It will thus be seen how full
of difficulties was this Darmon affair, and what a door it opened to
tedious Moorish diplomacy. The French Government arranged ultimately
with the Sultan a compromise, a sum of money being paid to the murdered
man's family, and the Governor of Mazagran was dismissed.
When young Darmon fell into disgrace, his father, one of the Imperial
merchants, was at Morocco. The father inquired of the Minister whether
the Sultan would receive his present now his son had fallen into
disgrace. The cruelly avaricious tyrant deigned to accept it of the
father it is said, at the very moment when the order to decapitate his
son had been sent to Mazagran. No doubt it was a barbarous action, but
the extreme imprudence of the young man provoked the government to
extremities. The court was so irritated at the time, that it even issued
an order to place all Jews, natives, foreigners, or Europeans upon the
same level of exposure to Moorish insult and oppression. Speaking to Mr.
Willshire about this order, he smilingly observed: "Say nothing, it will
soon be forgotten." The government never intended to carry it out. Years
ago, the Emperor gave orders that Jews coming from European countries
should be placed on the same footing as native Jews, but the Imperial
edicts were unnoticed.
A curious order was given about smoking some time ago in this city. It
was represented to the Governor that during Ramadan, Kafer-Nazarenes
went about smoking, occasioning the Faithful to sniff up the smoke, and
so break the Holy Fast. The Christians were likewise accused of going
near the mosques to fill them with filthy smoke.
The Governor, in a circular, begged of the Consuls to prohibit their
countrymen, or "subjects," from smoking in the streets. The French
Consul considering this a police regulation, summoned together the
French subjects, and begged of them to comply with the non-smoking
order. Mr. Willshire took no notice of the affair, knowing it would soon
pass over.
Mr, Willshire is a veteran in Morocco, and understands the genius of its
government. He considers the _laissez faire_ system the very best, and
this is all very well, provided the Sultan respects the heads of Her
Majesty's subjects.
Haj Mousa, Governor of Mazagran, who was mixed up with the Darmon
affair, deserves notice from his brutal ferocity towards Europeans. With
great difficulty and damage to their lives, Europeans reside in
Mazagran, and it is not therefore surprising that the imprudent Darmon
fell into the clutches of this provincial tyrant, who probably ensnared
him as a prey.
