The East and the West (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1868 Excerpt: ...to a fellow-student in Paris--an intimate friend of his: --a If you ever come to Constantinople, I will receive you on terms of the highest intimacy, and even show you my harem.- The European lately arrived at Constantinople, went with his. wife to visit, among the first, his old school fellow, who introduced the wife of his friend into the harem, visited him in return many times and treated him in the most cordial manner, but always as a Turk. In no case could the eyes of the old fellow student and intimate friend be permitted to gaze on the unveiled face of the wife of his mussulman friend, nor was he suffered to set foot inside his harem. We said and repeat again that woman among the Turks has but one mision, which is a religions duty, that is, to please her husband. If, with this view, the European bred husband shoul I converse with her on what he saw orlearned in Europe, he woull provoke in the heart of his beautiful wife, either jealousy or fanatical abhorrence. The Turkish wife will always listen with horror to her husband when he talks of European manners and customs, and will use every effort in her power first to impress her husband with the same feeling, and secondly to monopolise all his favor and alienate him, if possible, from bis other wives. The more the husband follows European customs, the more natural it is for his wives to exert themselves to detach him from his European ways, and. to, render him again a gOod and faithful Mohamedan. Therefore the more you civilize the Turk, so much the worse he becomes, having been deprived of an early education, and being obliged to spend nearly half his time in his harem, with one or more wives, exceedingly jealous, fanatical, and utterly ignorant.. ', '. ' j' " " ' " '.. ." If E...