Most writers describe them as bigoted, ferocious, cruel, treacherous, and licentious; insolent when treated with civility; servile if you domineer. At the same time these writers will adduce incidents or tell stories which shall illustrate Moorish hospitality, or family duties affectionately fulfilled, or a sense and love of justice, or even traits of compassion. The truth seems to be, that great distinctions should be drawn between the mass and individual, and between each in a state of quiet or of excitement. As a people, the Moors are probably arrogant and contemptuous towards foreigners; but these qualities might have been paralleled in Europe, nay, perhaps in Britain, some fifty years ago, if not now. Neither Spaniard, Italian, Frenchman, nor Englishman is in his heart of hearts truly cosmopolitan.

A

Moorish rabble, stimulated by religious bigotry, is unquestionably a fearful body; but it may be doubted whether a Spanish mob would be one whit better under the circumstances. It we look to what Frenchmen are when under political excitement, as exemplified in the first Revolution, the same doubt may be entertained of the French. It might be said that the Moors, if not more cruel, are more torturous in their cruelty. It may also be said that the Moors have received no light or softening influence from modern improvements, but are as they were in those days when Spain burnt heretics by scores at an auto-da-fée, and France suspended her victims to opinion over slow fires, and, much later, broke criminals upon the wheel, the court and ladies of fashion looking on approvingly in all these cases. The bigotry of the Moors seems rather a passion than a principle, though they pride themselves upon the purity of their Mahometanism compared with other Mussulmans. Jackson says that 'the toleration of the Western Arabs and Moors is such, that the Emperor (although religiously disposed himself) will allow, on proper application being made, any sect which does not acknowledge a plurality of gods, to appropriate a place to public worship; and even the more ignorant and bigoted Mohammedans

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maintain that every man should be allowed to worship God according to his own conscience, or agreeably to the religion of his ancestors.' The same authority tells us, that 'the state of domestic comfort enjoyed by Christians established in Morocco is far from being impeded by those degrading distinctions practised in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries where they are not allowed to ride on horses (the Prophet's beasts), to wear green (the Prophet's colour), &c. &c. Here they may do either.' And it should be observed, that Jackson is about the highest authority we have. He resided in different parts of Morocco for sixteen years, and travelled through the country; he was well acquainted with the language; and his position of merchant and vice-consul brought him into contact both with high and low, and on social as well as business occasions. And the usual effects of knowledge are illustrated in his case: he speaks better of the people than most other writers, and exhibits more tolerance towards them.

At the same time the general judgment is usually right, and there are certain leading characteristics. popularly attributed to the Moor which seem to be correct. They are fickle, as we learn from Iago, These Moors are changeable in their wills.' Like all Orientals, they are cruel and licentious either from nature or example; they are also deceitful and treacherous, which qualities a tyrannical government may force upon them; and they have enough of negro, or at least of African, blood in their veins to be presuming, if not insolent, where they dare.

The taxation of Morocco is sometimes spoken of as if it were merely arbitrary, except the land revenue. This is scarcely the fact. A por tion of it undoubtedly arises from voluntary gifts, that must be given, as is the case now throughout the East, and was the case throughout Europe in the dark, if not the middle ages. But a large portion of the revenue of Morocco is drawn from regular sources, however irregularly and tyrannically it may be levied.

1. There is a land-tax, grounded on the Oriental notion that pro

perty in the soil centres in the sovereign (an idea which is acted upon as regards unappropriated lands, not only in England, but in America). The Oriental theory is rather rent than tax. The practice, at all events in Morocco, is of the nature of tithe. It is a levy of one-tenth (ten per cent.) on the produce of land, and one-fiftieth (two per cent.) on animals, as camels, horses, cattle, sheep, &c. It may be paid either in money or in kind.

2. There is a duty on fish, but heavier. It is usually farmed; and the farmer pays, according to Jackson, about twenty per cent. on the value of the fish caught; but what the fisherman pays to the farmer is, we suppose, a matter between themselves.

3. Customs duties, both on importation and exportation. These vary with the caprice of the reigning Emperor (who sometimes prohibits exportation altogether, unless to Gibraltar), just as customs duties vary in Europe as circumstances or opinions change.

4. The hereditary tax. The Emperor is heir to all his subjects who die without heirs; and on оссаsions, as in the case of the plague of 1799-1800, this tax produces large sums.

5. A poll tax, levied on the Jews. This is a species of income-tax raised by themselves, and may amount to about ten per cent. on their income.

6. A gate duty, not so minute as the French octroi, but of similar nature. It is an impost, varying in amount, on every camel-load of merchandize entering into or passing out of a town.

7. Fines. These are levied on offenders, especially for disturbing the peace, or on douars or encampments when a robbery occurs in their district, which the law holds they ought to have prevented. Both of these are analogous to old European practice, the latter having a strong resemblance to an AngloSaxon law that made the district responsible.

8. Some of these taxes may be impolitic, and all may be levied arbitrarily or corruptly. Still they are regular in theory. Another great source of revenue may be con

siderable in amount, but is extremely irregular in its nature. Substantially it consists of presents. Every man who approaches the Emperor, must approach him with a present. Access to the ministerial servants, or to influential courtiers, is obtained in the same mode. The bashaws must be propitiated by a gift, so must the alkalde and inferior officers; even the cadi's attention is called to the case by a present. In what proportion the Emperor shares with his subordinate officers may be difficult to say; but either immediately or eventually he gets the lion's share. It is easy to imagine the abuses to which this custom may give rise, and difficult to suppose that it does not produce deep corruption. At the same time, it should be remembered that two centuries ago the practice was common throughout Europe, and is not yet extinct on the Continent. Jackson seemed to consider it so established a custom, that little evil flowed from it, because every one followed it; nay, that it had a certain kind of advantage. The ministers and other persons in authority do not conceal their operations, but will tell you what you are to pay for such a privilege or favour, which has at least this good effect, that you have a certain quid pro quo, and are not seduced under false promises to attend on ministers ineffectually; your business is expedited generally to your satisfaction.'

What the total of all these sources of revenue may amount to, is really unknown. Some writers seem to have gone upon the principle of turning ducats or some Moroccan coin into pounds sterling. The last and probably the most correct, is contained in the Moniteur de l'Armée, quoted by the Times. The piastre is rated at about five francs, or say four shillings.

Piastres. 2,600,000 900,000

Surplus in piastres. 1,500,000

As Morocco is about the only State that always contrives to have a surplus revenue, the Emperor's treasury is reported to be wondrously full. Here again, however,

1859.]

the reports differ, and there is the same difficulty in approaching certainty as in other statistical matter. The amount has been rated as high as eleven millions (sterling), an improbable sum; but the golden hope of looting the Treasury' may have been one reason for the warlike pertinacity of Spain.

The foreign commerce of Morocco is chiefly in raw materials, such as grain, fruits, and gums, as well as live stock and provisions to Gibraltar, and formerly, if not so much of late, to Spain and Portugal. The celebrated morocco leather is in some degree a manufacture; for though we think the quality of the skin is an essential point, yet a good deal undoubtedly depends upon the dye. It is also reported that there are mines both of the precious and useful metals in the Empire, but this requires confirmation.' That the foreign trade could be wonderfully extended under a better and more regular government, where the duties were certain, the trader secure, and the people encouraged to industry by leaving them free to follow its natural promptings and enjoy its profits, does not admit of doubt.

The

Moors have a few manufactures, the remains of former industry, of which the only articles applicable to a foreign trade with Europe are a species of carpet somewhat inferior to Turkish, but cheaper; a beautiful kind of matting, made of the palmetto, or wild palm-tree; and some silk goods. With the other Barbary States they carry on a trade in haiks, a kind of cross between the Scotch plaid and the Roman toga; and the well-known cap, called from the city where it is manufactured, Fez. This city, too, produces pottery, slippers, embroidery, &c., and is, with Tafilet, the chief seat of the leather manufactory. The Arabs make a species of black hair-cloth from camels' hair, which is impervious to rain, and of which they form their tents. Still, under the best system and for years to come, the most natural exportation of Morocco must be articles of the nature of raw materials rather than of manufactured goods. The same obscurity hangs over the extent of the commerce of Morocco as over

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everything else dependent on statistics and accurate accounts. Durrieu says that the maritime commerce of Morocco may be estimated at about two millions of pounds sterling; of this about two-thirds are carried on by England through Gibraltar, and the remaining third is divided unequally among the other Christian Powers, and the two_regencies of Tunis and Tripoli.' The nearest official return we have to the time when Durrieu's Present State of Morocco was published (London, 1854), is an Account of the Exports from the United Kingdom to all Countries in the Year 1852.' These exports are given to Gibraltar Morocco.

Total.

£510,889 110, 126

. £621,015 which total only reaches about onehalf of the amount represented by Durrieu, even if everything shipped to Gibraltar was afterwards sent to Morocco. This, however, is obviously impossible, especially as the Spaniards accuse Gibraltar of being the great smuggling depôt whence English goods are poured into Spain. The 'return' to Morocco doubtless is the nearest the truth, regard being had to the difference between Custom-house values, cost prices in England, and selling prices in Morocco.

When there is so much difficulty in matters of trade and general statistics, it is not likely that precision would be found in so knotty a subject as currency; nor is there. The unit of the money of account is the mitkal (called by Europeans the ducat), which, according to Waterston's Manual of Commerce, contains 10 ounces, 40 blankeels, or 960 fluces. Thus far all is plain sailing, though some of these are imaginary coins; the discrepancy begins when we try to ascertain their value in English money. Lempriere rates the ounce at about 5d. English, which would raise the mitkal to some 48.; Jackson gives it at 38. 8d.; Hay in one place at 2s. 6d., in another it will amount to nearly 28. 8d.; while Waterston makes it 38. Id. Durrieu writes thus: The bandqui of gold is worth two Spanish duros, or eight shillings. The silver bandqui

thirteen reals, or about one and eightpence (a strange discrepancy as to the respective values of gold and silver), and something less than a farthing. The copper flous (fluce) four maravedis, or two-thirds of a halfpenny.' These would seem to be actual currency; and no doubt all common Spanish coins pass current in the ports and large towns. For practical purposes, Hay's estimate of the mitkal, 2s. 6d. to 28. 8d., is probably the best.

All authorities agree that Morocco has declined, and that every thing is going, or more properly has gone, to ruin. Nor does there appear, we must frankly say, much prospect of native renovation; for in addition to the narrow sectarianism of spirit that seems to prevent Mahometanism from self-reinvigoration, Morocco has causes peculiar to itself in the claims of its Emperor, and the opposite character of its races, which furnish slender hopes of internal reform. The only chance is the advent of some great Sultan, who should establish a sense of security in his people, refrain from the incessant meddling with foreign commerce, which has been the bane of maritime trade, and allow the people to develop the riches of their country. Such a monarch, however, is a very unlikely accident.

But as the mismanagement of an estate does not entitle another person to seize it, so we know not that the 'comity of nations' entitles one nation rightly to seize the country

of another because that country is not made the best of, though the principle may have been acted upon. But were public justice otherwise, it is by no means clear that the French or Spaniards would make the country any better or richer than do the Moroccans themselves. The past history and present state of the French and Spanish colonial possessions do not warrant any such conclusion. Neither does Algeria; for that region "as kept in a chronic state of warfare during the earlier part of the Gallic occupation, and since incessant war has ceased by the submission or destruction of the native tribes, the colony has done little to advance the commerce or wealth of its parent State or of any other country. The return which gives the exports of Great Britain to Morocco as £110,000, shows for Algeria the munificent sum of £6000! But there are more important questions connected with national life than imports and exports and markets. These things indeed are of great importance in their way. They furnish means of living in comfort or luxury, as may be.

They iudicate the nature of the government and the dispositions of the people. Brought to this test, not a great deal can be said for either France or Spain. Certainly not enough to reconcile us to their occupation of Morocco, or to the establishment of such an influence there as would supersede ours, such as it is.*

WE

the shaded salon of my house in Valetta when Victor, the young midshipman, brought in the letters and newspapers, one glowing afternoon in the beginning of April, 1857.

It was a strange but very welcome chance that brought Victor and his ship to Malta at that time, for Mrs. Riversdale had not seen this her youngest darling since they parted in the spring of that terrible '54 which sounded the knell of so many tender home ties, and made Great Britain to give forth throughout her length and breadth such a voice of weeping as had not been heard for well nigh forty peaceful years.

Many and bitter tears had been shed in the Riversdale family since that parting hour, for Claude, their pride and joy, lay in a soldier's grave on the fatal heights before Sebastopol, and one nearly as dear was hovering on the brink of the grave from wounds received in the same deadly struggle; and the journey to Malta which my uncle and aunt and Mabel undertook at my urgent request to see poor Charlie Powis, was almost as much needed by the grief-worn mother as by the gentle girl whose heart was longing to comfort and tend her betrothed.

Detained much against my will in the service I undertook at Malta when the war began, hoping to make it a stepping-stone to more active employment, my chief consolation was that it placed me in a position to offer a quiet restingplace to the many sick and wounded friends who arrived there on their homeward journey. But in none had I felt the deep and painful interest inspired by Charlie Powis, who had now been my guest for nearly eighteen months, during which time I could not conceal from myself that his life was slowly but too surely ebbing

CROSS.

deacon, surrounded as he was by duties and business of all kinds at home, found it irresistible; and they had been nearly a month at Malta when the unexpected arrival of the Minotaur brought Victor there to complete the family party.

On this said sultry afternoon of April, then, we were all assembled -the three elders near an open window looking into the courtyard, with its fountain and pomegranate trees, and Charlie reclining on a sofa near the door, with Mabel, as usual, on a low seat by his side. He was more languid and weak of late, for the first flush of happy excitement caused by Mabel's society had subsided, and the heat of the nights began to deprive him of sleep; so we at the window were discussing the advisability-we did not like to say the possibility, though that was the word we all thought of-of taking him to England before the heat became more intense, when Victor bounded up the stairs three or four at a time, and threw his straw hat and a shower of letters and newspapers on the table.

'Pouf exclaimed he. What will you all give me for exposing my precious brains to such a sun as this, and all that you may have your letters an hour before the time ?'

Nobody answered, for all were intent on their letters. There were some for each of us, except Charlie, who signed to Mabel to give him the latest English newspaper.

We were all so much absorbed that it startled even Mabel, whose thoughts were rarely indeed drawn from the invalid, when Charlie suddenly jumped up, his face crimson with excitement.

'Who has done this?' he said, panting for breath.

'Done what? What is the matter? Don't agitate yourself, dear Charlie,' said Mrs. Riversdale, anxiously. But he paid no attention to her, and held the newspaper towards me with a reproachful look.

"This must be your doing, Herbert. I wish you had asked me first. I would rather than anything this had not happened,' he said, in broken sentences. 3 с