1838.
The facility with which the French had taken possession of Mascara and Tlemsen, convinced Abdel Kader of the necessity of having strongholds beyond the easy reach of their incursions. The plan which he projected and carried into effect had the double object of resisting the French invasion, and of cementing his own authority over the Arabs. It bears the highest testimony to his military genius. No better explanation of this design can be given than in the words which Abdel Kader addressed in after times to General Daumas, who had for three years resided at his head-quarters in the capacity of consul.
“With the twofold view of imposing on the turbulent tribes of the Sahara, and keeping myself beyond the reach of your attacks, I had constructed on the limits of the Tell, at great expense and amidst innumerable difficulties, a certain number of forts, which you afterwards destroyed. They were situated, in setting out from the west, at Sebdou; to the south of Tlemsen, at Saida; to the south of Mascara, at Tekedemt; to the south-east of the same town, at Taza; to the south of Miliana, at Boghar; to the south of Medea, at Bel Kherout, south-east of Algiers; and, lastly, at Biskra, to the south of Constantine.
“I was convinced, in fact, that whenever the war re-commenced, I should be obliged to abandon to you all the towns of the central line of the Atlas; but that it would be impossible for you, at least for a long time, to reach the Sahara; because the transports which encumber your armies would be a great obstacle in your way. Marshal Bugeaud proved to me that I was mistaken; but at the time I had only the experience of my action with his predecessors.
“Nevertheless, even in face of the system pursued by Marshal Bugeaud, you would have found almost insurmountable difficulties in trying to reach my true line of defence, if the Arabs had only agreed to my proposition of rasing to the ground, and utterly destroying, the towns of Medea, Miliana, Mascara, and Tlemsen: that is to say, the steps of the ladder by which you gradually mounted so high.
“Some argued that the French would soon re-build what I had destroyed; others, that it would be cruel to throw down, merely in view of an eventuality, what it had cost so much to erect. Both sides were wrong: I ought to have followed out my own inspiration.
“Tekedemt, according to my project, was to have become a large town—a binding centre of commerce—between the Tell and the Sahara. The Arabs were pleased with its situation. They came there with much pleasure, because it afforded them great advantages. It was also a thorn I had placed in the eye of the independent tribes of the desert. They could neither escape me, nor incommode me. I held them by their bodily wants. The Sahara producing no crops, they would have been obliged to come to me for food. I had built Tekedemt over their heads. They felt it, and hastened to make their submission.
“In fact, from this time, I could always come upon them unexpectedly with my goums (irregular cavalry), and at least carry off their flocks and herds, if I did not stop to take their tents. The severe examples I made of some of the most distant tribes soon made them give up all hopes of being able to elude me. Thus all had finished by submitting to my authority, and regularly paying the ashur and the zekka. I used even to send and count their flocks, and they said not a word.
“There are only four points in the desert which my authority had not reached: Mzab, Ourgla, Tougourt, and the Souf. The Benis Sidi Cheikh, however, had all acknowledged me. It is true I had granted them certain privileges, and I allowed them to pay a reduced impost; but they were a tribe of Marabouts, and it was my duty to pay them a certain degree of deference. As to the ksours (entrenched villages in the Sahara), they paid me little; nor did I care to be strict with them. They looked on my forbearance as a concession to their poverty. At a later period, however, I should have made them amenable to my orders, and have brought them into complete subjection.”
Tekedemt, the town which Abdel Kader raised from its ruins, intending to make it the capital of his kingdom, had been built by the Romans. It is situated sixty miles to the south-east of Oran. Judging from the remains of its walls, it must have been ten miles in circumference. It contained two large temples. During the prosperous days of Arab dominion in Algeria, it was a seat of government, had a college, and produced its doctors and poets. The wars between the Caliphs of Kerouan and Fez, towards the close of the tenth century, doomed it to final destruction and oblivion.
The first stone of the new fortress was laid by Abdel Kader in May, 1836. He himself supplied the plans for the fortifications which were to surround it. He remitted the payment of tribute to all the tribes within a certain distance, on the condition of their sending labourers to assist in the construction of the ramparts. The people of Mascara brought baskets, shovels, and pickaxes. Medea and Miliana sent supplies of cheese and fruits of all kinds, which, with excellent white bread, and occasionally meat rations, formed the food and wages of the workmen. Soon houses and streets arose. A population poured in. Families of Arabs, of Moors, of Kolouglis, from Mascara, Mazagnan, and Mostaganem, came and settled. Old Roman vaults were turned into stores for ammunition, sulphur, saltpetre, brass, lead, and iron; and for all the machines, implements, and utensils which Miloud-ibn-Arasch had bought in France for the sum of £4,000. A musket manufactory turned out eight muskets a day, the work of French mechanics procured from Paris at liberal salaries.
A mint struck off silver and copper coins, ranging in value from five shillings to twopence, and bearing on one side the inscription, “It is the will of God: I have appointed him my agent;” on the other, “Struck at Tekedemt, by the Sultan Abdel Kader.” Finally, twelve pieces of cannon and six mortars frowned from the ramparts; and the defences were complete.
Abdel Kader superintended all the works by constant personal inspection. M. de France, who was one of his prisoners during the time that these works were in their highest activity, thus describes what he saw:—“After having visited the ruins, we came to a redoubt which Abdel Kader was erecting at about two hundred paces from his citadel. We approached the Sultan, who was reclining, in company with Ibn About, his secretary, and Miloud-ibn-Arasch, on the ground recently thrown up from a ditch which some men were busily digging.
“His costume is so simple, that one can hardly distinguish him from the labourers. He wore a large straw hat, plaited with palm leaves. The brim, tied up to the body of the hat with woollen cords and tassels, must have been three feet in circumference. The hat itself was at least a foot and a half in height, and looked like a tunnel terminating in a peak.
“As I passed the Sultan, he saluted me with that incomparable grace and fascinating smile for which he is so remarkable, and waved his hand for me to be seated. ‘To judge by the ruins,’ I remarked, ‘the town which was formerly here must have been large and flourishing.’ ‘Yes, it was very fine and very powerful,’ he answered. ‘Does the epoch of its foundation remount to a very ancient date?’ ‘Tekedemt is a very ancient town.’ ‘Do you think I shall be able to discover any stones with inscriptions?’ ‘You will find none. This town was never Christian. It was one of the first cities built by the Arabs. The sultans, my ancestors, who had their residence at Tekedemt, ruled from Tunis to Morocco.’
“The Sultan then asked me what I thought of the construction of the fortifications. I replied that they appeared to me to be well proportioned and ably laid out, and that it was evident he had profited by a critical examination of our block-houses. He seemed quite pleased with my answer.
“‘Yes,’ he resumed, ‘with animation, I hope yet to restore Tekedemt to its ancient splendour. I will gather the tribes in this place, where we shall be secure from the attacks of the French; and when all my forces are collected, I will descend from this steep rock, like a vulture from his nest, and drive the Christians out of Algiers, Bona, and Oran.
“‘If, indeed, you were content with those cities, I would suffer you to remain there; for the sea is not mine, and I have no ships. But you want our plains and our inland cities, and our mountains. Nay, you even covet our horses, our tents, our camels, and our women; and you leave your own country to come and take that in which Mohammed has placed his people. But your sultan is not a horseman or a saint; and your horses will stumble and fall on our mountains, for they are not surefooted like our horses; and your soldiers will die of sickness; and those whom the pestilence spares, will fall by our bullets.’”
Had Abdel Kader been allowed time to complete his intentions, it was his design to have made Tekedemt not merely a place of strength, but a seat of learning; to have established a library and founded a college. “But,” to use his own expression, “God did not so will it. The books which I had brought from all parts of the east for this institution, were taken when the king’s son seized my smala; and to my other misfortunes was added that of being able to mark the traces of the French column, on their return to Medea, by the torn and scattered leaves of the books which it had cost me so much time and pains to collect.”
During the years 1838 and 1839 Abdel Kader pushed on his plans of reform and improvement with wonderful rapidity. His army, his police, his schools, his local tribunals of justice, were all fully constituted. His projected fortresses were completed. Manufactories conducted by Europeans were in full operation in all his principal towns. At Tlemsen, a Spaniard superintended a cannon foundry, which turned out twelve and six pounders.
In Miliana, an eminent French mineralogist, M. de Casse, established a musket manufactory and powder-mills. Iron was procured from a mine in the neighbourhood. Cloth of superior quality was also manufactured. Mines of saltpetre, sulphur, iron, and brass, were diligently worked. Europeans were invited to come and settle in the country, with the right of holding freehold property. The land seemed to be waking up from a long slumber. The spirit of European civilisation everywhere percolated the torpid mass, lighting up the dark places, and piercing its way into the strongholds of ignorance and superstition.
The irregular force at Abdel Kader’s disposal, during the early part of his career, amounted nominally to nearly 60,000 men. This included all the contingents which the tribes could, on emergency, supply. But rarely more than a third of that number ever assembled at one time, for the purpose of carrying out a military operation. A finer irregular cavalry did not exist.
But Abdel Kader soon discovered the incompetency of such warriors to compete with the disciplined legions of the great military power he confronted. But to raise regular troops amongst a people who, even in the days of Turkish rule, had never been harassed by a conscription, and whose nature revolted at the very idea, was a hazardous experiment, requiring great tact and circumspection. Such a design could only be hinted at as a suggestion, not promulgated as a command.
Accordingly, the following friendly invitation was posted up in all the towns and douairs:—“Whoever wishes to be clothed in fine cloth, and to become the son of the Sultan, let him come and engage himself: he shall be well paid, and indulged in everything.” Several young men were tempted by the inducement thus held out to present themselves for enlistment; and the formation of a regular army almost imperceptibly began.
Abdel Kader thus describes his military organisation:—“Besides the contingents of tribes who rallied at my call, or that of my Khalifas, and which constituted a powerful auxiliary force, although merely temporary, inasmuch as I was never able to keep them away from their tribes for any great length of time, I had latterly a regular army of 8,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry or spahis, and 240 artillerymen. I had twenty field-pieces, without reckoning a large store of cannons both in iron and brass left by the Turks, many of which, however, it is true, were unfit for service.
“I could thus afford to give each of my Khalifas 1,000 infantry, 250 horsemen, two or three pieces of cannon, and thirty artillerymen. My infantry was recruited only by volunteers; but they were sufficient, considering my pecuniary means and the arms at my disposal. Later, if time had been afforded me, I should have used the French mode of raising soldiers. My religion would not have prevented me, for a Sultan may have recourse to enrolments to sustain the honour of his flag, and to save his country from Christian invasion.
“The instructors of my regular infantry were soldiers of the nizam, from Tunis and Tripoli, and French deserters. The latter became so numerous at last as to form a battalion of themselves, and fought against their own countrymen with a fury and desperation which was hardly rivalled by my own Mussulmans. I distributed them amongst my Khalifas.
“As for my regular cavalry, they refused to be placed under instructors. In their style of war they were led by an independent pride which disdained to acknowledge a master. They knew they were worth nothing for a shock; but they thought themselves unrivalled in single combat, in ambuscade, surprise, and light skirmishing. It was no dishonour to them to fly before even inferior forces; their flight being often a mere feint. To do as much injury as possible to the enemy without exposing themselves to loss—that was the principle I inculcated on them.
“All my regulars were armed with French or English muskets. I got them in battles, from deserters, or by purchase from Morocco. Every Arab found with a French musket in his possession, was obliged to sell it to me for a sum amounting to two English pounds sterling. He then provided himself with a fusil as best he could, either in the bazaars, or, when the tribe of the desert, coming to the Tell, inundated the country with arms from Tunis, from Tougourt, from the Mzab, and the Oulad-Sidi-Cheikh. I made my own powder at Tlemsen, Mascara, Miliana, Medea, and Tekedemt. I bought a good deal, also, from Morocco, where I also procured flints, of which our own country was completely destitute. Sulphur came from France. Saltpetre I found everywhere.
“During the peace, the French sea-coast towns supplied me with lead; Morocco yielded me a considerable quantity; and I worked a lead mine in the Ouarsenis. But all this was very costly; so I was very sparing in my distribution of the stores of the Beylik amongst the Arabs, who squander away their powder without reflection, in their festivities and games. I only deviated from this principle in favour of those who were employed in blockading the French garrisons, or when, on the field of battle, the ammunition ran short. I then distributed cartridges on the spot.
“At the seat of government of each of my Khalifas, I had placed tailors, armourers, and saddlers, to make the clothing of my troops, repair their arms, and keep up their horse-equipments. I had also distributed many such workmen amongst the tribe, so as to make them also ready and efficient at a moment’s call. To meet the expenses of my administration, where everything had to be created, and though confining myself to what was strictly necessary, heavy imposts were indispensable.
“I ordered my Khalifas to watch, personally, over everything connected with such an important matter. They made their tours twice a-year; once in the spring to collect the zekka, and during the harvest to gather the ashur. During these tours, they were expected to inspect and regulate the administration of the Aghas, to report to me any complaints made against them, and to superintend the working of the properties of the Beylik.
“My Khalifas were followed by a regular battalion, their Spahis, and their irregular cavalry. The Arab people are so constituted, that if they had not seen a display of force, they would have refused to pay the impost. After a temporary defeat, what difficulty have I not often experienced to raise again the proper return of contributions! ‘The Sultan,’ they would say, ‘is occupied with the Christians; he cannot compel us. Do not let us pay; let us see what will happen.’ What invariably happened was, that they had eventually to pay up everything, with arrears; but nothing corrected them. The Arabs only look to the present moment.
“At the same time that I demanded from the tribes what was necessary to support the Beylik, I endeavoured, as much as possible, to reconcile their interests with those of the State. My Khalifas were instructed to accept, in lieu of the impost or of fines, articles for consumption, mules, camels, and especially horses. With the horses I remounted my cavalry; the mules and camels gave me means of transport; with the provisions, I supplied my troops, or filled my magazines.
“My resources were also augmented by razzias, which I made whenever the tribes appealed to arms to fight out their differences. I was resolved to be the sole arbiter of these differences, and I had laid it down as a rule, that not a shot should be fired without my permission. The horses, mules, or camels which I did not immediately require were distributed amongst the tribes, under the charge of agents, who, while they were liberally paid, were so checked, as to be unable to defraud.
“It was well I looked to the future; for the number of horses I had to replace in my regular cavalry was immense. There is not a man amongst these troops who had not had seven or eight horses killed under him, or rendered unserviceable. Indeed, it was not uncommon to find men who had lost from twelve to sixteen. Ibn Yahia—that noble soldier who, rather than survive my misfortunes, threw himself on certain death, in my last battle with the Maroccians (Dec., 1847)—had had eighteen horses killed under him. The emulation in this point was such, that any horseman who passed a year without being wounded or having a horse killed under him, was looked on with contempt.
“As far as lay in my power, I also replaced the horses which my goums, or irregular cavalry contingents, lost in battle. They have had from me more than six thousand. But latterly, when I could no longer give them horses, I allowed them, in lieu of a horse, two camels, or thirty sheep, or a good mule. They sold those animals, and then with the price remounted themselves at their leisure. But, at last, I became so straitened as not even to be able to give them this indemnity.
“To form an idea of the consumption of horses—in one year alone I gave 500 to the Gharabas of Oran, and nearly as many to the Hagouts in the plains of Algiers. At the same time, there were many which I never attempted to replace, either because their proprietors were rich, or because I had no longer the means.
“The flocks and cattle which came from the zekka were entrusted to the tribe, under the superintendence of their Kaids. It was the duty of these officials to take account of them and appoint them shepherds, as well as to feed and take care of them. These animals, in the government of each Khalifa, served to defray the cost of guests, to support the poor, to assist the tholbas (men of letters), and to supply my army, who had meat twice a-week. By these means, I had begun to establish complete order in the administration of the revenues of each Beylik. But when the war broke out again, I was often defrauded, and the Arabs on every side took advantage of my preoccupations. The only two Khalifas who maintained order to the last were Abou Hamadi and Ibn Hallal; they were dreaded from their severity.
“The precautions which I have mentioned did not always suffice for the nourishment of my army, at all the points on which it was called on by the necessities of war to act. Therefore, as I did not wish to burden the population with extra expenses, that might have indisposed them towards me, I ordered silos (underground vaults for corn) to be made in the territory of each Beylik. These silos, placed under the responsibility of the Kaid of each tribe, and so disposed as to escape the researches of the enemy, contained the grain of the ashur, or of the state lands, which were cultivated partly by forced, partly by paid, labour.
I thus proved to the Arabs, who, from their nature, were always suspicious, that I took nothing for my personal wants from the imposts. I obliged them to pay for the general welfare, and they rendered me justice for it. The silos, in fact, postponed my fall. Their discovery and destruction by the French columns decided it. When once deprived of my stores of provisions, I was obliged to exhaust the resources of the tribe. When they felt the pressure from both sides fall heavy upon them, their ardour for the holy war relaxed.
“As to me, what occasion was there for me to resort to the public treasury to defray my expenses? Never, up to the moment when my private property fell into the hands of the French, did I touch the smallest fraction of what the Arabs gave me for the public expenses; and since that, I have only taken what was absolutely necessary. My clothes were made by the women of my household; my little income sufficed for the wants of my family. Even the small surplus which was left me, I spent in assisting the poor, the traveller, and more especially the needy among my brave companions-in-arms who had been wounded in the holy war.
“By acting thus, I could consistently call on the Arabs to make great sacrifices; for I showed them that the zekka, the ashur, fines, contributions—all my resources, in fact—were scrupulously devoted to the maintenance of the public welfare. In 1839, when the war recommenced, I called upon the Arabs for an extraordinary loan; but they contributed very slowly. I immediately sold all my family jewels by auction in the bazaars of Mascara, proclaiming publicly that the proceeds were to be sent to the public treasury. The loan was then very soon advanced; and it seemed only to be a question who should pay first.”
As soon as Abdel Kader began to form a regular army, he drew up and published a military code, containing the most minute regulations for the discipline, pay, and clothing of his troops. This code was read out to the different regiments twice a month. It was interspersed with injunctions, and promises of reward for good behaviour, of which the following may be taken as an example:—
“It is indispensably necessary that a chief should be personally brave and courageous; that he should be of a good family, irreproachable in his morals, strictly religious, patient, enduring, prudent, prompt, and intelligent in the hour of difficulty and danger; for the officer is to his men what the heart is to the body; if the heart is not sound, the body is worthless.
“A soldier who throws himself dashingly on the enemy’s ranks, disables and disarms his foe, or, by rallying the men when on the point of retreating, prevents a panic by his example and presence of mind, shall be decorated by the Sultan himself before the whole army; and his heroism shall be proclaimed by beat of drum.”
The decoration thus conferred varied in appearance, according to the bearer’s merits. It consisted of a silver or silver-gilt hand with extended fingers. The number of fingers extended notified the number of acts of bravery performed. Each finger extended entitled the bearer to extra pay, amounting to a shilling a month. In the centre of the decoration was inscribed the words Nusr-ed-deen, or “the triumph of religion.” It was worn, not on the breast, but affixed to one side of the hood of the burnous. It was sometimes also given to civilians who had rendered great administrative services.
The uniform of the foot soldier was dark blue, with scarlet pantaloons, a brown capote, and a small cap and turban. His pay amounted to nine francs a month. On the right sleeve of each commanding officer were embroidered the words, “Patience and perseverance are the key to victory;” on the left, “There is no god but God, and Mohammed is his Prophet.” Embroidered on his right shoulder of the Aga, in place of an epaulette, were marked the words, “Nothing profits like piety and courage;” on the left, “Nothing is so injurious as discussion and want of obedience.”
All the officers throughout the army had inscriptions of a like tendency embroidered on their uniforms. The spahis, or regular cavalry, were clothed in scarlet exclusively. Their colonels wore the device, “Trust in God and the Prophet—charge and conquer;” those of the artillery, “I can effect nothing: it is God who directs the shot.” Thus was religion, its duties and its efficacy, placed ever prominently forward by Abdel Kader, not only in his army, but in his whole administration, as the indispensable foundation and support of human exertion.
The following allusion to himself, with which his military code closes, placed him before his officers and men as a model to be copied and emulated. Nor was there any exaggeration in its expressions.
“Il Hadj Abdel Kader cares not for this world, and withdraws from it as much as his avocations will permit. He despises wealth and riches. He lives with the greatest plainness and sobriety. He is always simply clad. He rises in the middle of the night to recommend his own soul and the souls of his followers to God. His chief pleasure is in praying to God with fasting, that his sins may be forgiven.
“He is incorruptible. He never takes anything out of the public funds for himself. All the presents which are brought to him he sends to the public treasury; for he serves the State, not himself. He neither eats, nor drinks, nor dresses, but as religion ordains. When he administers justice, he hears complaints with the greatest patience. A smile is always on his face for the encouragement of those who approach him. His decisions are conformable to the words of the sacred book. He hates the man who does not act uprightly; but honours him who strictly observes the precepts and practises the duties of religion.
“From his boyhood he learned to mount the most fiery horse without a teacher. He never turns before an enemy; but awaits him firmly. In a retreat he fights like a common soldier, rallying his men by his words and example, and sharing in all their dangers. Thus, brave, disinterested, and pious, when he preaches, his words bring tears into all eyes, and melt the hardest hearts. All who hear him become good Mussulmans.
“He explains the most difficult passages of the Koran and of the Hadeeth (Traditions) without referring to books or Ulemahs. The most learned Arabs and the greatest Talebs acknowledge him as their master and teacher. May God increase his nobleness of character, his wisdom, his learning, his understanding, his honour, glory, and success, a thousandfold!”
1838-1839.
Abdel Kader now saw himself the founder of an empire. The strength and versatility of his genius had given cohesion and compactness to elements the most adverse and discordant. Hundreds of tribes bowed beneath his warlike sceptre. On all sides were seen the good results of order and good government. His external relations attested the magic of his power, and the splendour of his fame. Sovereigns and Viceroys, from the Emperor of Morocco to those of Egypt, Tunis, and Tripoli, vied with each other in tendering him marks of respect and admiration. The Ulemahs of Mecca and Alexandria watched with holy joy and expectation the career of one who seemed destined to revive the pristine glories of Islam.
Burning to accomplish his secret mission in its fullest extent, Abdel Kader lost not an hour, by day or by night, in planning, arranging, and executing new schemes of progress and improvement. To make the Arabs of Algeria one people, to recall them to the strict observance of their religious duties, to inspire them with patriotism, to call forth all their dormant capabilities, whether for war, for commerce, for agriculture, or for mental improvement; and then to crown the whole with the impress of European civilisation—such was his mighty and comprehensive ideal.
His amazing activity, vigour, and enterprise, had overcome difficulties apparently insuperable. His victorious sword, whether striking down the enemy from without, or his rivals from within, had proved the indomitable energy of a will which had but to conceive in order to accomplish. He was now to show that he could achieve victories without soldiers, and reap laurels unstained by blood.
Warrior, orator, diplomatist, statesman, and legislator, the secret of his force lay in his intellectual grandeur. His letters, his speeches, his conversations, all bear the stamp of their own peculiar freshness and originality. His natural eloquence, enriched by study, matured by meditation, and enhanced by the singular charms and graces of his manner, operated like a spell.
The provinces of Oran and Tittery, the plains of the Sahara, had been won by his military prowess. The grand Kabylia, that superb range of the Djurjura, extending towards the east, from Algiers to Borigia, was now to be the scene of a nobler triumph, one gained by the exhibition of moral power. The hardy Kabyles inhabiting those regions had defied every attempt to subjugate them. As independent republics, bound together by the most exalted spirit of freedom, they had preserved their usages, their customs, their laws, intact amidst the changing governments which had risen and fallen around them.
It was clear that this nursery of soldiers, if once brought under his control, would give Abdel Kader a never-failing element of support, and if necessary, of aggression. Alone, he determined to effect by persuasion what others had failed to achieve by the force of arms. In September, 1839, he suddenly appeared at Borj Hamze, followed by only 50 cavalry. His faithful Khalifa, Ben Salem, was by his side. To the question, what the Sultan proposed to do, the answer was, “To conquer the Djurjura!” The expedition set forth.
The first slopes were rapidly passed. The appearance of the little cavalcade, as it plunged into the deepest ravines and gorges, or ascended almost perpendicular heights, spread surprise and astonishment amongst the mountaineers, gazing from their huts and precipices at the unwonted spectacle.
Presently the rumour spread that Abdel Kader was there. The magic name resounded from rock to rock. From their valleys, their dells, their fastnesses, the Kabyles came streaming forth to hail their famous guest. Thousands at length gathered about his tent. The press of Sheiks and Marabouts blocked up the entrance. The people crowded round, some rudely intruding themselves, by lifting up the folds of the tent to gratify their curiosity. The escort pushed them aside with the words, “Back with you! you are going to smother our master.” Abdel Kader saw their disappointment. “Let them approach,” he mildly said, “let them approach; they are rough and wild like their mountains. Excuse them, you cannot change their natures in a day.”
Abdel Kader now demanded to see the chiefs who commanded them. “We obey our Ameens and our Marabouts,” was the reply. The Ameens came forward to pay their respects. “Which of them represents the whole?” “We have no single chief,” responded the jealous republicans, “to whom we delegate our power. Our Ameens, chosen by the popular voice, express the general will.” Abdel Kader ordered a space to be cleared, and bade the throng sit down. A large circle was formed. He stood in the midst, with a string of beads in his hand.
And now, in one of those stirring harangues which convinced the understanding, and melted the hearts of all who heard him, Abdel Kader adjured them to rally round his standard. He came not, he said, amongst them, like the Turks, with the emblems of brute force; he came amongst them as a simple pilgrim, relying on the cause he upheld, the cause of God and his Prophet. In a hundred glorious combats, glorious for Islamism, he had defeated the infidels, who strove to subdue their land. All the west obeyed his laws, and if he chose, it would be as easy for him to roll the west on the east, as to roll up the carpet on which he stood.
“If you tell me that the east is stronger than the west,” he continued, “I reply, God sends me victory, on account of the purity of the motives which guide and direct me. You know, besides, what is written in the Koran, ‘Elephants are subdued by flies; lions have been killed by mice.’
“Be assured, that if I had not firmly opposed the invasions of the French, if I had not shown them their weakness and impotency, they would have dashed over you before this, like a raging sea, and then you would have seen what neither times past nor times present has ever witnessed. They have left their own country merely to conquer and enslave ours. But I am the thorn that God has planted in their eyes, and if you will assist me I will drive them into the sea.
“Otherwise they will subjugate and humiliate you. Be grateful to me, then, that I am their mortal enemy. Rouse yourselves, O Kabyles! Awake from your apathy. Believe me, I have at heart no other wish than that of the happiness, welfare, and prosperity of Mussulmans. All I exact from you this day is, obedience and concord, and the strict observance of our sacred law, that we may triumph over the infidel. And to support our armies, I only demand from you what is specified and ordained by God, the Master of the universe.
“I wish not to change your customs, or alter your laws and usages; but the conducting of warlike operations demands a chief. I summon you to join the Holy War. Choose a chief. I recommend you Ben Salem. If you choose him, he will be like a compass for you in the hour of danger and trial. I call God to witness the truth and sincerity of my words. If they do not find their way to your hearts, you will yet repent one day; but that repentance will be too late. It is by reason and not by force that I seek to convince you. I pray God to direct and enlighten you.”
A general shout arose: “Give us Ben Salem, give us Ben Salem. Take the zekka; take the ashur. Lead us against the infidels. We are your children, your soldiers, your slaves!”
After installing Ben Salem as his Khalifa in the Djurjura, amidst much pomp and rejoicing, Abdel Kader continued his peaceful tour throughout that hospitable land. For thirty days his progress was one continued scene of rejoicing. Whenever it was known that he had halted, the simple-minded and enthusiastic mountaineers poured in with their diffas, or enormous plates of rice, sprinkled over with bits of meat: each one placing his diffa before the Sultan’s tent, and insisting on his partaking—“Eat, it is my diffa.” To avoid giving offence, Abdel Kader was obliged to taste each plate successively.
This short excursion had been sufficient to make him known and appreciated. The courtesy and affability of his manners, his well-known piety, his fame as an Ulemah, the venerated title of Hadj and Marabout, his brilliant renown as a warrior, his eloquence as a preacher, all combined to make his appeal irresistible. Not one of those fierce and indomitable mountaineers who saw and heard him could escape the influence of this extraordinary combination of advantages. Their poets made him the topic of their songs. Abdel Kader bade them adieu. With difficulty he escaped from their friendly and hospitable importunities; but at length he departed. The Djurjura had been conquered; and Abdel Kader could say, like Cæsar, “Veni, vidi, vici.”
Unwearied in his exertions to elevate, as well as to mould and direct, the national character of the Arabs, Abdel Kader had early established a system of public education amongst all the tribes. “My duty,” he afterwards said, “as sovereign and as Mussulman was to support and exalt science and religion. In the towns and throughout the tribes I opened schools, where children were taught their prayers, where the first and most important precepts of the Koran were inculcated, and where reading, writing, and arithmetic were fully taught.
“Those who desired to push their education further were sent, free of expense, to the zouias and mosques. There they found tolbas ready to instruct them in history and theology. I appointed the tolbas a salary according to their learning and deserts. So important did it appear in my eyes to give encouragement to learning, that more than once I have remitted sentence of death to a criminal from the mere fact of his being a tolba. It requires such a long time in our country to become well instructed, that I had not the courage to destroy in one day the fruit of years of laborious study.
“The occupant of a cot may cut down a palm-tree which incommodes him; but how many years must he wait before he can taste the fruit of one that he plants!
“In order to assist the studies of the tolbas, I took the greatest pains to prevent the destruction of books and manuscripts. I had the more reason for being so anxious in this respect, as with us it takes months to make a single copy. I therefore gave strict orders throughout the towns and tribes that the greatest care should be taken of all manuscripts, and that if any person were found destroying or defacing one, he should be severely punished.
“Knowing my wishes on this point, my soldiers even were in the habit of carefully bringing in to me any manuscripts which fell into their hands in a razzia; and in order to stimulate their zeal in this respect, I always gave them a handsome reward. By degrees I made a large collection of such manuscripts, and had them safely deposited in the zouias and mosques, and entrusted to the care of tolbas in whom I had confidence.
“In the same way as I provided for a system of public instruction, I established the administration of justice. The kadis had a monthly salary, besides perquisites, for the performance of certain duties. I desired that the representatives of justice should be seen everywhere, and even that they should follow my army on its march. The Turks put to death by caprice and cruelty: I allowed no execution to take place except by virtue of a sentence given according to the law of God, of which I merely considered myself the executor.
“Thus, wherever my columns went, they were accompanied by a kadi and two assistants, one of whom (the chief of the police) carried the judgments into execution. He was not looked upon with aversion on that account, since it is not the executioner who kills, but the law. No doubt many have suffered by my order, but never without a legal sentence. All had committed crimes of some sort, or betrayed their religion. Now, according to our books, whoever aids the enemy with his goods, forfeits his goods; and whoever aids him with his arms, forfeits his head.
“Thanks to the vigilance of my khalifas, of the agas and the kaids, and to the responsibility which I had attached to the tribes for all crimes or thefts committed on their territory, the roads had become perfectly secure. The vigilance of the police left nothing to be desired. In a word, amongst a people living under tents, and consequently difficult to manage and control, owing to the vast spaces over which they were dispersed, I had arrived at such a point that horse-stealing by night was no more known; and a woman could go about alone without fear of being insulted. When comments were made on this great result, and the reason asked, the Arabs replied, ‘The Sultan’s nets are there, we need not use our own.’
“The public morals were equally stimulated by my reforms. Prostitution was severely repressed, and if God had willed it, I should have ended by restoring the Arabs to the path of the Koran, from which they had so widely deviated.
“I had totally forbidden the use of gold and silver on the clothes of the men, for I abhorred the prodigality and luxury which enervates. I only tolerated such ornaments on weapons and on harness. Should we not cherish and adorn what so much contributes to our safety? The women were not included in this prohibition. The weaker sex requires compensation, when man has all the excitements he can desire—war, the chase, mental occupation, government, religion, science.
“I was the first to set an example, by wearing clothes as simple as the meanest of my servants. If I did this, it was certainly not in the fear of being a mark for the balls of the enemy, but because I wished to be able to exact from the Arabs nothing but what I practised myself, and to show them that in the eyes of God it was better to buy arms, ammunition, and horses to make war, than to be covered with fine and expensive, but useless, ornaments.
“Wine and gambling were severely interdicted. Tobacco was likewise prohibited. Not that the use of tobacco is forbidden by our religion, but my soldiers were poor, and I was anxious to keep them from a habit which has a tendency to increase, and which sometimes reaches such a pitch that men have been known to leave their families in misery, and to sell even their clothes, to gratify their passion for it. There was smoking still, but it was only occasionally, and even then in secret. This was already a great step gained. As to the Marabouts, the tolbas, and all who were attached to the government, they renounced the practice of smoking completely. This fact shows, at all events, in what a measure I had succeeded in being obeyed.
“Such was already the extent and success of my organisation; and considering the short space of time which had as yet been allowed me, the reforms were not inconsiderable. They proved, at all events, what I should have ultimately effected. But the son of the French king came with an army from Constantine, and without giving me the slightest notice, traversed the territory which was incontestably mine by the Treaty of the Tafna, fought with the contingents of my Khalifa Ben Salem, at Ben-Hinny, and was thus the cause of the renewal of hostilities.”
It was only by his own constant and unremitting personal supervision that Abdel Kader was enabled to carry forward and complete his extensive plans of reform and amelioration. Ever on the move, reviewing his troops, visiting his arsenals, examining his schools, administering justice, the young Sultan of the Arabs seemed to embody the principle of progress, and, like a beneficent genius, to scatter the blessings of knowledge, security, and contentment through the land.
As soon as it was known that he had arrived in a district, the tribe all hastened to pay their visits of ceremony and respect, vying with each other in their profuse and generous hospitality. Each tribe was preceded by its Kaid on horseback. Then came the men, women, and children, walking two and two, bearing on their heads plates of the national dish—the couscoussia. The more wealthy Arabs formed a procession apart, carrying whole sheep, spitted and roasted on a stake.
On reaching the Sultan’s tent, before which thirty negroes always stood in attendance, the plates were ranged along the ground, and the stakes stuck in a row, until the Sultan had signified his acceptance of the offering, when they at once became the perquisite of his train and escort. The sheiks then entered and kissed hands. Each brought the tribute of his tribe, or produced receipts for its payment, from the khalifa within whose jurisdiction his tribe resided. The commonalty were then admitted and did obeisance. If the day was a Friday, Abdel Kader came forth and preached.
As long as the Sultan remained in any place, he was the sole dispenser of justice. The tent door was the “King’s gate.” There he heard complaints and redressed grievances. In criminal cases he decided without appeal. The Koran always lay open before him. His condemnations were motioned rather than delivered. If he elevated his hand, the prisoner was carried back to prison. If he held it out horizontally, he was led out to execution. If he pointed to the ground, he received the bastinado. Civil cases were referred to the Ulemahs. All decisions were made according to the Koran, to the text and spirit of which Abdel Kader bowed with undeviating reverence and submission. The Koran, in fact, was the guiding star of his public and private life.
At last, Abdel Kadir had succeeded in establishing a machinery of government, which, by the harmonious relationship of its various parts, gave fair promise of success and durability. The simple hierarchy he had created was exactly conformable to the administrative wants and hereditary sentiments of his people. The public functionaries were few, their salaries moderate, their spheres of action well defined. If their power was absolute, and their sway over the public revenues extensive, the lynx-eyed vigilance of the Chief of the State precluded the possibility of tyranny, corruption, or abuse.
With a just appreciation of the beneficial effects resulting from a due regard to the natural gradations of society, and with a thorough knowledge of the instinctive deference paid by the Arabs to blood and descent, he filled all his more important posts with men of noble birth. But those thus selected were, at the same time, men of good character and spotless reputation—examples to be followed, as well as rulers to be obeyed. A high and lofty sense of duty and self-respect thus came to pervade all ranks, from the apex to the basis of the social pyramid; and religion, virtue, honour, and morality, which had been blighted by the withering dominion of the Turks, revived.
Abdel Kader had now performed his task. He had beaten the French. He had signed a glorious peace. His kingdom was a model of order and regularity. He trusted he might now be allowed to lay down the sceptre. He had come forward at his country’s call. He had vindicated its choice. He now sought permission to return to that seclusion and retirement, that life of study and devotion, which he had so reluctantly abandoned. With this view, he wrote to the Sultan of Morocco.
After the usual titles due to sovereignty, the letter thus proceeded:—
“The people of Algeria are now united. The standard of the Djehad is furled. The roads are secure and practicable. The usages of barbarism have been abandoned and obliterated. A girl can traverse the land alone, by night and by day, from east to west, without fearing obstruction. A man even meeting the murderer of his brother dares not retaliate, but appeals for justice to the authorities.
“The book of Almighty God and the law of His Prophet are the only rules of adjudication. Provisions for the support of our army abound, as well as men to fill the ranks. All this must be attributed to the blessing of God, obtained through your prayers and approbation. Otherwise, we should have been the weakest of men for such achievements.
“We did not come forward and assume the task of government from ambitious motives, or a desire for exaltation and power, or a love for the vanities of this world; but (and God knows the secrets of my heart) to fight the battles of the Lord, to prevent the fratricidal effusion of the blood of Moslems, to protect their properties, and to pacify the country, as zeal for the faith and patriotism require.
“We have been ever on the alert, night and day, moving through the length and breadth of the land, in mountains and in plains; sometimes leading forth to battle, and at other times regulating affairs. We now beg your Highness to send one of your sons, grandsons, or servants, to assume the reins of government; for now there is neither trouble nor opposition from any quarter. I will be the first to serve under him, and to exert my poor abilities to the utmost, to counsel and advise him.
“I trust to that consideration and indulgence which distinguishes you, to accept this my prayer to be relieved from the charge which is weighing on me.
“I send your Highness some presents which have been sent me by the King of the French, from which I have only retained a pair of pistols. Also some of the best mules in Algeria. Their number, together with that of the other articles, are detailed in the account enclosed in this letter.
“We beg you to accept our excuses, and hope for the expression of your pleasure and approbation. The presents will be delivered to you by my brother, whom I have deputed in my place, to seek the honour of an interview with your Highness, and to convey to you the dutiful regards and assurances of devotion of your son and servant,
“Abdel Kader ibn Mehi-ed-deen.
“October, 1838.
“Moharrem, 1254.”
The words written by Brougham on Washington might, indeed, have been admirably applied to Abdel Kader at this remarkable juncture of his life:—“A triumphant warrior, where the most sanguine had a right to despair; a successful ruler in all the difficulties of a course wholly untried; but a warrior whose sword only left its sheath when the first law of our nature commanded it to be drawn; and a ruler who, having tasted of supreme power, gently and unostentatiously desired that the cup might pass from him, nor would suffer more to wet his lips, than the most solemn and sacred duty to his country and his God required.”
Sultan Abderahman, in a highly complimentary reply, refused even for a moment to hear of such self-renunciation on the part of one who had shown himself so eminently fitted to command, to organise, to renovate, and to save his country. He called on Abdel Kader, in the sacred name of Islamism, to stand forth, as ever, the champion of the Djehad, to complete his noble work, and to extend and accomplish his victorious career. Finally, he begged the young Sultan to send him his shirt, that he might hang it up in his private mosque as a saintly relic!
1839.
Scarcely had the “Treaty of the Tafna” been signed, when its defects and inconsistencies became apparent. It was impossible that a measure, hurried on by General Bugeaud to a hasty and immature conclusion, solely in order to enable him to send the troops under his command in the province of Oran, that they might take part in the siege of Constantine, could have had any other result.
The General, defending his act in the French Chamber, during the session of 1838, thus expressed himself:—“Much has been said about the defects in the details of the treaty. I frankly avow there were some, but I think their importance has been exaggerated. There is only one of any consequence, and that is the expression, ‘as far as the Wady Kuddra, and beyond.’ This word may imply, as far as the province of Constantine. The expression is certainly vague; but it must be remembered that I was hard pushed for time. A steamer was waiting for my dispatch. It was absolutely necessary that I should conclude for war or for peace.”
But it was precisely the doubt hanging over the proper interpretation of this word as it stood in Arabic, which kept open the door for endless disputes and misunderstandings, and ended by nullifying the treaty altogether. So hastily and inconsiderately, indeed, had it been drawn up, that a few days after the peace, when a French detachment had occasion to go from Arzew to Mostaganem, Abdel Kader, without opposing its march, sent to Bugeaud to remark that the French troops had violated his territory. The complaint was perfectly just, inasmuch as no mention had been made in the treaty of the right of passage.
The evils arising from incorrect translations are notorious. In the diplomatic relations, between Abdel Kader and the French authorities, more than one had occurred, which, had they been discovered by the latter, might have entailed serious complications. But Abdel Kader was satisfied, in general, with what he had written in Arabic, and the French authorities with what they had written in French, and no more questions were asked.
One instance may be given. The French had always placed at the head of their treaties, that Abdel Kader acknowledged the sovereignty of France. Abdel Kader never dreamed of making any such admission. It would have cost him his throne. What he had written, in Arabic, in the article he subscribed was, properly translated, “The Emir Abdel Kader acknowledges that there is a French Sultan, and that he is great.” The difference is wide.
In a matter of limits of territory, moreover, such matters become of vital importance; and Abdel Kader was the last person to yield a point, when he felt he was borne out by justice and common sense in maintaining it.
By the French version of the 2nd article of the “Treaty of the Tafna,” France is declared to possess, in the province of Algiers, “Algiers, the Sahel, the plain of the Metija, extending to the east as far as the Wady Kuddra, and beyond.” So the French chose to translate the Arabic word “fauk,” which really means, “above.” The Gordian knot which the French had made, and which they at last unscrupulously cut with the sword, was this: they had given themselves a limit, and yet wanted to have no limit. All their efforts to make Abdel Kader stultify himself, by subscribing to this solecism, were unavailing.
Because the Arab Sultan maintained the absurdity of such a proceeding, and finally threw down the gauntlet of defiance rather than sacrifice the interests of his subjects and co-religionists, he was held up to execration as a rebel, as a breaker of treaties, as a man of wild and unprincipled ambition. He was treated as if he were contending with the lawful possessors of the land; not fighting, as was truly the case, against invaders, who had come to its shores denying all schemes of aggrandisement, and pledged to achieve the single object for which they came, and then withdraw.
In presence of a treaty, which each party read and construed after its own fashion, political and commercial relations of any durable or confidential nature were clearly impossible. An attempt, at least, to come to some understanding was indispensable. The task of entering on a discussion with Abdel Kader on the subject devolved on Marshal Valée, who assumed the functions of Governor-General in Algiers, on November 30th, 1837.
The Marshal applied to the French Ministry for instructions. The reply thus simply and categorically announces the doctrine of appropriation. “By the words, ‘Wady Kuddra, and beyond,’ must be understood, all the country in the province of Algiers which is beyond the Wady Kuddra, up to the province of Constantine. The evidence of right, independent of political considerations, permits no concession on that point. Since we are masters of the province of Constantine, we cannot be without land communication with it.”
The Marshal forwarded this view of the question to Abdel Kader, with his own comments, as follows:—“France has ceded to you all the province of Oran, less the reserved districts; all the ancient Beylik of Tittery, without exception; lastly, all that part of the province of Algiers situate to the west of the Chiffa. But you can have no pretension to any part of that province which lies to the east of that river. As for the Beylik of Constantine, about that there can be no misunderstanding, as it is not even spoken of in the treaty; and, moreover, it was placed under the rule of Achmet Bey when the treaty was signed.”
Abdel Kader replied;—“As regards the Beylik of Constantine, there can be no difficulty: on that point we are agreed. But it is not so as regards the province of Algiers. Remember what happened at the time of the treaty. I wished to limit you to the plain of Algiers. General Bugeaud begged me to extend this limit, and I consented. I ceded the country as far as the Wady Kuddra towards the east, and as far as Blidah, inclusively, towards the south. The expression, ‘as far as the Wady Kuddra and above,’ must have a value. If not, why was it inserted in the treaty? If it signifies anything, it must mean that you are limited to the east, as you are to the west.
“To justify your interpretation, you base your reasoning on the necessity there is for you to have a land communication between Constantine and Algiers. But you admit, in the same breath, that Constantine was not yours when the treaty was signed. Consequently, you clearly could not have reserved for yourself a tract of country in anticipation of an event which had not yet happened. Besides, is it anything extraordinary, that you should have done towards the east, what you have done towards the west?
“Arzew and Mostaganem belong to you; yet you have not claimed or appropriated the tract of country which lies between those two towns. Do not let us fling ourselves into interpretations. Let us keep to the text; and let us frankly say, that all that portion of the province of Algiers which is not included between the Chiffa on the west, and Wady Kuddra on the east, and the first chain of mountains on the south, belongs to me.”
“But,” answered the Marshal, “your interpretation is erroneous; for you forget the word beyond, which is also in the treaty. ‘As far as Wady Kuddra, and beyond’—which evidently meant, at the signing of the treaty, up to the very limits of the province of Algiers in that direction. But since that time we have taken Constantine. It means now, therefore, as far as the frontiers of Tunis.”
Nowithstanding this pat of the lion’s paw, Abdel Kader retorted with the coolness of a logician.
“The word beyond,” he wrote, “signifies something; but the Arab word fauk translated as you translate it—beyond—means nothing at all. Let us make an experiment. Take any twenty Arabs you choose to select, and ask them the meaning of the word fauk. If they say that the natural interpretation of this word can, by any twisting of meaning, be made to signify ‘beyond,’ I will accept your interpretation. Take all the territory between Wady Kuddra and the province of Constantine. But if, on the other hand, they all decide that the word, what you translate ‘beyond,’ really and strictly means above, accept the proposal I make you. This proposal is to give over to you, as a limit towards the east, the first crest of mountains which rises above the Wady Kuddra.”
The Marshal prudently declined the test. He might have declared war at once; but war with Abdel Kader was not so enticing as to be lightly undertaken. A better mode of getting over the difficulty suggested itself. Abdel Kader was ardently engaged in the task of organisation. Peace was indispensable to him. Attentions, flatteries, cajolements—or, these failing, petty annoyances and harassing vexations—might mollify or weary out his tenacious spirit. Both were tried; but both ineffectually.
In the mean time Abdel Kader was firmly establishing himself in all the districts to the south of Tittery. With a boldness and rapidity of movement, which paralysed and subdued, he laid his iron hand on all the tribes on the borders of the province of Constantine, who were known or even suspected of intriguing with the French. He boldly occupied the disputed territory beyond the Wady Kuddra. More than that, he made it the scene of one of those acts of uncompromising severity, with which he visited all traitors to the faith.
A colony of Kolouglis had lately settled there, trusting for their security to French protection. Their kaid, a Turk, had received French investiture. Abdel Kader summoned them to break off their treasonable connection. They refused. The French supplied them with arms and ammunition to resist. Abdel Kader swept down on them, crushed them, and cut off the Frenchified kaid’s head. All the tribes of the vast district of Sebaou instantly sent in their adhesion; and the Sultan appointed Achmet Ibn Salem to be his Khalifa over them.
In the midst of these successes, Abdel Kader was threatened with a rival. Achmet Bey, when turned out of Constantine, had taken refuge in Mount Aures. He had commenced agitating amongst the tribes of the district of Zab. Biskara, its capital, was in the possession of his most implacable enemy, Farhat-ibn-Said. This chief applied to the French for assistance to defend the country against the Bey, promising that, in case of success, it should be made to submit to French domination. The French were lukewarm; and so he turned to Abdel Kader.
Before entering the Zab country by force of arms, Abdel Kader considered it expedient to inform the French Governor at Constantine of his intention. As the friend and ally of France, he said, he was going to quell the disturbances which had arisen there, and save it from anarchy. Since agitation so near a French province might prove contagious, he considered it was in the interest of France that he undertook the expedition.
Having sent this communication, Abdel Kader ordered Ibn Berkani, his Khalifa at Miliana, to collect his forces, and march on Biskara. Farhat received him with open arms. A combined attack was made on Achmet Bey, who was defeated, and hid himself in the Sahara. Farhat expected to be named the Sultan’s Khalifa over the Zab. To his disgust, the latter appointed one of his own chiefs, Ben Azouz, to that post. In revenge, he immediately began to correspond with the French. The correspondence was intercepted. Of his treason there could be no doubt. He was seized, and sent in chains to Tekedemt.
Abdel Kader was now absolute sovereign of two-thirds of Algeria. The country which he had newly occupied, to the south-east of the province of Algeria, was one of the greatest utility to the French, since the garrison of Constantine drew from it its provisions, and they could not but feel that Abdel Kader could now at any moment stop the supply.
Well aware that all those movements would awaken the jealousy, if not excite the alarm, of the French authorities in the regency, Abdel Kader made a step towards setting himself right with the French Government at home. After the treaty of the Tafna, Louis Philippe had sent him a magnificent present of costly arms. These gifts Abdel Kader had forwarded, as usual, to the Sultan of Morocco. The arms he prized but little; but they enabled him to pay a graceful tribute to one, on whose friendship and assistance he greatly relied.
Miloud-ibn-Arasch and Durand, the Jew, were now sent to Paris to return the compliment. They took with them six splendid Arab horses, as a gift to the King of the French. The presentation of this complimentary peace-offering was the ostensible object of their mission. But their secret instructions were to soften down any acrimonious feeling which might exist on the part of the French Government towards their master—to explain away his recent conduct in such a manner as to leave a favourable impression—and to procure, if possible, a confirmation of his reading of the disputed article in the Treaty of the Tafna.
Marshal Valée was fully cognisant of the whole of this proceeding. In fact, he had contrived to see Ibn Arasch for a short half-hour, on his way, at Algiers; and during this interview he had immediately began to argue about the true meaning of the article. Divining the real object of the ostentatious embassy, he had written to his Government, warning it against making any concessions which might interfere with his own course of negotiation. The Arab envoys, consequently, were graciously received; their horses were admired and praised. They themselves were brilliantly entertained. All the sights of Paris were shown them; and, in the French phrase of the time, they were the “lions” of the day. But when they broached the subject of the disputed article, their mouths were stopped with an evasion or a compliment.
On their return to Algiers, after their fruitless mission, the envoys were summoned by the Marshal to an interview. He drew out of his pocket an amended version of the treaty, in which the ground contested was given over to the French, Abdel Kader receiving in exchange the districts of the Beni Djead, Hamza, and Oranougla; whilst, at the same time, the measures of corn and barley which by the treaty he had engaged to furnish, were remitted to him. Ibn Arasch declared he was not authorised to negotiate.
The envoy was still further pressed, and he at last offered to affix his own seal to the document, to show that personally he acceded to the stipulation. But he positively refused to be answerable for his master’s approval. The perplexity of the affair was mitigated by a proposal on the part of the French to send a commission to the Sultan, and accordingly a commission started. On reaching Miliana, the Khalifa there refused to allow the French commissioners to proceed, without instructions from the Sultan. Ibn Arasch feigned illness, and escaped to Mascara.
The Marshal was again thrown on his own resources. He propitiated the Emir by friendly offices. He sent him cannon and ammunition to assist him in the siege of Ain Maadi. These timely succours arrived there most opportunely; in fact they turned the scale of fortune, then trembling in the balance. But no concession was obtained. Abdel Kader felt himself in the right. He would not be put in the wrong.
He returned to Tekedemt, January 10th, 1839. His envoy, trembling and doubtful as to the reception he should receive, presented himself, to give an account of his late proceedings. When Abdel Kader learnt that he had affixed his seal to a document which gave away all for which he had been so long and so persistently contending, he was almost beside himself with vexation and anger. “Never,” he exclaimed, “never will I ratify a convention which gives the French a land communication between Constantine and Algiers, and thus lose all the advantages I have gained by their oversight in circumscribing Algiers within a circle formed by the sea, the Chiffa, and the summits of the lesser Atlas, immediately above the Wady Kuddra.”
The vacillating policy of the French Government had hitherto prevented it from taking any decisive step for the settlement of this interminable dispute. Now, it talked of confining the French occupation to Bona, Algiers, and Oran. Anon, it announced its intention of asserting its rights in the interior by force of arms. In the meantime Abdel Kader was hourly extending his dominion. Where was all this to end? The momentous question could no longer be avoided, and the French Government at last determined to act. Abdel Kader it could not reach. But his agents were within its grasp. It determined to operate on him through them.
By the treaty of the Tafna, Abdel Kader was clearly entitled to nominate what agents he pleased, to reside near the French authorities in all places occupied by French garrisons. These agents were now, under various pretences, arbitrarily ignored, or assailed with studied affronts. Some inoffensive Moors who wanted to go and settle on Abdel Kader’s territory—a privilege which the treaty had secured to all Mussulmans—were rudely treated and violently detained within the French lines. A wheelwright whom Abdel Kader had long been in the habit of employing to make gun-carriages for him in Algiers, had his shop closed and was expelled the town.
By the 7th Article, Abdel Kader was entitled to be furnished with whatever arms or ammunition, or materials for war, he might require, by the French authorities, at cost price. His agent at Algiers was expressly instructed to facilitate such a transaction. He had been further useful in procuring for his master French mechanics from Paris, to superintend his various internal improvements, in strict conformity with the 10th Article. The agent was now suddenly arrested, put into chains, and sent to France. Abdel Kader appealed to Marshal Valée against such monstrous infringements of his rights. He was told the Marshal had unlimited authority, and could do what he pleased.
His consul at Algiers was a certain Italian, named Garavini, who was also consular agent for the United States of America. For nearly two years this agent had exercised this double function without molestation. He was now informed that the French Government refused to acknowledge him in the first capacity. Abdel Kader had just returned from Ain Maadi when he received this notification. He immediately penned the following letter to Marshal Valée:—
“The Prince of the Faithful, who defends by arms the cause of God, Il Hadj Abdel Kader, son of Mehi-ed-deen (whom God preserve in his holy keeping), to the Governor of Algiers. Grace be to those who conform themselves to the will of God.
“Our consul, Garavini, has informed us that he is no longer allowed to occupy himself with our affairs. You have written him a letter, of which he has sent me a copy. This letter we have read, and we have understood it. It prescribes to him to leave our service, and announces that you wish his place to be supplied by an Arab.
“In the first place, we cannot find any Arab who could perform his functions in such a manner as to give satisfaction to our two nations, and promote their reciprocal interests. Garavini is a wise and discreet man, who only upholds what may be advantageous to both parties. In the next place, France has no right to force us to take a consul against our will and inclination. It is for us to judge what is best for us to do. If you wish to name an Arab as your consul with us, do so. We shall offer no objection. Why do you interfere with our choice of agents? Do we interfere with yours? Your way of acting violates the sacred principles of honour which ought to animate our respective modes of proceeding.
“It would almost seem that you were desirous of seeing disorders once more prevail in the districts of Algiers and Oran. Individuals wishing to come and reside on our territory have not only been arbitrarily prevented, but have been fined, and thrown into prison. When our consul, Garavini, protested against such proceedings, you disdained to reply to him; you would have nothing to say to him. Such conduct denotes violence of character. It shows that you desire to provoke misunderstandings between us and the French Government. We have chosen a Christian out of your own town, and you reject him!
“However, since usages are thus violated, since we are thwarted in what regards the good of our service, since there is evidently a design to lower us, we are ready for a rupture as soon as it may please you. All the world knows that we have chosen Garavini. We shall choose no other. Write to your ministry, therefore, that we mean to keep our consul Garavini. We expect an immediate answer.