CHAPTER VI

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MISSION TO TANGIER.

In 1844 Mr. Hay went to England on leave, and visited also Stockholm and Copenhagen. At this latter capital he met the ‘fair girl’ who was to be his future wife, as Leila had predicted. Whilst in Stockholm, he was presented to King Oscar by our Minister, Mr. Cartwright, and in the course of conversation with His Majesty about Morocco, pointed out the advisability of abolishing the old Convention between Morocco and Sweden, and Morocco and Denmark, which stipulated that $25,000 (£5,000) should be paid annually to the Sultan, in order that vessels under the flags of these two nations should pass the Straits unmolested by Moorish cruisers; these cruisers having virtually ceased to exist, though the Convention remained in force.

A rupture of relations between France and Morocco was at this time imminent, and Mr. Hay’s father, then Political Agent at Tangier, had been sent, with the knowledge of the French Government, to the city of Marákesh on a mission to endeavour to induce the Sultan to accept the French demands. On hearing of this expedition Mr. Hay wrote to Lord Aberdeen, who was then Secretary for Foreign Affairs, to offer his services temporarily in Morocco. This offer was accepted.

That Mr. Hay, while at Constantinople, had gained the kindly opinion of Sir Stratford and Lady Canning may be gathered from the following letter written to him after his departure from Constantinople, when Lady Canning learnt that he had been sent to Tangier. The note was accompanied by the gift of a beautiful cushion in Turkish embroidery.

You must not leave Constantinople, my dear Mr. Hay, without some little memento from me to remind you in future days of our life spent together on the Bosphorus in which, though it may have had some cloudy moments, I hope the bright ones have preponderated and will alone be remembered by you. We shall miss you sadly; for your labours have not been thrown away on Sir Stratford, and you have helped to keep us all in good humour with our neighbours, and for all this I thank you much. Let us hear of you often, and believe that we shall feel interest in all that concerns you.

Yours very sincerely,

E. C. CANNING.

Mr. Hay arrived at Tangier shortly after the bombardment of that town by the Prince de Joinville. Notwithstanding the promises made by the French Government that hostilities should not be commenced until his father returned from the Court, where he had actually succeeded in obtaining consent to the chief demands of the French, the Prince had bombarded Tangier. This unexpected outbreak of hostilities placed in jeopardy the life of the elder Mr. Hay, who was still in the interior and who had to pass, on his return from Marákesh to Tangier, through districts inhabited by wild tribes.

Some of the difficulties with which his father had been confronted in dealing with the Sultan are touched on in the following letter written on the return journey from his mission to Marákesh, dated Camp on the Wad Nefis, July 26, 1844:—

’Tis a sad thing that all folks in Europe, my masters in Downing Street may not be excepted, have hardly any just conception of the difficulties of my position. It would take a volume—not small—to relate the bother and the tricks and bad faith with which I have had to contend—and as to _going fast_, as Mr. Bulwer has everlastingly urged, who among mortal men can make Moors go fast, nay, nor hardly move at all—in the straight path of honour and sound policy? . . .

Alas! I know not what to think. I had hoped the French would have waited until my report reached Tangier or myself arrived there and told them all. So they are now preparing to cast fire and the sword on this unhappy country of ignorant barbarians.

The Moors are mere children, vain children; obstinate, through a shocking bigotry and ignorance scarcely credible. They have, I believe, had at least two collisions with the French on their frontier; but all their acts of folly were, I am certain, without authority. Alas, again, for the poor Sultan; he cannot manage his own people! If the war do burst forth here, when shall it end? There will be an internal revolution forthwith, I am almost sure! And drivellers in pomposity and self-sufficiency would ever publish that all was well.

The elder Mr. Hay did not long survive the effects of the journey, with all its worry and vexation; but succumbed shortly after his return, to low fever and other complaints. During his illness, which lasted several months, Mr. John Hay was directed by Lord Aberdeen to take charge of political affairs in Morocco, whilst Mr. H. Murray, the Consul, conducted the consular duties.

The crisis was one of considerable importance. In addition to the internal difficulties of Morocco, questions with foreign Powers embarrassed the Sultan’s Government. Denmark and Sweden had sent squadrons in this year to Moorish waters, demanding the abrogation of the treaty referred to in Mr. Hay’s audience of King Oscar.

The Spanish Government had also a question pending with Morocco regarding the neutral ground and frontier of Ceuta; and, for the settlement of this question, Sir Henry Bulwer, then H.B.M.’s Minister at Madrid, had been appointed special Plenipotentiary.

In the following letter to his late chief at Constantinople Mr. Hay gives an account of the state of affairs which he found on his arrival at Tangier.

_Sept. 12_, 1844.

MY DEAR SIR STRATFORD,

I received yesterday Y.E.’s kind letter of 27th ult.

Your Excellency will no doubt have learnt, both from H.M.’s Government and the newspapers, accounts of passing events in this country, so I only relate the more recent that I have witnessed.

The day before yesterday the French squadron arrived, consisting of two line-of-battle ships and five steamers, having on board the Prince de Joinville, Mons. de Nion, the French Chargé d’Affaires, and the Duc de Glücksberg (Decazes), an adjunct Plenipotentiary sent for the purpose of meeting the Moorish Plenipotentiary, Sid Buselham Ben Ali, to arrange the conditions for peace. I received, the same morning, a letter from Mr. Bulwer acquainting me with the nature of the French demands, which proved to be identic with those already granted to my father by the Sultan of Morocco during his late mission.

The Moorish Plenipotentiary, Sid Buselham, has received orders from the Sultan to be guided by our counsels in replying to the various demands of the French. I accordingly went to see the Sid and made known to him the nature of the French demands, telling him they were just and such as could be granted without lowering the dignity of the Sultan. I pointed out the proper answers to be made, and urged him to settle the matter the very day that the demands were presented; and thus it happened that three hours did not elapse from the time they were made, until the French flag was hoisted and flying at the Residence of their Chargé d’Affaires and was saluted by the batteries.

The substance of the demands was as follows:—

‘That Abd-el-Kader be considered as a common enemy and, if taken by either party, be confined in a State prison at some distant port. The frontier to be marked out as in the time of the Turks. The withdrawal of the French troops from Ujda, except 3,000 men. A new treaty to be made embracing the above conditions, and, when ratified, Ujda and the Island of Mogador are to be given up by the French and all prisoners exchanged and set free.

The question that may now be asked is—What has been the object of the French in all this? For their demands remain the same and the concessions are the same as _before the war_: and although they say the Sultan is faithless, they never gave time to test whether he would be so or not, after having pledged himself to a British agent to act with good faith—but this, it strikes me, is the sore point.

French supremacy is aimed at, throughout Eastern and Western Barbary, and an arrangement effected through the good offices of a British agent militates against that supremacy.

The foolish language of a British officer high in rank, on the other side of the water, declaring that England would never allow a gun to be fired at a Moorish port, roused the worst feelings towards us throughout the French squadron, participated in by the Prince; so, five hours before my father’s arrival from the Moorish Court (although hourly expected, and feeling that to bombard Tangier after hearing vivâ voce that the Sultan had granted their demands, would be _un peu trop fort_), having bombarded Tangier in the presence of two British ships of war and, I may say, of our garrison at Gibraltar, off they go to Mogador—the _mouth_, as the Moors call it, of British commerce with Central Africa, where we have a considerable trade. They destroy the forts, and the destruction of the town is completed by the wild tribes, who burn, pillage, and murder, committing barbarities on a par with the wanton and uncalled-for proceedings of the French. After striking this blow at British trade, the French embark and return here to make peace!!

Well it is, that peace is made; for the country is in a state of revolution; the Sultan totters on his throne, and in a few weeks such a state of anarchy would have ensued that no Europeans could have remained in the country. There would have been no Government to treat with, and of the five millions of people, only robbers and pirates would have come to the front.

How would England have liked this? How would other countries? How would France?—pledged as she is to us not to take possession of any part of Morocco. What would she gain but to have roused a spirit of revenge amongst these wild inhabitants of a country capable of maintaining ten Abd-el-Kaders, as soon as they learn how to war with disciplined armies? An army of 20,000 men, well disciplined, might march from one end of the Empire to the other, but to _hold_ the country 200,000 would not suffice.

The French interest, therefore, was not to have weakened the Sultan’s power, but to have given him time to put in execution his promises and to have helped him in so doing, if required; but the shaft was shot at ‘Albion la perfide’—Albion, whose agent here, ever since the conquest of Algiers, has been instructed to hold, and has held, but one language, that of urging the Sultan not to give ground of offence to his powerful neighbour, and above all not to support or mix himself up with Abd-el-Kader.

The Spanish affair is also concluded. My father brought back very full concessions, and on Mr. Bulwer’s arrival at Gibraltar, with full powers from Spain, all matters were settled at once by the Moors, and I had the satisfaction of having used my humble efforts in effecting this.

The Danish and Swedish affairs are in a fair way of being settled amicably, and, although I must not blow my own trumpet, yet I am sure your Excellency will be pleased to learn that I have gained some credit at home for the part I have taken in these affairs which, in consequence of my father’s serious illness, have been entirely under my guidance, as being the sole medium of communication both verbally and in writing. I can assure your Excellency that I daily feel the benefit reaped from the excellent school of diplomacy in which I passed my probation in the East; and if I have been of use to Her Majesty’s Government, the lessons I there learnt have been my guide; if I have failed, it has been my own fault.

There is one more remark which I wish to add—that I look upon Morocco as a field upon which there will often be like cause for anxiety to Europe, and especially to Great Britain; and how can it be otherwise when we consider the conflicting characters of the people on the frontier? Such being the case, it becomes more urgent than ever that some understanding be come to with France by England, for preserving the integrity of this Empire, and that their agents here should be persons that act up to the peaceful spirit of their instructions—otherwise a bone of dissension will ever be found in West Barbary.

Owing to his father’s illness and subsequent death, the settlement of the complicated questions alluded to in this letter devolved on Mr. Hay. In this task he acquitted himself with credit, as is proved by the satisfaction of his official chief at Madrid, and the recognition of his services by the foreign Powers for whom he acted. Mr. Bulwer wrote to congratulate him on his success:—‘Your conduct and explanations are equally good, and I am _gratified_ with you beyond measure. There is nothing to change in your views or intuitions.’

Again in a later letter, Mr. Bulwer repeats the expression of his satisfaction:—‘I have a great regard for you, and a high opinion of you, and, whenever it is in my power, will do you a service. Be sure of success; I am for you. All of us have had to contend with difficulties.’

Mr. Hay further received the thanks of the different Governments concerned, and the Kings of Denmark and Sweden sent him jewelled stars, as Commander of the Orders of the Danebrog, and of the Polar Star respectively. These, according to Foreign Office regulations, he declined, as also the Spanish Order of Charles XII. Subsequently he received, from the two former sovereigns, magnificent gifts of plate, which H.B.M.’s Government authorised him to accept.

Some notes relating to this time, made by Mr. Hay in after years, may prove of interest.

In the time of Sultan Mulai Abderahman it was not infrequent to hear that some Basha, or Sheikh, who may have been supposed to have taken

## part in an insurrection or given other serious cause for displeasure

to the Sultan, was summoned to the Court, and placed in confinement.

The ‘Mul Meshwa’ or chief Usher of the Court acted on such occasions as executioner, and bearing a cup of coffee, would visit the victim and say, ‘Our Lord and Master sends you this,’ adding peremptorily, should the unfortunate man hesitate, ‘Drink: it is our Lord’s order. You are in the hands of God. What is written is written.’

During the time that Abd-el-Kader carried on hostilities against the French in Algeria, Sultan Mulai Abderahman had given strict orders to his Ministers and Governors not to hold any communication with this active and daring chief, as H.M. feared the French might find some pretext for a quarrel with Morocco.

Sid Mohammed Ben Dris, a very clever man, was at that time chief Uzir, and was suspected of being in communication with Abd-el-Kader, and even of having suggested to him that (as he thought it most probable Abd-el-Kader would succeed in turning the French out of Algeria) he should enter Morocco, upset the Sultan, and usurp the throne.

There is little doubt that, had Abd-el-Kader listened to these suggestions, he might have succeeded in such an enterprise.

A courier, who had been dispatched secretly by the Uzir to Abd-el-Kader, was arrested by the Governor of ‘Hiazna’: his letters seized and sent direct to the Sultan. Amongst them, the Sultan found a letter from Ben Dris to Abd-el-Kader with treasonable propositions. Ben Dris was summoned to the presence of the Sultan, who exhibited to him his letters asking, ‘Whose handwriting is this?’ Ben Dris threw himself at the feet of the Sultan, crying out, ‘Amán (mercy)! It is mine.’ ‘You are a vile traitor,’ said H.M. ‘Approach; put out that tongue with which you solemnly swore, only the other day, you had never written, and would never write, to Abd-el-Kader.’

The Uzir put out his tongue, of which the Sultan took hold and, with one wrench, tore[5] it from its socket, leaving the tongue paralysed and useless. ‘Go,’ said the Sultan; ‘your tongue can no longer lie.’

The Uzir withdrew, his tongue swelled in a frightful manner, and he died shortly afterwards in great agonies; but few persons at the time knew the cause of his disgrace and death.

French journals, and Frenchmen in general, accused the British Government and their Representative in Morocco of being in communication with Abd-el-Kader, and even of sending emissaries and money to assist that chief in carrying on hostilities against the French. But the accusations were without the slightest foundation, and though on one occasion Abd-el-Kader addressed me a letter asking for British intervention on his behalf, no reply was sent nor was any notice taken of his communication, and certainly not one farthing was ever given by our Government to this gallant and patriotic chief. On the other hand, advice was unceasingly tendered to the Moorish Government by my father, and subsequently by myself, that they should hold no communication with Abd-el-Kader or his followers, and should oppose his making the Rif country a basis for hostile operations against the French, when driven out of Algeria.

Mr. Hay’s appointment at Tangier was as yet only a temporary one. His chief at Constantinople, who evidently awaited his return, writes in December, 1844:—

I am glad to hear that you have won such golden opinions in Spain and in Downing Street, and for your sake I shall be glad to learn that promotion was the result. But as the last letters from the Foreign Office speak of you as first attaché to this Embassy on Alison’s apotheosis, I presume that you are to return, at least for the present, and that being the case, I shall be glad to have your services as soon as you can conveniently return to us. Napier is going home to be married. . . . Add to this that I have lots of business in hand, and very important business too. As Pisani is in the Chancery as of yore, I will avail myself of your help with less sacrifice of your eyes, and hazard to your health.

I hope you will be able to read these hieroglyphics. Believe me very sincerely yours,

S. C.

The reference to ‘less sacrifice to your eyes,’ it may be inferred, was a jesting allusion to an occurrence which had taken place at Stambul, when Mr. Hay was Acting Private Secretary. The story is told by Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, in his _Life of Sir S. Canning_, how the fiery Ambassador and his not less hot-headed young attaché, both worn out with over-work, lost their tempers and their self-control[6].

In 1845, Mr. Hay succeeded his father as Political Agent and Consul-General in Morocco. As will be gathered from the following letter addressed to him by Lord Ponsonby, congratulating him on his appointment, Mr. Hay considered that in diverging from the direct line of a diplomatic career by becoming Agent and Consul-General, he endangered his hopes of future advancement. But he decided on incurring this risk, in order to assist his widowed mother, who had been left with slender means, by undertaking the education of his younger brothers. For many years he devoted half his salary to this object, and, at a later period, to starting them in life or assisting any member of his family who was in need of aid.

‘I have been wishing,’ wrote Lord Ponsonby in April, 1845, ‘ever since I heard of your appointment, to write to you and say how very much I rejoiced at it, but I fancied it might be more prudent to hold my tongue; your letter of the 11th (received this night) has set me free, and I will declare my conviction that however advantageous your nomination to the important post may be to yourself, the English Government will find it more so for their own objects. Your intimate knowledge of the country where you are to serve, and I will add, your talents, your zeal, your courage and honesty and manner, such as I know them to be, will enable you to overcome difficulties which might be held insuperable; and I suspect that the time will come when you will have to encounter them. Aberdeen is a kind man, and I have no doubt of his considering your father’s services as they deserve to be considered, but I am very sure he would not have shown his estimation of them in the way he has done, unless he had cause to know and to appreciate the capacity of _the father’s son_. Have no fear that “the door of ambition is closed against you.” _I_ think it is opened wide to you now; there will be plenty of room for the display of your judgment and activity in the management of questions of great importance, and as I feel confident you will succeed, I entertain no doubt of your mounting to what are called higher posts, though I _do_ doubt if you will find any of them demanding more skill and vigour in the occupier than you will be called upon to display where you now are.

‘Your most kind remembrance of the time we passed together gives me very great pleasure; you are a man to make the most profit of experience, and in that time I allude to, many affairs well worth noting were in fermentation. I am too wise (excuse this vanity) to attribute to myself anything more than honesty and good fortune as the cause of the success that attended the Embassy, and it is claiming a great deal too much I fear. I will accept, gratefully, the kind things you say of me personally, and I am happy to know that my manner to you (for there were no deeds) showed the feeling of friendship for you which sprung up in me from my observation of your good qualities.

‘Lady Ponsonby is well, and at this moment I hope amusing herself at a ball at Lady Palmerston’s. I will give your message to her when she comes home, and I am sure she will be most happy to receive it. She has shared in my rejoicings for your advancement.’

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