nuptial benediction to the new-married couple. The marriage contract very particularly enumerates the dowry to be settled on the wife, in case she survive her husband, or be divorced. The contract also contains an account of all the property she brings, which at her death or separation must be punctually restored. After the contract is signed, the relations of the bride bring her with great ceremony to her husband's house, who undresses and puts her to bed.

Marriage differs from concubinage only in the dowry or settlement, which gives the wife an exclusive claim to demand the caresses of her husband from the evening of sunset on every Thursday to the same hour on Friday, which day is the Turkish Sabbath, kept in commemoration of that day on which they say God created the world.— If the husband comply with this family duty, his irregularity at other times is not of material consequence. All the children he begets in his household are equally legitimate. A custom also in Turkey, though seldom practised, is permitted,namely, a contract to live together for a certain time, called Kapin, specifying the conditions of separation, and the father's provisions for the children.

The Turkish laws forbid maids and married women to unveil to any man but the husband or relatives, within a certain degree. A Turk there

fore marries the daughter of his neighbour or his widow without knowing her. He can only determine by the report of his own women, or some person by whom she has been seen.

They relate a pleasant story of a man, who, as is usually the case, not having seen his wife till after his marriage, and finding her far from handsome, two or three days after their nuptials, when she desired him to name the persons who were to have the privilege of Namaharem—that is, of entering her harem, (this is generally restricted to the father, uncle, and brothers, of the married lady,) that she might not endeavour to conceal herself from them, returned for answer, "I give you my free permission, my dear, to show yourself to all the men in the world, except to myself."

The laws of Mahomet allow a man to have four wives; but this among the middling ranks is, from economy, not often adopted. The wives of the harem are mostly either purchased slaves, or women of inferior condition; and when a man has married a woman of equal rank with himself, she constantly retains her dignity; and the other wives have either a separate or inferior establishment, or live with her as servants,

The punishment of adultery is more severe in Turkey than with us. The Turk may kill his inconstant wife, and claim all the property which is secured by the marriage deed. Great jealousy

prevails respecting infidelity; and it is said that Mahomet had nearly repudiated his favourite wife, (who was forty years younger than he was,) because she stepped from the litter in which she usually followed him in his military expeditions, and absented herself for a few moments in a neighbouring wood.

The want of children among the Turks is made of greater importance than in England. The wife may complain of the neglect of her husband, or his parsimony, or apprehension of violence, and obtain a divorce. According to the relation of the Chevalier d'Arvieux, when this is demanded, she goes to the cadi, takes off one of her shoes, and turns it upside down, to intimate more than she dare say. The husband is then sent for, the case is heard, and, if the woman persist in dissolving the marriage, she is made to forfeit her portion, the contract is dissolved, and she is at liberty to seek another husband. But, on the contrary, if the husband seek the divorce, she is allowed her portion. It is a remarkable circumstance in the Turkish marriages, that the husband brings the portion to the wife, but the wife never to the hus band.

The husband who has formally repudiated his wife cannot take her again until she have been remarried and again divorced. The law not only justifies whatever means a woman may adopt to

preserve herself from shame or injury, but even commands her to employ poison, if it be necessary, in order to protect her honor from violence. The same privilege is extended to the wife, who, after having been separated from her husband by the ceremonies of divorce, finds herself compelled to resist his usurpation of the privileges which he has renounced.

Mahomet himself, a man of warm imagination, disposed to enthusiasm which necessarily heightens the passions, and naturally a lover of women, did not deprive them of their due rank and honor, either in civil society, or in the delights of paradise. The Koran expressly declares, that, in the future distribution of rewards and punishments, God will make no distinction of sexes; but the prophet does not insult the modesty of women by unveiling to their imagination a paradise of sensual bliss. The dangerous secret was left to be divulged in modern times; and the grave Montesquieu has exhibited, in his description of the female elysium, all the aids and instruments of luxury. A meadow of lively verdure, enamelled with beautiful flowers, first receives the victim who has escaped from an earthly harem; a rivulet meanders through the midst, the birds warble in the surrounding groves, and a superb palace, placed in a magnificent garden, terminates the prospect, and contains within its walls the company of celestial youths,

whose occupation through eternity is only to contribute to her amusement.

Mahomet, knowing the influence of women over men, exhorted his followers not to marry unconverted polytheists; but he provided for the connubial happiness of the female believers, by impressing on the husband the sanctity of the conjugal embrace, and the sin of neglecting it. They are strictly prohibited from forming alliances with idolaters. The faithful may marry Jewish or Christian women, and their children must be Mussulbut the female believer is forbidden to

unite herself with an infidel.

Smoking is an universal custom in the Turkish harem; but Lady Mary Wortley Montagu prudently excludes so disgusting a particular from her portrait of the Turkish ladies. We cannot assert from experience that the most offensive consequence of this custom is corrected by the chewing of mastic, which, it is supposed, whitens and preserves the teeth, and, by stimulating the salival glands, assists digestion. Coffee and confections, which in Turkey are delicious, are taken as elegant and necessary refreshments, and are always presented to visitors. Sherbet and perfumes are more ceremoniously introduced, as denoting greater respect.

The more elegant occupations of the harem are working in embroidery, and superintending the