The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-07 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

• ~,

ABD-EL-KADER•

..The Hadji Abd-el-Kader Oulid Mahiddin, who has
jut trenewed hostilities with France, belongs to a most
am dent family of Marabouts, and descends, like his
kir unman, the Emperor of Morocco, from the Fatimite
Cr kph*. He was born at Guetna, a sort of seminary
se Jar Mascara, on the Hachem territory, where the
) Larabouts, his ancestors, assembled a number of young
I men to instruct them in letters, theology, and jurispru-
dence. Abd-el-Kader was educated as well as an Arab
can be by his father, Sidi Mahiddin, who turned to the
best account his intelligence and energy. As yet but a
boy not a passage of dm Koran perplexed him, and his
explanations were readier than those of the ablest corn-
mentators. He, likewise, diligently applied himself 'to
oratory and history, and so successfully that he is now
the most eloquent speaker in his country (an immense
advantage among tlit. Arabs) and perfectly acquainted
with the annals of Lis nation. Nor did he neglect the
c exercises of the body, in which he excels, he being
generally reckoned the best horseman in the Barbary
States. In short, at the early age of twenty he was
distinguished 'for all the qualities which men like to be-
hold in those whom they place at their head.
Abd-el JL.ader is now about thirty-one years old; he
is of middling height, with little embonpoint; his coun-
tenance is mild, expressive, and distinguished ; his eyes
are very fine, his beard thin and dark, and his teeth,
which are ill set, are blue spotted ; his hands, of which
he takes particular care, are extremely fine and delicate ;
his head is generally somewhat inclined towards the left
sb oulder ; his manners are affable, and most polite and
dignified ; he seldom is betrayed into anger, but always
keeps a command over himself ; in short, to quote the
words of an intelligent and impartial French officer of
Tank who has been employed upon negotiations with
the natives almost ever since the occupation of Algiers,
"the whole person of the Emir is fascinating, and it is
diScult to know and not to like him."
Abd.el-Kader is a man of great bravery, yet his mind
is perhaps better adapted to Government than .to mili-
tary affairs. Though gifted with great fortitude and
perseverance, he has occasionally betrayed some dejec.
tion in the arduous circumstances he has had to con-
tend with. His manners are pure, even rigidly so ;
be has but one wife, whom he most tenderly loves.
Three years ago his family consisted only of a
daughter, then four or five years old, and of a son,born
a few days before the French entered, and destroyed
mascara. When in his capital he dwelt with his fa-
mily in a rather fine house, but which was not the palace.
H. e lived there without any guards, and as a private in-
dividual. Every day, at an early hour, he repaired to
the palace, or beylick, to transact public business and
give audiences. In the evening he returned to his
house, and again became a private individual.
, . Abd-el-Kader is equally unpresuming in his dress,
has costeme being that of a mere Arab, without any
1
'sort of ornament or badge of distinction. If he
displays any splendour it is about his arms and
horses. At one time he wore a burnous, the tassels
of which were of gold, but one of his brothers-in-law,
whom be had appointed Laid of a powerful tribe,having
indulged in that station in a pomp which had excited
some discontent, he sent for him, and after censuring
his conduct, added, " Follow my example ; I am richer
and more powerful than you, yet see how I am dressed ;
I will not even retain those paltry tassels that you see
banging to my burnous." He immediately cut them
off, and from that moment has never worn the slightest
bit of gold or silver about his person.
Abd-el-Kader is very fond of study, to which he de-
votes the few hours that he can spare from his active
Ilife. A little library accompanies him in all his move-
ments. W hen on any expedition he displays much
more of royalty than when in town ; he then lives
under a superb and convenient tent, in a nook,
of which, elegantly fitted up, he gives private
audiences and attends to state affairs. In the
camp he employs his time as follows, when the
day,- is not taken up with military operations :—On
re aching his tent, after a day's march, he keeps by him
bat one servant, and after some minutes devoted to
stressing and cleanliness, summons his secretaries and
principal officers, in succession, and works with them till
four o'clock ; he then presents himself at the entrance
of his tent, and himself says the public prayers ; he next
preaches for half an hour, taking care to select a reli-
gious text that may naturally lead him to inculcate the
notions it suits him to propagate upon war and politics ;
nobody, however, is obliged to attend his sermons.
Some moments after he sits down to table with his
chief secretary and confidential friend, Miloutl-13 .n-
Arach, his brothers, when they are with the army, and
1 the oftener one of his agas. The dishes served up to
him are few in number, but good and carefully prepared.
Abd-el-Kader appears to have religious feelings aidl
due notions of Providence ; but he is no fanatic. He
does not dread discussing religious matters with Chris-
tians, and he argues with politeness and without aspe-
rity. He is an honest man, and has well-established
moral principles ; though subtle and cunning, in a
diplomatic point of view, he is a faithful observer of
I his word. Nothing is more foreign to his nature than
1/4(cruelty ; he governs the Arabs with just ce and mild-
ness, thereby confuting chose who maintain that they
can be governed only by t-rror. Whenever it has been
in his power he has acted with clemency and generosity
towards his enemies. Two only have suffered death
under his government, and that after due trial—the
i' Qadi of Arzew and Sidi-el-Gomarez, Sheik of Angad,
1 who was hung at Mascara, in August, 1835.
I The conversation of Abd-el-Kauer is very animated,
and at times witty. In private life he is considered
parsimonious ; but as a Prince he knows full well how
and when to be liberal. In financial and commercial
matters his notions are most of them erroneous.
The remarkable man whose portrait we have just
derived from authentic di.ta, is the most formidable
foe that the French have to contend with in their
eforts to assert their pretended rights over the
vast territory extending from the Mediterranean
to the Sa Lara, and from the frontier of Mo-
rocco to that of Tunis. Whilst pursuing the ob-
ject of their ambition at an enormous expense of men
and money, and by the alternate employment of force,
treachery, extortion, and cruelty, Abd-ei-Kader, un-
daunted by the strides of his powerful neighbours, has
gradually risen, by dint of bravery, sagacity. and perse-
verance, to the possession of no small share of the
empire which they would exclusively secure to them-
selves. Whilst their policy has fluctuated under the
influence of systems as various as the Administrations
formed at Paris, or the many Governors-General sent
out to Africa, the young Emir has steadily pursued his
object, and become unto the Arabs a leader and a centre
of action--a leader whose talents and gallantry in the
field his Gallic enemies have a!ready tried.—Morning
Post.

CHANGE IN THE SEASONS.-It is rather ex-
traordinary that " the hollow cuckoo" is heard in various
parts of the country, at this unusual' period of the year.
In conjunction with the fact, that the trees, which can
scarcely be said to have been divested as yet of their
foliage, are again budding in several places—the sup-
position that " a second summer" is at hand is by no
means groundless. A letter from Carrick-on-Suir states
" the country people were astonished at hearing the
harbinger of Spring on the hills a few evenings since.
What think you of this? Surely, the seasons are
changing. The trees are budding ; I saw some wood-
bine quite green to-day. It is really singular. But we
should admire the works of the Lord, and thank him for
whatever he is pleased to ordain. There is a remarkable
softness in the atmosphere—the temperature being much
more genial than it was a month since ; it is true that
frost occasionally visits us at night, but of a description
not unfrequent in the early part of Spring or Autumn,
and no stranger at times even to summer. The harvest
however, is beyond redemption—the poor are deplorably
situated as to fuel and other necessaries—the potatoes,
in localities which hitherto supplied them abundantly,
cannot be dug, and may be pronounced useless. On
the whole the prospect is awful to contemplate, should
not a guardian Providence interpose.—Waterford
Chronicle.