Of His Meanness And
Avarice, I Adduce Two Anecdotes.
Four years ago, Muley-Abd Errahman
ordered some blond for his Harem from Mr. Willshire.
Just when I was
leaving Mogador, his Imperial Highness graciously returned it to our
merchant with the message - "It's too dear." Not long before, a man was
murdered upon the neutral land of two adjacent provinces, and a thousand
dollars were taken from his baggage. In such cases, the Governor of the
district is mulcted both for the murder and robbery. The Emperor claimed
two thousand dollars from one of the provinces, for the father of the
murdered man. This province escaped upon the plea that the murder had
not been committed within its territory. The other province refused to
satisfy the demand for the same reason. His Imperial Highness then made
both provinces pay 2,000 dollars each, keeping one two thousand for
himself, for the trouble he had of enforcing payment.
The people of Sous not long ago had a quarrel, which the Emperor
fomented. Its Sheikhs fought; his Imperial Highness sent troops to turn
the balance of the fray, and to pacify the country. Then, he made the
belligerents pay each 40,000 dollars, as pacification-money, the value
of which he levied on slaves. In this politic way, the Imperial miser
replenishes his coffers, and "eats up" his loving subjects.
I made the acquaintance of Mr. Treppass, the Austrian consul, and
Chancellor of the French consulate. Mr. Treppass has been upwards of
twenty years in this country, and was himself once an Imperial merchant,
but sold his business, preferring a small stipend and his liberty, to
being a vassal of the Emperor, fed in luxury and lodged in a fine house.
We had a long conversation upon the various topics connected with this
country.
Mr. Treppass says, the present system of the court is resistance to all
innovation, to all strangers. But the pressure of the French on the
Algerine frontier is agitating the internal state of this country.
Money, which in other countries goes a long way, will almost do every
thing with the Government of Morocco. It will also effect much with the
people. Some fifty years ago, a Geneose merchant, resident in Mogador,
had the two provinces of Hhaha and Shedma under his control, and could
have made himself Sultan over them; this he effected solely by the
distribution of money. The Sultan of the time was in open war with a
pretender; his Imperial Highness begged for the assistance of the
all-powerful merchant. The merchant bought the affections and allegiance
of the people, and firmly established the Sultan on his throne.
The influence of the merchant was now prodigious, and the Sultan himself
became alarmed. Not being able to rest, and being in hourly dread of the
Genoese, the Sultan ordered his officers to seize the merchant secretly,
and put him on board a vessel then weighing anchor for Europe. When the
merchant was placed on board, this message was delivered to him - "Our
Sultan is extremely obliged to you, sir, for the great services you
rendered him, by establishing him on his throne!
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