Page:Walter Matthew Gallichan - Women under Polygamy (1914).djvu/182

 Sir Edwin Pears declares that the hold of a wife upon her partner is exceedingly insecure. In a fit of temper, or in a moment of caprice, the husband may say: "I repudiate you." But repudiation is not easy, and, according to other witnesses, it is not frequent. Nevertheless, the custom exists, and its existence is deplored by many thoughtful and high-principled men in Turkey.

"Whatever the recent teachers of Islam may say," writes Sir Edwin, "it is, however, beyond reasonable doubt that the position of women in Moslem is lower than in Christian countries."

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. Certainly, no country has yet been discovered in which there is no need of reforms; and it is true of Turkey to-day that discontent among upper class women is not altogether uncommon. I believe that this spirit of dissatisfaction is not always associated with the institution of polygamy. It is a desire for freer social intercourse, for culture, and for a widening of women's interests and pursuits.

The students who attend the women's college at Scutari are likely to develop into ardent pioneers of a