Theodora was seated concealed by silken curtains. At a signal from the emperor, the screens were withdrawn, and the bride discovered in the midst of kneeling eunuchs and blazing torches; while the joyful sound of trumpets and other instruments of music welcomed her appearance. Her father had stipulated that she should be allowed to preserve her religion in the midst of the harem, and he wrote much in praise of her charity and devotion in this difficult situation.

Achmet I. is said to have had three thousand women in his harem, and the grandees of the empire generally have some hundreds. The rigid seclusion of Mohammedan women is said to have originated in the conduct of Ayesha, called Best Beloved Wife of the Prophet, and Mother of the Faithful. She went

out into the desert to look for a pearl necklace she had lost, and on her return was accused of listening to the smooth words of an officer she met. Mohammed did not withdraw his affection, and publicly protested her innocence; but keenly alive to the disgraceful report, he expressly forbade any Mussulman to speak to his wives, or to remain in his house after dinner, or to enter it in his absence.

Harem is an Arabic word signifying sanctuary. These retreats are so carefully guarded, that little is known of their interior arrangements. Physicians, and the wives of European ambassadors, have sometimes gained access to seraglios, which they describe as follows: Favorites of the highest rank are called khatouns, of which there are seven. She who first

presents the Sultan with a son becomes the sultana hasseki, and takes precedence of the others. Next in rank to the khatouns are the odahlycs, whose number is unlimited. Each of the khatouns has a seventh part of the odahlycs, and a certain number of eunuchs and slaves as her own peculiar attendants; and each has a separate court, garden, and bath, belonging to the pavilion in which she resides. These pavilions are adorned with marble, paintings in arabesque, gilding, mirrors, &c. The odahlycs, generally to the amount of some hundreds, sleep on sofas in along high gallery, divided by a double row of chests of drawers, where they keep their clothing. The staircases to this gallery are secured by massive trap-doors, fastened with bars of iron. The inner courts of the harem are guarded by black eunuchs, with muskets always in their hands, and the outer by white eunuchs. Innumerable subordinate officers are appointed to settle disputes, and keep order within and around the harem. When any of the Sultan's women accompany him into the gardens, officers are in readiness to warn the gardeners and all other men to retire; and should any one be slow to obey, he would be killed on the spot. When the king's women are removed from one seraglio to another, they are accompanied by officers with staves to keep off the people, and to prevent the ladies from showing themselves by drawing the curtains of their litters. When ill the women are always attended by their own sex. Physicians are admitted into the harem only under the strictest guard, and on extraordinary

Occasions; even then they are not permitted to see their patients, except through gauze. Notwithstanding all these precautions, intrigues are sometimes successfully carried on. If discovered, the woman is tied up in a sack and drowned; but the Koran ordains that he who accuses a woman without being able to prove her guilt, shall receive the bastinado.

The mother of the reigning Sultan is called sultana valydeh; a title which she assumes at his accession, and loses whenever he dies, or is deposed. Her sons treat her with the most unbounded respect, and give her almost supreme control in the harem. Her political influence is likewise by no means inconsiderable. The grand seignior often communicates to her the secrets of state; covered with a veil, she holds conferences with the grand vizier and the mufti; and in the absence of her son, she issues orders in his name. In the time of Achmet III., the sultana valydeh warmly espoused the cause of Charles XII. of Sweden, and made great exertions to arm Turkey against Russia, in his behalf. She even wrote letters to the king of Sweden, and to count Poniatowski, though such a step was in open defiance of the laws of the harem. The revenues of certain provinces belong to the sultana mother, and in times of emergency she often lends large sums to his Highness.

The sultana valydeh and the sultana hasseki almost always dislike each other, because each is jealous of the other's influence over the reigning inonarch. The hasseki finds it prudent to dissemble

her hatred, for fear of giving offence to the Sultan ; and the valydeh on her part, while she refrains from openly wounding the affections of her imperious son, generally contrives all manner of secret and indirect means to injure his favorite. It sometimes happens, however, that the hasseki is so perfectly passive and submissive as to be a favorite both with mother and son.

If the heir apparent dies, the hasseki loses her rank, and the next khatoun who has a son takes her place.

This gives rise to the strongest feelings of rivalship, envy, and hatred. No pains are spared by the khatouns to destroy the offspring, injure the health, or vex the feelings of those odahlycs in whom they are fearful of finding rivals.

The sultana Guneche (a name which signifies the sun) had acquired great influence over Mohammed IV. by her beauty, excellent understanding, and perpetual flow of spirits. In the height of her power, the sultana mother was malicious enough to introduce to her son a lovely Circassian slave, named Gulbeyaz, or the white rose. The effect produced upon the mind of the voluptuous monarch was precisely what she wished: Guneche soon received intimation that apartments and a sultana's train were in preparation for the new favorite. She stole to the chamber of her rival, and after loading her with the bitterest invectives, beat her so cruelly that the whole harem was in an uproar. The Sultan provided Gulbeyaz with another residence six leagues distant, and

threatened to treat Guneche as a slave.

She, how

ever, made her peace with him, by attributing her rash conduct to excess of love, and expressing her determination in future to sacrifice her own feelings to the gratification of her lion, as the sultanas fondly call his Highness.

But afterward her jealousy showed itself in a still worse form. The Sultan had received from the grand vizier a most beautiful slave, named Khadyjeh. With a view to her safety, he conveyed her to a seraglio on the canal of the Black sea. For a time, Guneche appeared to have no suspicion of the frequent visits he paid her. But one day when the grand seignior had gone a hunting some distance from Constantinople, she ordered caïques to be secretly prepared for an excursion on the canal. On her arrival at the seraglio where Khadyjeh was confined, she affected to wish to enter the pavilion to rest. The new favorite was engaged in the innocent amusement of angling, in a closet that overhung the sea. Her vindictive rival came softly behind her, and suddenly pushed her into the waves, from which she

rose no more.

The heir to the throne remains under the tuition of his mother until he is eight or nine years old, and custom, as well as the rules of the Koran, require from him the most implicit and reverential obedience. The day on which this important little personage is delivered over to male instructers is celebrated with great pomp. A recent traveller thus describes the ceremonies that took place when the oldest son of