TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8481, 12 May 1893, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

•■-■•■■ M iss Ellen Chennells, Life in the who was English governess Harem. of the Egyptian Princess Zcyneb, and in that-capacity lived**for five years at the Court of her father, the Khedive Ismail, has just published a volume of her "Recollections," in which she gives an extremely interesting account of what life in a harem really means. She sweeps away nearly all the romance with which ,poets and other imaginative writers have invested the seraglios of Eastern potentates, but, on the other hand, she shows that the inmates, as a rule, are contented with their lob, and have no particular desire to exchange it for a life of greater freedom. Miss Chennells Saw the institution from the inside. Her impressions, therefore, differ largely from those of lady travellers who have been admitted to the harems on what may be termed show days. Then the magnificent dresses, the splendid apartments, the flashing of jewels, the open coucts with the feathery palms and the sound of falling waters, all produce a delightful effect. That ie the bright side of the picture. On ordinary days, however, life in the harem must be dreary in the extreme. You are struck, Mis 3 Chennells tells us, with the entire absence of anything to promote amusement or mental occupation. There are no books, music, or any little feminine occupation lying about. The windows may look out on a garden, but there ie sure to be a high wall which shuts out all outer life. At the theatre the wife of a Khedive sits in a box, the whole front of which is covered with a fine network of iron painted white with flowers in gold. It is a gilded cage with this special quality about it that although the bird can see something of what is going on outside, nobody can see the bird. Going to Constantinople for the first time, Miss Chennelle naturally wanted to enjoy the lovely view, but was told no woman could bo allowed to chow herself on deck. She went into the chief saloon, and just as they were passing St. Sophia che outer shutters descended, and they were left in darkness. "There was no help for it," says the fair writer. "I must pass the next hour, whjje going through the loveliest scenery in the world, to which I had looked forward so much, &s one who has lost the blessing of eight." To a Western woman such jealous seclusion and captivity would be simply maddening. lAa Eastern wife looks upon it as quite part of the natural dispensation of things.

Western housekeepers Domestic complain of the " ServantDiscomfort, galisin " they have to pat

---tip with, but even. Eastern despots, it would appear, are powerless to secure discipline and neatness in their own households. The Egyptian slaves' idea of sweeping a room, Miss Chennella tells us, was to make a great dust, get all the sweepings into a corner, and then tuck them under the carpet; their notion of making a bed wa3 to turn down the sheet, dust it with a feather broom with which they had previously dusted the furniture, and then cover it up again. After this they would empty her bath end basin out of the window, take her sponge or towels to wipe up any slop they might make, and having devoted perhaps five minutes to the entire performance, Mohammed would triumphantly inform her that her room was " finieh " ! There was the greatest irregularity in serving meals, and what the authoress evidently felt the most trying of all, an utter lack of privacy. The first night of her stay in the harem she never closed her eyes, partly oq account of the novelty of her position, partly oa account of a high wind and the incessant

slamming of a door in the cOurt-yard below, which was like a series of thunderclaps. One day, the lieat.be»ng very great, the authoress took a bath. She had been furnished with a key for the outer door, which would look on the outside, but not on the inside. She therefore usually fastened it with a string, and on this present occasion had just got out of the bath and put on a dressing fiOWfl when ehe WM startled by a vigorous kick which burst the door opeu in a moment, and two eunuchs entered the room. She adds :—-

" They did not appear in the least disconcerted at my appearance, or to consider their visit ill-timed, but one of them who spoke a little English told mc that his father (!» wished to know how many boxes I had. Had he spokou ia Turkish or Arabic, the Oriental inugery might have suggested to mc some figiue of speech ; but in matter-of-fact English I took the relationship as a matter of fact, and could only ejaculate ' Your father ? * Yes, xny father, said he. So I communicated the number of boxes and the two eunuchs went away, and I afterwards found that the chief eunuch held that paternal character towards all the others. The utter inefficacy of the string had discouraged mc from using it agaiu ; so the next morning, at half-past five, a few minutes after I had left my bed, 1 turned suddenly round and caw a slave within a few feet of mc who had entered noiselessly, and was watching the operations of the toilet. She did not want anything, so upon being asked her business, she disappeared."

Ismail Pasha had four The Khedive's wives, the full proporBecret. tion allowed by the

Koran. To the first and second, we are told, he was married when quite young, and to the third soon after his accession. These three ladies lived with him in the same palace, but each enjoying a separate suite of apartmente. They lived together in perfect* amity, and Miss Chennelis once remarked what a wonderful thing it was for three wives to live together like affectionate sisters. She was answered immediately, " That ia because his Highness never ehowa any preference for one more than the others; if one is favoured to-day, the others have their turn to-morrow." Ismail Khedive always bore the character of being a very sagacious and diplomatic man. Miss Chennell's "book is not likely to weaken his reputation in that respect.

Mb Hauby Fueniss in his The First notes in the St. James's Crinoline. Gazette gives a doleful

account of the sad experiences which befel an audacious lady— supposed to be Mrs "John Strange Winter"—who ventured dowo Regent street the other day clai in a crinoline— combined, of course, with the usual dress of the period. A crowd speedily collected to witness the unwonted spectacle, and the lady realising that she had made a fatal mistake took refuge in a shop. In a short time such a mob had collected outside that she was politely, requested to move ou, which she did amid laughter. What eubsequently happened to this unfortunate person is thus told by Mr Furniss :—

" She peeped surreptitiously at a hansom; but one glance was sufficient to show her that iugreaa to that was quite impossible. She then made for a 'bus at the corner of Oxford circus ; where she was informed by the grinning conductor that it was full inside, but that there was plenty of room on top. It is needless to say that it was quite out of the question for her to squeeze up tho narrow stairway, and I venture to predict that this very tact will be one of the chief factors in preventing that abomination the crinoline from ever becoming general again. At tho period when the crinoline was in the height of fashion ladiee never dreamt t>f riding on tli* top of a 'bus ; but now it is a great source of delight to them, and even fashion has to give way sometimes when it clashes with feminine enjoyment. After the 'bus incident I was unable to follow the career of the becrinolined one any further, as I had to go the House."

If this sort of thing is likely to be their experience, perhaps ladies will think twice before they go in for crinoline after all.