Imperial Invitation—Disagreeable Adventure—Executed
Criminal—Efficacy of Wayside Executions—Tardy
Conversions—Mistaken Humanity—Summary Mode of Execution—The
Palace of Asmè Sultane—Entrance of the Harem—Costume of the
Slaves—Nazip Hanoum—Ceremonious Reception—The Adopted
Daughter—Costume of the Ladies of the Seraï—Beauty of the
Slaves—Extraordinary Arrangement—Rejected Addresses—The
Imperial Lover—Sacredness of Adoption in Turkey—Romantic
Correspondence—Ladies of the Household—The Mother of the
Slaves—Peroussè Hanoum—Crowded Audience—The Imperial
Odalique—Music of the Harem—The New Pet—The Kislar-Agha—The
“Light of the Harem”—The Poetical Sultan—Indisposition of the
Sultana—The Palace Gardens—The Imperial Apartments—The
Dancing Girl—Reluctant Departure—Ballad by Peroussè Hanoum.
Having received an invitation to wait upon Asmè Sultane, the elder
sister of the Sultan, at her summer palace, I started from Pera early
one morning accompanied by a friend, to obey the Imperial summons.
The weather was beautiful; the great Cemetery was crowded with loungers,
and the road leading to “The Sweet Waters” thronged with horsemen. The
spring flowers were bursting, and the young leaves trembling in the
fresh breeze; and, as we passed on, amid sunshine and salutations, I
forgot the purpose of my errand in the enjoyment of the glad scene
around me.
But, unhappily for the continuance of these joyous feelings, the
authorities had just secured a band of Sclavonian housebreakers, and,
having bestowed upon them a very summary species of civil drum-head
court-martial, had hung a dozen of them the previous day in the
outskirts of the city. Of this uncomfortable fact we were entirely
ignorant; and the shock may consequently be conceived when, on
descending a steep pitch into the narrow street of Ortakeuÿ, the
arabadjhe suddenly exclaimed—“A man hanged! A man hanged! Hide your
eyes, ladies.” But it was too late. As the carriage turned the corner of
the road I had caught sight of the suspended criminal, and I continued
to gaze upon him, fascinated by the horror of the spectacle. This was
only the second time that I had looked upon death, and it was now before
me in so revolting a shape that I felt as though my life-blood were
curdling about my heart!
We had come upon the victim in so instantaneous a manner that the sleeve
of my dress almost touched his arm, as he hung from the projecting spout
of a house immediately beside our path. He was a tall, powerful man,
bare-headed, and clad in a white jacket and trowsers, fastened about his
waist with a scarlet shawl. But what made the exhibition tenfold more
horrible was the fact that the rope had slipped during his dying
struggles, and that his head was bent forcibly backward. I shall never
forget it; and I verily believe that I should have remained without the
power of turning away my eyes had not my companion aroused me forcibly
from my lethargy; when, yielding to the heart-sickness which crept over
me, I fortunately fainted, and thus escaped all further suffering from
the disgusting spectacle.
I am not prepared to deny that these wayside executions may be very
efficacious in preventing the spread of crime; it is a subject on which
I am not competent to offer an opinion; but I am enabled from my own
painful experience to decide upon their extreme inconvenience, to use no
stronger term, to those who do not require so frightful a warning. To
encounter death in a shape of violence upon the very path of the living,
and in the midst of men busied in their daily avocations—to know that
the narrow space in which the victim is suspended, surrounded by objects
of barter, has been let out on hire for this horrible purpose—that a
bargain has been made between the government and the shopkeeper for the
use of the doorway leading into his dwelling—there is altogether
something so revolting in the whole system that I cannot think of it
without a shudder; and thus was every avenue into Pera closed for three
days against those to whom such sights were painful; for the same
ghastly object presented itself at each village leading from the city:
while the body of the ringleader of the band, decapitated, and deprived
of its right hand, was exposed in one of the public squares.
One of the gang saved himself by becoming at one and the same time a
True Believer and King’s Evidence; the only individual of the
association who would consent to accept life on such terms. The
remainder, kept in ignorance, according to the Turkish custom, of the
precise moment of their execution, were allowed to frequent the taverns
and coffee-houses accompanied by a guard, during several hours, and to
drink and converse freely with those whom they happened to meet there;
when suddenly their career of intemperance was checked; they were halted
in front of the house which had been fixed upon for their reception, the
fatal noose affixed, a basket placed beneath their feet to be
subsequently drawn away, and in another instant they were launched into
Eternity, while the accents of revelry were yet upon their lips! As the
Turks do not admit the efficacy of a tardy and terror-wrung repentance,
they consider this mode of execution to be the most humane which they
can adopt; and, as the criminal is flattered to the last with the hope
of pardon, he thus escapes much of the premature suffering attendant
upon a violent death.
In about an hour after we had escaped from the frightful spectacle I
have described, we arrived at the gate of the Palace—an extensive and
handsome edifice on the border of the Bosphorus; where a guard of
soldiers and a throng of servants were to be traversed ere we could
reach the staircase leading to the ante-room in which we waited, while
our presence was announced to the princess. As Her Highness was in the
bath when we entered, we were detained a considerable time in this
apartment, surrounded by the officers of the household, and the
principal negroes of the harem; a delay at which I rather rejoiced, as I
had not altogether recovered from the effects of my morning’s adventure.
At length we were requested to move forward, and, attended by half a
dozen individuals of the Imperial suite, we traversed several apartments
neatly matted, but quite destitute of furniture; until at the extremity
of a long gallery, lighted on either side by twelve spacious windows,
commanding the channel on the one hand, and the palace gardens on the
other, we reached the lofty doors of the harem, which were flung back at
the first signal of our attendants, and as instantly closed again when
we had crossed the threshold.
A train of female slaves, dressed in the most gaudy furniture chintzes,
received us as we entered, and led us across a lordly hall lined with
white marble, and supported by numerous pillars of the same material;
through whose open doors we had a delicious view of the extensive
gardens, with their fantastic flower-beds, stately fountains, and
gleaming terraces. Nazip Hanoum, the adopted daughter of the Princess,
met us in the centre of the hall, and welcomed us most gracefully; after
which, taking a hand of each, she conducted us to her own apartment, a
charming room overlooking the water, and entered from a gallery that
surrounded the principal saloon. Having relieved us of our veils, and
seated us on the cushions beside her, she clapped her hands, and about a
score of slaves entered with coffee and sweetmeats.
The _coup d’œil_ was beautiful, as the fair girls, not one of whom
could have been more than twenty years of age, and who were all
exceedingly lovely, prepared to hand the refreshments. The princess had
given orders that we should be received with all possible ceremony: and
the display was consequently most beautiful. One slave held a weighty
vase, suspended from three silver chains, in which stood the coffee;
another bore a large gold salver, covered with cups and holders of
costly enamel, whence depended a dazzling drapery of gold tissue
wrought with pearls, and richly fringed: a third carried a gilded tray
bearing vases of cut crystal containing a variety of exquisite
sweetmeats, confined beneath golden covers enriched with gems; a fourth
held the salver on which stood a range of glass goblets of beautiful
form and workmanship, filled with water—all, in fine, were laden with
some object of cost and luxury; and their attitudes were so graceful,
their faces so lovely, and their costume so striking, that I regretted
their departure, when, after we had partaken of the rose-scented jelly
and perfumed mocha, they slowly withdrew.
Nazip Hanoum, the favourite of Asmè Sultane, was purchased by Her
Imperial Highness when she was only a few months old, together with her
mother, who died while she was yet an infant. Her influence over the
mind of her illustrious protectress is unlimited, and, had she been
really born “beneath the purple,” she could not have commanded greater
liberty or consideration than she now enjoys. Her features are very
regular, and even handsome; but her beauty is destroyed by the immense
number of freckles that cover her face and bosom. Her eyes are a deep
rich blue, with long dark lashes, and her hair is of a fine golden
auburn; but the great charm of Nazip Hanoum exists in her extreme
gracefulness; she has not a movement which is not elegant; and her
playful vivacity and great natural shrewdness render her a delightful
companion. Her voice is low, and sweet; and her ringing laughter the
very echo of joyousness.
Her costume was an odd admixture of the European and the Oriental. She
wore trowsers of pale blue cotton flowered with yellow; and an antery of
light green striped with white, and edged with a fringe of pink floss
silk; while her jacket, which was the production of a Parisian
dress-maker, was of dove-coloured satin, thickly wadded, and furnished
with a deep cape, and a pair of immense sleeves, fastened at the wrists
with diamond studs. But the most striking feature of the costume in the
Imperial Palaces is the head-dress. Nothing can be imagined more
hideous! A painted handkerchief is bound tightly round the brow, and
secured by jewelled bodkins: the back hair is _crèpé_ until it becomes
one huge dishevelled mass, when it is traversed across the top of the
head by a corner of the handkerchief: a number of slender plaits of
false hair hang down the back, frequently differing very materially from
the colour of the natural tresses: the front locks are cut square across
the forehead, and left a couple of inches longer at the sides, where
they lie quite flat, and are stuck full of roses, or gems; or overhung
by the deep fringe of the handkerchief, wrought to resemble a wreath of
flowers. Some few among the ladies of the Imperial Seraïs fasten
immense bunches of artificial ringlets under their yashmacs when they
drive out, but they are as yet sufficiently uncommon to be remarkable.
To this head-dress, such as I have described it, Nazip Hanoum had added,
in common with the other females of the household, a star and crescent
of sticking-plaister between her eyebrows, which were stained a deep
black, and destroyed the natural softness of her expression. But her
hands and arms were lovely! White, and round, and soft, as though they
had been moulded in wax; and her slight elastic figure looked as if it
had been modelled by the Graces.
Asmè Sultane is celebrated throughout the capital for the beauty of her
slaves; and his Sublime Highness has thrice demanded Nazip Hanoum, but
has been thrice refused; an occurrence so unprecedented in the East,
that he has finished by persuading himself that he is actually attached
to the lively girl who has dared to play the part of a modern Roxalana,
and to defy his power.
His first rejection was treated by the Sultan as the wayward whim of a
spoiled beauty, and he even condescended to expostulate with Nazip
Hanoum; but his advice had no more effect upon her than his preference;
and for the first time in his life, the “Brother of the Sun” and
“Emperor of the Earth” found himself slighted by a mere girl.
The evil was, however, without remedy, for, as the adopted daughter of
an Imperial Princess, the liberty of the young Hanoum was sacred; and
his Sublime Highness was fain to content himself with the anticipation
of future success; but, when a second solicitation brought with it only
a second repulse, despite all the costly gifts and lover-like courtesies
of the preceding twelve months, the enraged Sultan took up the affair in
another tone, and accused the Princess of having instigated her
favourite to this unheard-of rebellion against his sacred will.
The Sultana defended herself with all the energy of innocence, and even
consented to further his suit by her counsels and persuasion, but no
success followed her efforts. Nazip Hanoum preferred the partial liberty
of the harem of her protectress, and the comparative independence of her
present position, to the gilded captivity of the Imperial Seraglio, and
the fleeting favour of its lord; and she consequently continued firm.
The Sultan, enraged beyond endurance at this unexpected perseverance,
left the palace in displeasure, and even refused to see his sister, whom
he still persisted in believing to be the principal cause of his defeat.
But monarchs are mere men where blighted feeling or wounded vanity make
themselves felt: and Mahmoud, when he retreated to his gilded saloons at
Beglierbey, shared the fate of his kind. He became convinced that he
really loved Nazip Hanoum, and that her possession was necessary to his
happiness; and, determined not to be thwarted a third time, he continued
deaf to the earnest and humble prayers of the Princess that he would
restore to her the light of his favour, and the glory of his presence;
and actually refused during three long weeks to be accessible to her
entreaties; when, feeling convinced that this display of his sublime
wrath must have produced a powerful effect on the refractory beauty, he
once more bent his course to the palace of the Princess.
A rich gift to Nazip Hanoum announced her pardon; and when she had
played and sung, seated on a cushion at his feet, and he had witnessed
the graceful movements of the dancing girls, and partaken of the
perfumed sherbet of his Imperial Sister, he led the young beauty into
the gardens of the palace, where she was compelled to listen for the
third time to his thriftless suit. But, alas! for the lordly lover—the
reflections of the past year had only strengthened her resolution, and
she continued as unmoved by his protestations as she had been by his
displeasure; and thus, Mahmoud returned once more to his Seraglio as
unsuccessful as ever.
Such is the sacredness of adoption among the Turks.
I have already mentioned that the Palace of Ortakeuÿ fronts the
Bosphorus, from which it is only separated by a broad path or terrace of
marble, extending along a considerable portion of the channel, and only
broken at intervals by the projection of the different palaces and
dwellings that are built against the edge of the stream. While we were
conversing with Nazip Hanoum, my attention was attracted by a peculiar
signal rising from this terrace, and evidently intended for the ear of
some fair inhabitant of the Seraï. As no answer was returned, the shrill
wild sound was repeated, when Nazip Hanoum rose quietly from her
cushions, and throwing back a small door which opened in the midst of
the lattice-work of one of the windows, demanded, in a tone of pretty
peevishness, why she was thus persecuted, when she had announced her
resolution not to receive another letter. The reply to this appeal,
brief as it was, was conclusive, for, shrugging her shoulders with a
coquettish gesture of impatience, she flung from the casement a painted
handkerchief secured by a silken cord attached to the window-frame, and
after the delay of a moment, drew it back, and took a letter from amid
its folds, which, having read with a blush and a smile, she thrust into
the shawl that was bound about her waist, with all the composure of a
person to whom such an occurrence was no novelty.
We shortly afterwards proceeded to wait upon all the principal ladies of
the household, who occupied apartments opening from the same gallery as
that of Nazip Hanoum. The first whom we visited was the mother of the
slaves, a serious, stately woman, of about fifty years of age, dressed
in an antery and trowsers of black cashmere, very silent, and even
sad-looking, whom we quitted as soon as we had satisfied her curiosity;
for the atmosphere of her stateliness did not appear congenial to our
light-hearted conductress.
We were next introduced to Peroussè Hanoum, the private secretary of the
Princess, who had been a favourite Odalique of Sultan Selim; a woman
remarkable for her talents both natural and acquired; and a celebrated
poet. She was seated upon her sofa, surrounded by papers; lying
confusedly in heaps, or tied up in squares of clear muslin; and engaged
in writing on the lid of a chest inlaid with mother-of-pearl. She was
still handsome, with delicate features, and fine eyes, but disfigured by
the dye with which she had made her eyebrows meet across her nose. Had I
been able to converse with her, without the interposition of a third
person, I am sure that I should have been delighted, for she was all
energy and enthusiasm. Her room was crowded with Turkish and Greek
women, squatted on cushions all over the floor; and close beside her,
with her pale cheek resting upon her knees, sat one of the ladies of the
Imperial Seraglio, who having suffered severely from a protracted
indisposition, had asked and obtained permission to spend a few weeks in
the harem of the Princess, by whom she had been brought up. She was a
lovely girl of eighteen or nineteen, very richly dressed, but evidently
broken-hearted. Whenever she was addressed, the tears rushed into her
large dark eyes, and every reply appeared to be an effort. The gilded
Palace of her Imperial Master had evidently been a mere prison to her;
and you read a tale of blighted hope and spirit-sickness upon every line
of her pallid face.
While we were in the apartment of the secretary, Nazip Hanoum, at the
request of the fair and faded visitor, sent a slave for her zebec, and
played and sang with considerable sweetness and execution: after which
the gifted Peroussè Hanoum read one of her poems, which elicited such
rapturous applause, that I asked and obtained a transcript of it, and
having caused it to be translated into French by one of the Professors
of the Military College, I have since rendered it into English verse for
the gratification of my readers.
We spent a considerable time in the apartment of Peroussè Hanoum; and
after having paid a number of less interesting visits, we finally
entered the principal room of the Harem. Here we found a sweet girl of
about thirteen years of age, lying upon a pile of cushions, having
sprained her ancle a day or two previously, while dancing before the
Sultan. She was amusing herself by nursing a very fine infant, a recent
purchase of the Princess, who had bought both it and its mother, at the
earnest request of the latter; who, having lost three husbands in the
space of eighteen months, and being left entirely destitute, had
profited by the well-known partiality of her Imperial Highness for
children, to become an inmate of the Palace. The little girl was the pet
and plaything, not only of Asmè Sultane, but of the whole harem; and was
handed from one to the other, and caressed by all; while the mother did
nothing but eat, sleep, and say her prayers; which latter ceremony she
performed with most edifying ostentation.
What a bevy of fair girls occupied that apartment! What eyes, and lips,
and teeth, were grouped together, as they sat clustered like bees upon
their cushions, with their delicate fingers clasped together, and almost
making their idleness look graceful! Here and there one lay fast asleep,
with her cheek pillowed upon her hand, and a smile upon her lips, as
though her last waking glance had been at the silver mounted mirror
which lay beside her, and her last thought one of triumph at her young
beauty.
A few were yet settling their cashemere girdles, and arranging their
unwieldy head-dresses for the day, after their return from the bath;
while one laughing maiden, who appeared to possess the talent in an
extraordinary degree, was cutting court-plaister into various fantastic
shapes, and dispensing them to her numerous applicants, by whom they
were immediately affixed to their carefully-tinted eyebrows. The
Kislar-Agha, meanwhile, walked in and out of the apartment, rolling the
whites of his large eyes, and pouting his thick lips in silence, totally
unmoved by the mirth and laughter going on in every direction; and
scarcely replying to the questions and comments of those who were
courageous enough to address him.
But, although there were many prettier women than herself in the party,
Nazip Hanoum was the “Light of the Harem!” All gave way before her; her
graceful playfulness, her joyous laughter, her innocent caprices, were
alike received with smiles and approbation; and she appeared to be a
general favourite, and to justify by her amiability the measureless
affection of her Imperial patroness. We were shortly joined by Peroussè
Hanoum, who accompanied one of the slaves on the zebec, while she sang,
or rather recited, one of her own compositions; after which the fair
favourite played the theorbo, and, while another of the party beat the
tambourine, half a dozen voices pealed out the ballads of the Sultan,
who is also a poet, and who frequently enjoys the happiness of listening
to his own productions, from the lips of the fair household of his
Imperial Sister.
The part taken in this concert by Nazip Hanoum and the Secretary was
intended as a high compliment to their Frank visitors; for the Turkish
ladies hold it as a degradation to exhibit a talent which is made an
object of speculation and profit by hired performers.
Her Imperial Highness having left the bath with a violent and painful
headache, we were requested to make a tour of the gardens, while she lay
down to endeavour to obtain some relief: and accordingly, conducted by
Nazip Hanoum, and followed by a dozen of her companions, we sallied
forth by a door opening from the hall upon a stately terrace of white
marble; and I laughed most heartily when, on emerging from the palace,
the sprightly favourite shouted to the gardeners who were at work on all
sides, “Do not look—we are coming out;” and, as a matter of course,
every one of them turned towards her to utter their assurance of
obedience, while away ran the laughing girl to gather the gayest flowers
of the parterre, as an offering to the Frank ladies.
One fountain which we passed struck me as being peculiarly elegant; the
stream, falling from an artificial eminence, filled successively eleven
basins of white marble, gradually increasing in size, until the last
formed a noble sheet of water immediately under the palace windows. The
terraces were shaded by stately trees; and a gaily gilded kiosk,
superbly painted in fresco, throughout the whole of its interior,
occupied the highest point of the grounds.
Having completed our survey of the gardens, and the Princess being still
invisible, we proceeded, under the same guidance, to visit the state
apartments, which were situated immediately over the harem.
The grand saloon, built above the marble hall, was the very embodiment
of Eastern splendour. Its magnificently-painted dome was supported by
forty porphyry pillars with gilt capitals; its walls were lined with
plate glass; its doors veiled by silken draperies; its floor covered
with Persian carpets; and the lattices which veiled the entrance to the
women’s apartments richly carved and gilt. At either extremity of the
saloon, whose form was a fine oval, a noble flight of marble steps led
downwards to the harem; and along the glittering balustrade were
scattered groups of slaves, awaiting the summons of their Imperial
Mistress, and clad in the gaudiest colours.
The morning-room of the Sultana was flooded with sunshine, and opened
upon the terrace: the carpet, covering the floor, the cushions which
were piled beneath the windows and the hangings of the walls, were all
of the purest white, ornamented with wreaths of roses; while the roof,
on which the Orientals universally display most elaborate taste, was of
a deep purple colour, ribbed and studded with golden stars.
The reception-room was in a different style: sombre, magnificent, and
almost cloistral in its decorations; heavy with gilding, and gloomy with
cornices; while the sleeping chamber, hung with crimson and blue satin,
and scattered over with perfumes and objects of taste, had an air of
comfort and inhabitation almost English.
But the most elegant suite of rooms was that appropriated to the Sultan.
A saloon whose thirty windows were hung with purple velvet fringed with
gold; whose sofa cushions were formed of glittering tissue; and whose
walls were rich with plate-glass and gilding; whose floor was crowded
with objects of _vertù_, and whose every table was scattered over with
gems, opened into the Imperial sleeping-room, whose European bed, hung
with flowered muslin, and decorated with knots of coloured ribbon,
contrasted cheerfully with the heavy magnificence of the saloon and its
elaborate draperies; while the mangal of wrought silver, richly gilt,
and the collection of jewelled toys which filled the two recesses at the
end of the apartment, brought back the imagination to the gorgeous East.
Incense-burners of gold, studded with precious stones; ring-trays
wreathed with rubies; a miniature of the Sultan himself in a frame
thickly set with diamonds, and resting upon a cushion of white satin; a
toilette of fillagreed silver; a chocolate cup of enamel studded with
pearls: and a gilt salver, covered with watches of all sizes and shapes,
were part of the tempting array. But I was more delighted by a Koràn,
and a manuscript collection of prayers, written by the Sultan, and
splendidly illuminated. Both were bound in gold, with the Imperial
cipher wrought upon each corner in brilliants, while a border was formed
round the outer edges of the volumes, of passages from the holy
writings, indifferent coloured jewels.
The private withdrawing-room was not remarkable in any respect, if,
indeed, I except the circumstance of its sofa and curtains being trimmed
with fluted gauze ribbon, which, to an European eye, produced a most
extraordinary effect. But, upon the whole, I saw less inconsistency and
bad taste exhibited in the arrangements of the numerous apartments that
I traversed, than I had prepared myself to expect.
While we were making our tour of the palace, orders had been given by
the Princess that the dancing girls should prepare themselves to exhibit
their skill for our amusement; but, unfortunately, in the excess of her
graciousness, she had resolved on treating us with a view of their new
dresses and their new dances, both intended to be European; and
assuredly such costumes were never before imagined. I will give the
description of one—it will suffice to afford an idea of the whole. A
dress of blue muslin, elaborately ornamented with bows of pink and
scarlet ribbon, was drawn round the throat with a cord of green silk,
which hung down the back and terminated in two heavy tassels; the
petticoat was long and scanty, and was trimmed with two narrow flounces,
edged with white satin; black leather shoes of the coarsest description,
gloveless hands, a sash of pink and silver that swept the floor; a
necklace of pearl; and a head-dress at least a yard across, where a mass
of false hair was smothered in flowers enough to decorate a supper
table, and carefully selected of all the colours of the rainbow,
completed the costume; and I need not expatiate on its effect. But the
admiration which it excited in the harem was immense; and the really
beautiful girl who was the fortunate wearer of the motley garb appeared
to consider herself raised above mortality, as she listened to the
comments of the throng by whom she was surrounded.
The male dresses were in perfect keeping with that which I have
endeavoured to describe; and the whole had found such favour in the eyes
of the Sultana, that she only tolerated the Turkish costume on ordinary
occasions.
As the day was waning to a close, and the distance to Pera was
considerable, I was reluctantly obliged to decline the honour of dining
in the palace, and awaiting until evening the appearance of the
Princess, whose continued indisposition still confined her to her
apartment; and accordingly, despite the remonstrances of our kind and
courteous entertainers, I took my leave of the fair favourite and her
talented friend; bearing with me an invitation from Her Imperial
Highness to repeat my visit at no distant period, when she might be able
to receive and converse with me; and I then returned to Pera with an
aching head and dazzled eyes.
I subjoin the little ballad of Peroussè Hanoum, which I have rendered
almost literally into English verse. I could have wished that it had
been somewhat more Oriental in its character, but its quaintness is at
least sufficiently characteristic.
BALLAD.
My love for thee hath ta’en away my rest;
By day and night I think of thee alone;
I muse upon the curls which veil thy breast,
And sigh to know that thou art not mine own.
My love for thee is madness! All esteem
My passion folly who do look on me;
The arrows of thine eyes have drank the stream
Of my fond heart; and I must part from thee.
My love for thee is deep; and I of late
Can look upon none other—Thou art cold,
And ’tis the working of my hapless fate
That I no more thy gracious smiles behold.
Leyla! be mine, and learn my spirit-wrong;
I’ll tell thee all my grief—the tale is long.