A Change Has Come
Over The Maroquine Mind, Which, As To Its Immediate Effects, Is
Evidently For The Worst Towards Us Christians.
The distrust of all
Europeans, which existed before the French hostilities, is now enlarged
to hatred, a feeling from which even the English are hardly excepted.
Up
to the last moment, the government and people of Morocco believed that
England would never abandon them to their unscrupulous and ambitious
neighbours.
The citizens and merchants of Mogador could not be brought to believe,
or even to entertain the idea that the British ships of war would
quietly look on, whilst the French - the great rivals and enemies of the
English - destroyed their towns and batteries. Most manifest facts and
stern realities dissipated, in an hour when they little thought of it,
such a fond delusion. From that moment, the moral influence of England,
once our boast, and not perhaps unreasonably so, was no longer felt in
Morocco; and now we have lost almost all hold on the good wishes and
faith of the Mussulman tribes of that immense country.
As to exploring the empire of Morocco, or making it the way of
communication with Soudan or Central Negroland, this is now altogether
impracticable. The difficulties of Europeans travelling the Maroquine
States, always great and perilous, are now become nearly insuperable.
This suspicious distrust, or ill-feeling has communicated itself
contagiously to the tribes of the South as far as the Desert, and has
infected other parts of Barbary. The Engleez, once the cherished friends
of the Moors, are looked upon more or less as the abettors of French
aggressions in North Africa, if not as the sharers with them of the
spoil. In the language of the more plain-spoken Moors, "We always
thought all Christians alike, though we often excepted the English from
the number of our enemies, now we are certain we were wrong; the English
are become as much our enemies as the French and the Spaniards." The
future alone can disclose what will be the particular result of this
unfavourable feeling; both with respect to France and England, and to
other European nations. However, we may look forward without misgiving.
Islamism will wear itself out - the Crescent must wane.
In these preliminary observations, the commercial system of the
Maroquine Court deserves especial mention. The great object of Muley Abd
Errahman [3] is - nay, the pursuit of his whole life has been - to get the
whole of the trade of the empire into his own hands. In fact, he has by
this time virtually succeeded, though the thing is less ostentatiously
done than by the Egyptian viceroy, that equally celebrated
prince-merchant. In order to effect this, his Shereefian Majesty seeks
to involve in debt all the merchants, natives, or foreigners, tempting
them by the offer of profuse credit. As many of them as are needy and
speculative, this imperial boon is without scruple greedily accepted.
The Emperor likewise provides them with commodious houses and stores;
gives them at once ten or twenty thousand dollars worth of credit, and
is content to receive in return monthly instalments.
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