Walter Matthew Gallichan

“ In the old times, the husband strode in front of the wife, to hold back the branches of the forest and to make a track for her. He was like a military vanguard, ready for encounters with enemies, and not the leader of a weak and submissive spouse, who was not worthy to walk at his side. ”

“ They foresee that educated women will rebel sooner or later against many of the old traditions of religion and society. The spirit of England and France is permeating the harems. Women dress in the English and French fashions; they demand English furniture and pianos. They are learning foreign languages, and reading the literature of the West. Some of the Turkish ladies eagerly imbibe the new social ideas.
Pierre Loti's romance is not merely a pathetic story. It is a contribution to the sociology of the Near East. The heroine voices the aspirations of the new woman of Turkey. ”

“ Turkey, at all events, is the most sensitive of all Eastern nations to the in- fluence of outside social movements. In certain re- spects she admires England, and is willing to imitate English customs. Not even the influence of Moham- medism can withstand the irresistible force of human thought and social progress. Probably much that is admirable in Turkish custom will decline with the in- coming of Western industrial and commercial ideals. Possibly there will be social gain also. Who can fore- tell ? That which we laud as progress in the West is not always a boon to the East. ”

“ Among our Suffragist leaders are a quite imposing number of women who are distinguished as scholars. Education in any and every class gives rise inevitably to "divine discontent." Very frequently the widening of knowledge brings an awakening of conscience and a quickening of the social instinct. ”

“ Com- plete possession and control of the personal property of women was granted ages ago.
Every Turkish mother has sole guardianship of her children in their early years. In after life, the children seek her counsels, and the sons frequently obey their mothers during the whole of their lives. Upon divorce or repudiation by a husband, all of a wife's property is allotted to her.
It is supposed that divorce is impossible for a woman in Turkey. This is incorrect. There are several causes for a legal separation from a husband. ”

“ I have already given distinctly contrary opinions expressed by English and American women. It would be absurd to pretend that cultured women in Turkey have all that they desire, intellectually and in the social sense. There is even a franchise movement among the educated women. ”

“ There are still Occidental visitors who speak of unfortunate women in Turkey, pent up in the harems, and living degraded lives as the mere instruments of sensual men.
Sir Edwin Pears, in the work to which I have re- ferred, is not so prejudiced an investigator as some of my compatriots. He admits that there are admir- able traits in the Turkish people, and he testifies to their love of children. ”

“ The sense of emptiness which is produced in our life by the necessity of never talking to any but women, of living always among ourselves, our fellow-women. Our friends ? but, mercy ; they are as weak and as weary as we are ! In our harems weak- ness so many weaknesses rather, combined and huddled to- gether, are sick at heart, suffer the more from being what they are, and cry out for strength. ”

“ And a reason for thinking so is based upon the modesty and reasonable- ness of their demands and the method pursued. Already men in Turkey are attentive to the arguments of cultivated women, and there is, as yet, no apparent masculine opposition.
The Young Turkey Party, in the opinion of Mrs. Garnett, advocates the emancipation of women. The Turk is pre-occupied with women, but this pre-occu- pation does not spell only one kind of interest. The great feminists among men are the great lovers of
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women, the admirers of womanly beauty, grace and wit. ”

“ Critics of Islam, who state that the men of the East " treat women as chattels " while they are of use and discard them with sheer callousness when they have lost the freshness of youth should consider the testimony of the many Christian observers of Turkish home-life. ”

“ Returning once more to the question of divorce, we must realise that it is not quite as simple a matter as it appears. A devout Mohammedan shrinks from casting aside his wife, unless the reason for so doing is exceptionally definite. ”

“ Liberal orthodox Christians have, however, admitted justly that a man with more than one wife is not of necessity an immoral character. They recognise that some of the most righteous of mankind have been supporters of polygamous marriage. The following passages from the Koran, while they enjoin modesty and restraint upon women, are less patriarchal in spirit than the injunctions of St. ”

“ But the author insists that it is entirely true, in so far as it demon- strates the advance in culture among the women of Turkey secluded in the seraglios. This spread of knowledge is yielding the inevitable dissatisfaction that the repressed sex naturally experience when they begin to reflect. The Woman Movement and Labour Unrest spring everywhere from education. ”

“ Garnett, who lived so long in Turkey, and has studied the inhabi- tants of town and country with much zeal and intelli- gence.
Sir Edwin Pears finds an absence of family life, whereas other strangers in the land seem to discern domestic affection and tender conjugal love in almost every home.
In the East husbands and wives do not walk arm-in- arm in the streets. Frequently, as in India, the man walks in advance of the woman. ”