually exer- 
cife all the parade to which they have been fo long ac- 
cuffomed. 
The officers of the feraglio are very numerous. The 
kiflar-agha, or chief of the black eunuchs, having the 
arrangement of the female department, is moff familiar 
with the fultan, and ever on the watch to confult his 
pleafures. The whole number of eunuchs within the 
walls of the feraglio, exceeds four hundred ; negroes are 
the moff elteemed, as being the moff ugly. They are 
brought, as well for the (upply of this number, as the 
harems of grandees, from Abyffinia, where a moff ini¬ 
quitous traffic is carried on. Total emafculation is per¬ 
formed during their infancy, arid hundreds are annually 
facrificed to this inhuman operation. The number of 
Mooriffi eunuchs is much greater than of European ; and 
the departments of their chiefs, the kiflar-agha, and the 
capy-balhi, are the government of the harem, and the 
it(h-oglans, or young men educated in the feraglio. It 
may feem a folecifm, but is no lefs true, that both thefe 
officers 
