CHAPTER XXIII

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THIRD MISSION TO FAS. 1879-1880.

In the autumn of 1879 Sir John writes, ‘State of Morocco better, but the Government is such a wretched one that I am always finding the stone I had rolled up, back again at the bottom! A vigorous tyrant would be preferable to our good, well-meaning Sultan.’

He decided on undertaking his long-deferred visit to the Moorish Court in the following spring, with a view of bringing his personal influence to bear on the Sultan and stimulating him to attempt some measure of reform. He was not, however, sanguine of success. In February, 1880, he writes:—

Rain has fallen in abundance, crops look well, and Moors are holding up their heads again, though the Government at Fas is as bad as bad can be, the new Uzir having been selected because he is a relative of the Sultan, and not for his fitness. I expect to have very uphill work at the Court. A clever rascal is better than an ignorant, corrupt dolt, which latter, I fear, is Uzir Mokhta.

And again in March:—

‘I have faint hope of doing much good when I have to deal with an ignorant fanatic, and shall endeavour to treat direct with the Sultan, who is intelligent but stupidly avaricious. I say stupidly, for the system is pursued of killing the goose to get the golden eggs.’

‘I am overwhelmed with work,’ he writes on March 27, on the eve of his departure, ‘as we are off on the 3rd. Sultan has sent us handsome tents, led horses and mules, fifty escort and forty baggage animals. We shall be at Fas, I suppose, on 13th or 14th. Some of our party will return by the end of the month. I fear I shall be detained till the middle of May. Moors, like all Orientals, try to wear out a negotiation by dilatoriness, in the hope that one will accept half, merely to get rid of the business one may take in hand.

‘This is an Augean stable. I have long flourished my broom on the threshold, but with little hope of clearing away the muck which has accumulated in centuries. There is now a dawn of hope that the civilised world will take better interest in the destiny of this fine country and people, who for centuries in Spain were in the van of science, literature, and art.

‘_Entre nous_, I brought about the Conference at Madrid. I fear, however, so many interests will clash that we shall not be able to get rid of all the foreign vultures which prey upon Morocco, and that no measures will be adopted for urging the Sultan to abolish a system which is equivalent to preying on his own vitals.

‘The French are very active about the railway to the Sudan. As the road will pass near, or even I believe through, a part of Morocco, we may expect to hear of troubles which it is to be apprehended will bring about a conflict. Of course Morocco will be crushed, though I do not suppose either Great Britain, or other countries having interests in the Mediterranean, will ever allow the Straits to be held by France or any other Power. It is a disgrace, however, to the civilised world if this wretched Government is allowed to drag on. Sultan must be required to introduce reforms. I shall preach and try to rouse him; but I shall have a nest of hornets about me both at Fas and Tangier.

‘N.B.—No cups of coffee to be drunk that have not been tasted by my host first, or you will hear of a belly-ache!’

The Mission started on April 2, and on the 25th Sir John writes from Fas:—

We had a pleasant journey here, and our companions are agreeable, clever men.

Reception on entering Fas unusually demonstrative. The Sultan most gracious; but he is surrounded by venal and ignorant Ministers whose only aim is to fill their own pockets, so my preachings and prayings will, I fear, not result in any radical reforms.

When my back is turned, Sultan will be deceived, and the progress in cow-tail fashion will continue.

Some of the petty obstacles which beset his path and the way in which he overcame them may be gathered from the following account written by Sir John of an interview with the Uzir Sid Mokhta.

Having learnt that it was not the intention of the Uzir to return my visit of ceremony on arrival, I sent a message to him to this effect: ‘On what day and at what hour will it be convenient for the Uzir to return the visit of ceremony I propose to pay him?’

He replied that he could not return the visit of any person, Mohammedan or Christian, as he was connected by marriage with the Sultan. To this my reply was, through the interpreter, that I could not admit such an excuse, for if he was connected in the female line by marriage with Sultan Hassan, an ancestor of my family descended in direct line from Queen Arabella of Scotland. Therefore, on the same pretext of alliance with royalty, I could decline to call upon him! After an interchange of many messages, this question of etiquette was referred to the Sultan, who declared that the Uzir was to return my visit the day after I had called.

This Uzir had also declined to introduce the word ‘Sir’ in his letters to me, or to put the equivalent in Arabic, giving as an excuse that it was contrary to the precepts of the Mohammedan religion to address any Christian by a term which was, as he had been given to understand, equivalent to ‘Sid,’ meaning Lord or Master.

To this I replied that unless he prefixed the title, which my own Sovereign had given me and which was made use of in Her Majesty’s letter of credence to the Sultan, it was out of the question to expect that I should address him as ‘Sid’ or by any other title. The Uzir offered to address me verbally, or in writing, by the Spanish word ‘Caballero.’ I replied that I was not a Spaniard, and therefore declined to be addressed by a Spanish title; but if from a religious point of view he persisted in declining to use the English word ‘Sir’ or a synonymous Arabic title in writing to me, I should, in addressing him a letter, give him, in addition to that of Uzir, the same title or preface that he granted to my name.

This question was also referred to the Sultan, who decided that the Uzir should address me as the ‘Minister of the Queen of Great Britain,’ without putting my name, and that I should in like manner address the Uzir without putting his name. I told the Uzir, when we met, that such a discussion was most puerile, and would be so considered by statesmen and diplomatists, both in Mohammedan and Christian countries; that it was not worth the waste of time and paper, and I should let it drop, accepting the Sultan’s decision.

We then interchanged visits without further question; but a few days after these visits of etiquette, having occasion to interview the Uzir on business, I requested him to fix the hour and place of meeting. He sent word to me that, as the weather was warm, he would receive me in a ‘kubba’ in the garden of his palace, and named the hour. I took a ride that morning, and arrived at the Uzir’s house ten minutes before the time fixed for the interview. The usher of the Uzir received me, and said that his master had not yet arrived from the Court. I looked at my watch and told the usher that I had arrived ten minutes before my time, and would therefore sit down and await the Uzir. So he led me to a pavilion, at the end of a long narrow path, where I saw two chairs placed, apparently for the Uzir and myself. The one, facing the entrance, was a very gorgeous arm-chair covered with beautiful damask; the other, on the left of it, an ordinary rush-bottomed wooden chair, evidently intended as a seat for the British Envoy. I heard at a distance the heavy shuffling steps of the unwieldy Uzir, waddling towards the spot; so without letting it appear that I was aware of his arrival, I took possession of the gorgeous chair, to the dismay of the usher; saying at the same time in a loud voice, so that the Uzir might hear, ‘What have you done? You must be very ignorant in matters of ceremonial forms to have placed such a shabby chair for your master the Uzir by the side of this handsome chair, which you have prepared for me. Take it away,’ pointing to the rush-bottomed chair, ‘and bring for your master a proper seat.’

With an hysterical laugh the Uzir, seeing the man hesitate, said, ‘The Bashador is right: go and fetch another chair.’ I rose and saluted the Uzir, saying, ‘We will converse standing until the other chair is brought.’

I had an object in all this, for I knew that by pricking the wind-bag of vanity and fanaticism of the Uzir I should better prepare him to treat with me upon business and obtain satisfactory results; and thus it proved.

In a private conversation with the Sultan one day, I alluded in delicate language to the stupidity and unfitness of Uzir Mokhta. His Majesty replied, smiling at my remark, that Alarbi Mokhta being the chief of a powerful tribe, the ‘Jarmai,’ he had placed him in an influential position, adding, ‘he is yet an unbroken “tsaur” (ox), who in due time will be tamed by the yoke and will improve.’

The palace built by Mokhta since his appointment as Uzir is worthy of his ancestors the Moors of Spain, who erected the splendid monuments of architecture at Granada and Seville.

The arches, the designs in stucco, the wooden ceilings, all carved and painted in elaborate arabesque, are as beautiful as those of the ancient palaces I have seen in Andalusia.

The Uzir is said to have spent on this building upwards of $100,000, money obtained by peculation, extortion, and other corrupt practices; for, though the Sultan’s Ministers are not paid, the emoluments derived from his official position by the Uzir far exceed the salary of our Prime Minister at home.

Though Mokhta did not, and never could, like me, yet, as a proof that my action and language took the nonsense out of him, the morning I left the Court, when about to call on the Uzir to take leave, I met him, and having mentioned my intention, he begged me not to take the trouble to call, saying that he would have the pleasure of accompanying me to the gates of the town (a mile distant). This he did, and we parted apparently the best of friends.

Poison is said to be frequently employed at the Court to get rid of obnoxious persons of rank. A cup of coffee is a dangerous beverage when offered by a Moorish host, with whom you may not happen to be on friendly terms. The effect of the subtle poison which can thus be administered is rarely immediate; but weeks or months after, the victim’s hair commences to fall off, and he dies gradually in a state of emaciation.

On one occasion, after an angry discussion with Mokhta, coffee was brought. I noticed that he took the cup intended for me, put it to his lips, making a noise as if sipping,—but which I thought sounded suspiciously like blowing into the liquid,—and then offered it to me. Not fancying the bubbled coffee, I declined, saying to the Uzir, ‘I could not drink before you; pray keep that cup yourself’—helping myself, while speaking, to the other, which I drank.

The Uzir put down the cup he had offered me, without drinking it. This, after all, he may have done from tiff, and not because there was really any poison in it.

After the return of the Mission to Tangier, Sir John writes:—

We all returned hearty and happy; A. the colour of mahogany, and I of a saucepan. Our companions were charming. There was not a murmur or a difference of opinion, except perhaps on politics.

Sultan was perfectly charming in my private interviews, and His Sherifian Majesty enjoyed my jokes, for, you know, as the bubbles rise in my empty head, I let them escape.

The Ministers were most attentive, and all the officers at the Court vied one with another in their attempts to pay us honour and to be hospitable. The Uzir is an ignorant fanatic. We parted good friends; but I think I left him in a shaky position _vis-à-vis_ his master. I observed to His Sherifian Majesty casually, ‘In other countries I have found that Ministers are often wiser and better informed than their Sovereigns. In Morocco I find Your Majesty far superior to your Uzir.’

The Sultan has agreed that a revision of the Commercial Treaty of 1856 is to be entered on when his Minister for Foreign Affairs returns, and steps are then to be taken to improve commerce. Prohibition placed on the exportation of grain removed. A port in the Wadnun district is to be opened to trade. Steps are to be taken to reform the system of government, and at the Sultan’s request I gave him a list of the Governors who are notorious for their tyranny and extortions, impressing on His Sherifian Majesty that he should endeavour to modify the evils of the existing system by a judicious choice; but that the most careful selection would not avail to secure competent and upright Governors so long as the uncertainty of their tenure tempted them to secure it by corrupt influence for which extortion must find the means: that this reform requires attention for the maintenance of order, administration of justice, and the collection of the revenue.

I obtained also a royal order to Bargash, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to attend to all appeals of Jews who cannot obtain justice from Governors in the interior. Then I obtained a settlement of some fifteen claims of British subjects.

A mole is to be built at Tangier, and an order obtained for building, or rather repairing, the mole at Mogador, which, in consequence of the state of Moorish finances, had not been executed.

Works are also to be undertaken for the better supply of water for Tangier when the state of finances permits.

The Sultan is well-disposed, clever, and intelligent; but my work is only a quarter done, for the difficulty with all Eastern Governments is to obtain the execution of royal edicts that have been received.

I tried to induce Sultan not to give me a horse, &c.; but His Majesty was irate, and said that if he did not give me a public mark of his goodwill, his subjects would be displeased and a wrong inference would be drawn. So I had to accept the ‘white elephant’ and trappings, sword and gun; all very beautiful. The three latter gifts I have told Lord G. I accept on official grounds, and therefore wish to present them to the Kensington Museum through the Foreign Office.

The gentlemen who accompanied me received handsome swords of honour; A. and A., two beautiful dresses; the interpreters and Arab secretary, mules.

In 1880 Sir John was promoted to the rank of Envoy Extraordinary, and among his friends there was apparently some expectation that he might be chosen to succeed Sir Henry Layard at Constantinople; but in reply to a letter to that effect he says:—

My memory fails me and I quite forget if I have acknowledged several pleasant letters from you, and amongst them one expressing a hope that I might replace Layard. It is very good of you to say that I should be a fit man for the post, but I cannot agree with you. Honest and conscientious I am; but I have neither the pen nor the tongue to conduct affairs upon which the fate of nations will depend.

The following letters from his former colleague at Tangier, Monsieur Tissot, show that, whatever he might himself have thought of his fitness for the appointment, he would have been cordially welcomed by the French Ambassador.

Ambassade de France, Thérapia, _Juillet 11_, 1880.

Je n’ai vu Sir Henry Layard qu’au moment même de son départ. Je ne puis pas dire que je le regrette: il me serait difficile de souhaiter un collègue plus agréable que Mr. Goschen et il est impossible que l’union entre les deux Ambassades soit plus intime et plus confiante qu’elle ne l’est. Mais Mr. Goschen ne restera pas à Constantinople et je vous demande qui lui succédera?

Je veux espérer que ce sera vous. Je vous ai toujours donné rendezvous ici, vous vous le rappelez. Faites en sorte de me tenir parole. Ce serait pour moi une joie bien vive, mon cher ami, que d’aller vous recevoir à bord de l’‘Antelope.’ Il n’est pas de jour où je ne vous regrette, et j’espère, encore une fois, que nous recommencerons ici, côte à côte, nos travaux herculéens du Maroc. L’‘étable’ est plus vaste et proportionnellement encore plus sale que celle de notre ami Mulai Hassen (que Dieu le rende victorieux).

The second letter from M. Tissot, written from Pera, is dated nearly a year later.

MON CHER AMI,

Je m’empresse de vous remercier de votre affectueuse lettre: votre écriture ‘torrentielle’ trahit toujours la vigueur et l’activité enragée que je vous ai connue. Excellent signe! ما شاء الله[58]

J’ai reconnu votre amitié à la façon dont vous avez bien voulu me présenter à mon futur collègue: j’espère vivre avec lui en d’aussi bons termes politiques qu’avec vous, bien que ce ne soit pas toujours facile sur le terrain de Constantinople. Je suis sûr, tout au moins, que nous nous querellerons aussi amicalement qu’avec Goschen qui a emporté de moi, m’assure-t-on, le souvenir affectueux qu’il m’a laissé. Nous n’avons pas toujours été du même avis, mais notre intimité n’en a jamais souffert,—au contraire, et notre estime réciproque s’est accrue de toute la déférence qu’une paire de poings solides inspire à une autre paire de même trempe.

Comme je ne connais pas encore Dufferin, j’ai le droit de vous dire, mon cher ami, que c’est vous que je désirais ici et que la nomination a même été une déception pour moi. Vos instincts ‘rather pugnacious’ trouveraient ici matière à ample satisfaction: Old Turkey (vous êtes libre à traduire ‘le vieux dindon’) est plus fanatique et plus réfractaire que jamais à l’influence européenne. De plus, il n’y a plus de Gouvernement turc: le Sultan, ou pour mieux dire le Khalifa, comme il se plaît à se désigner lui-même dans les notes qu’il nous adresse, a tout confisqué et prétend tout faire pour lui-même, sûr moyen de ne rien faire. La Porte n’est plus qu’un décor de théâtre qui s’ouvre sur le vide.

Goschen a apporté ici plus d’illusions qu’il n’en remporte. Je l’avais prévenu dès son arrivée.

Nous venons cependant, après une année du plus dur labeur, de résoudre les deux questions Monténégrine et Grecque. Je vais me reposer sur ce double succès. Je pars dans huit jours pour Vichy _via Paris_ et je laisserai à mon Chargé d’Affaires le soin et l’honneur de combattre à côté de Lord Dufferin dans la question arménienne, ‘confound it!’ Nous avons sué huit jours, Goschen et moi, à rédiger la fameuse note en faveur de réformes arméniennes. La Porte s’en est émue comme d’une noisette.

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