February, 1844.

My dear Friend,

My brother’s account of the hareem, and all that he has written respecting the manners and customs of the women of this country, I have found to be not only minutely accurate, but of the utmost value to me in preparing me for the life which I am now leading. His information, however, on these subjects, being derived only from other men, is, of course, imperfect; and he has anxiously desired that I should supply its deficiencies, both by my own personal observation, and by learning as much as possible of the state, and morals of the women, and of the manner in which they are treated, from their own mouths.

When my experience with respect to the hareem was much shorter as to time, and more limited as to its objects, than it has now been, I was unwilling to express to you an opinion with which I was, forcibly, impressed within a few months after my arrival in this country; that a very large proportion of the men, and not a few of the women, are frequently, and almost habitually, guilty of the most abominable acts of cruelty and oppression. Though I have seen much that is amiable in the persons with whom I am acquainted here, the opinion above expressed has been so frequently and strongly confirmed that I cannot withstand the conviction of its being correct.

The wives and female slaves, in the houses of the higher orders, are generally, if I may judge from what I have seen and heard, treated by the husband and master with much kindness; and the condition of the slaves seems to be, in one respect, preferable to that of the wives; as the latter are often in constant fear of being divorced; while the sale of a slave, who has been long in a family, unless on account of pecuniary distress, is reckoned highly disreputable; and if she have borne a child to her master, and he acknowledge it to be his own, to sell her is illegal. But among the middle and lower classes, both wives and female slaves are often treated with the utmost brutality; the former are often cruelly beaten; and the latter, not unfrequently, beaten to death!

A neighbour of ours, a few weeks ago, flogged his wife in a most barbarous manner, and turned her out of doors, because his supper was not ready precisely at the time appointed. Two days after, however, he brought her back. The same man, not long since, beat a female slave so severely, that she lingered in great pain for about a week, and then died. This man is a Copt, by profession a Christian! Another man beat one of his female slaves until she threw herself from a window, and thus killed herself on the spot. This man also is of the same profession! Much are they mistaken who say “What need is there of missionaries here to instruct the Copts, who are a Christian people?” One who knows them well assures me that their moral state is far worse than that of the Muslims; that in the conduct of the latter there is much more Christianity than is exhibited in that of the former. But the remarks which I am making apply to both the Muslims and the nominal Christians, but to these are more extensively applicable. How sad that the duty of regarding truth should oblige me to make such a distinction!

The English Institution in this city, the chief object of which is to introduce among the Copts that sound knowledge which is the first requisite to improve their religious and moral condition, I look upon as one of the most useful of all the establishments of the Missionary Society. The accounts of it which have appeared in the publications of that Society have scarcely shown its full importance; for this cannot be duly appreciated by any one who does not know by experience the state of the people whom it is designed to benefit, and the admirable judgment and indefatigable and self-denying zeal with which its objects are pursued. Connected with this Institution is a chapel, sufficiently large and very commodious and comfortable, where I am thankful to have opportunities to join in the service of our Church, and to hear many an excellent sermon. But I must return from this digression, to resume the subject which occasioned it.

Seldom do many days elapse without our hearing the most piteous screams from women and children suffering under the whip or stick; and much trouble do we experience in our endeavours to stop the barbarities practised in our immediate neighbourhood. The answer usually returned to our messages of reproach on these occasions are of the most civil kind, assuring us, with many salutations, that, for our sakes, the offender shall be forgiven. I believe that the cruelty which now seems so common may, in some degree, be attributed to the oppression which its exercisers themselves suffer; for every one who has studied the human mind will agree with me, that, with few exceptions, the oppressed become the hardest of oppressors.

The women generally seem full of kind and tender feeling, although (as I have remarked) there are not a few instances of the reverse, and lately we have been distressed by the conduct of two women, our near neighbours. The one, old Deborah, whom I mentioned to you in a former letter, has so cruelly beaten a little girl who lives with her, on three or four occasions, that we have taken the poor child into our house each time until she has, by her own choice, returned, when her cruel mistress, who is said to be her grandmother, has promised us not to repeat her violence.

The other was a more distressing case. A woman residing in a house adjoining our own had lost seven piastres, and discovering that a little grandson had stolen them, she sent for a man, by profession a beater, to chastise him. One of my boys heard this; and finding that by mounting a little ladder he could reach a window commanding the court of this woman’s house, he did so, and immediately called to tell me that the report was a true one; that the man had arrived, and was tying the arms and legs of the poor child; but that his grandmother was standing by him. That being the case, I assured my boy that her only object could be to frighten the child by confining his limbs, and that I felt certain she could not suffer him to be hurt. I formed this opinion from my love for the grandmothers of England, whose children’s children are the crown and glory of their age. Alas! for my mistake in supposing this Arab possessed the feelings of woman’s nature! I hardly left the foot of the ladder, when I was recalled by the screams of my own dear child, who was crying and scolding in an agony of distress; for the man in the court below was beating the limbs, the back, the chest of the poor little boy, as in writhing and rolling on the ground each part fell under the dreadful blows of a ponderous stick, while between each infliction the old woman cried “again!” This brutality could not be suffered, and my brother instantly sent one of our servants with such a threat of vengeance if they did not immediately desist, that the child was at once released, and quiet was restored to our house, but not tranquillity to our minds. This same wretched woman periodically laments the loss of her son, the father of this child, and fills the air with her discordant wailings regularly every alternate Monday. She has always been to us a most annoying neighbour, and is the more so now that we know the hypocrisy of her lamentations.

The Muslim ceremonies that have reference to the dead are, however, generally very interesting; and their wailings would always be deeply affecting, were they always sincere, and not confined to stated periods; for they seem to express the most intense, heart-breaking, despairing grief. The art of wailing in the most approved style appears to be an accomplishment that can only be acquired by long practice; and regular professors of it are usually hired on the occasion of the death of a person of the middle or higher classes. These accompany their lamentations with a tambourine, and occasionally interrupt their screams by plaintive songs. Their performances, and those of the female mourners in general, are such as were practised in most remote ages; such as we see pourtrayed upon the walls of the ancient Egyptian tombs, and such as are mentioned in many parts of the Holy Scriptures; as in 2 Chron. xxxv. 25; Jerem. ix. 18; Amos v. 16; and St. Matt. ix. 23; vividly bringing to mind “the minstrels and the people making a noise” for the death of the daughter of Jairus. As illustrative of the Bible, these and other Eastern customs are to me most especially interesting. “Consider ye,” says Jeremiah, exhorting his countrymen to bewail their disobedience, “and call for the mourning women, that they may come: and send for the cunning women, that they may come: and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters:” and by the same means the feelings of a mourning Eastern family seem to be most powerfully excited in the present day, for, in general, the most piercing cries and screams that I hear, on account of a death, are those which interrupt the lamentations of the hired mourner, who is “cunning” in her art. The cemeteries in the neighbourhood of Cairo are among the most picturesque of the various scenes which surround us; and in these are many private burial-grounds, each belonging to one family, who, if of sufficient wealth, have within its walls a house of mourning. To this house the females of the family regularly repair at the period of each of the two great annual festivals, as well as on extraordinary ones, to bewail their dead; having previously sent thither such furniture as is necessary for their comfort; and there they remain, on the occasions of the two festivals above mentioned, and immediately after a death, three or more days and nights. Some of the houses of mourning are pretty and cheerful-looking buildings, and enlivened by a few trees and flowers; and I believe that the women often find no small pleasure in visiting them; their life being in general so monotonous. Some women, who have not houses in the burial-ground for their reception, have tents pitched for them when requisite.

Yesterday we spent some hours at the Southern cemetery, which is adjacent to the city, but within the confines of the desert; and were much interested in examining the tombs of the family of Mohammad ’Alee. The tombs in the cemetery exhibit a strange mixture of various tastes and dimensions; some are in perfect repair, substantially and well built; others are of more fragile kinds; though many of the smaller monuments are composed entirely of white marble; but the most picturesque are the most ancient; displaying exquisite taste in their general forms, and more especially in their domes and minarets, and their arabesque decorations; these are of yellow limestone, here and there relieved by columns of white marble. The building containing the tombs of the Pasha’s family is surmounted by several domes, but is low, and in no respect deserving of much admiration. How can I tell you of the cheerful appearance of the interior? Two noble saloons are filled with tombs at nearly equal distances: these are cased with white marble, and most gorgeously decorated with gilded and painted carved work. The floors are covered with beautiful carpets, and the scene has at once a complete air of gaiety and comfort. It has little that can lead the mind to the reflection that this is the resting-place of the dead. Such a variety of gay colours, and such varied forms meet the eye, that if the consciousness intrude that it is a sepulchral building, it is soon banished by the speculation as to which tombs may be considered more splendid than those around them. We generally gave the preference to that of the mother of Nezleh HÁnum, and of Mohammad Bey DeftardÁr: the latter, I think, bears the palm.

The tombs are generally about eight feet long, and four high; and on the top of these is placed an oblong slab, about a foot thick: the upright slabs at the head and feet are eight or ten feet high; and on that at the head is a representation of the head-dress of the deceased, carved in stone, and painted. There are four unoccupied tombs in the principal saloon, raised, but not decorated. The embellishments altogether are such as only suit saloons appropriated to festivity. Turkish taste is ill calculated for decorating the abodes of the living, and does not apply at all where quiet and solemn effect is indispensable. It is not so with regard to Arabian taste: the Turkish is gaudy and florid: the Arabian is chaste and elegant, as much in domestic architecture as in the construction and decoration of sepulchres and mosques.

I felt that I could at any time spend a day in the saloons above mentioned, admiring the beauties of the place, with much personal comfort, and without the frequent intrusion of any melancholy reflection.

In a charming house, adjoining the tombs, appropriated to the use of the hareem of the keeper, we paid his ladies a visit, and were welcomed with true Eastern hospitality. The chief lady, who was handsomely attired in scarlet cloth, embroidered with gold, is a kind agreeable person, but wofully mistaken in her manner of training the dispositions of children. Two little babies belonging to the hareem were brought in to show us: the eldest, a boy, could just walk; and as soon as he made his appearance, the chief lady called for a stick, that puss, who was quietly crossing the carpet, might be beaten for his amusement. Not being aware that the beating was not to be in earnest, I interceded for the cat; when my acquaintance replied mysteriously, “I like her very much, I will not hurt her.” Accordingly, she raised her arm with considerable effort, and let it fall gently. She next desired one of her slaves to kneel, which the girl did most gracefully, and bent her head with an air of mock submission, to receive the kurbÁj; and the same farce was performed. Though neither slave nor cat was a sufferer on the occasion, the effect must have been equally bad on the mind of the child. Alas! for the slaves and cats when he is big enough to make them feel!