THE FRENCH AT SALLEE AND RABTA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 74, 5 June 1852, Page 6

THE FRENCH AT SALLEE AND RABTA.

It would seem that the English Press is destined to be'the medium through which the grievances of the world are to be>omuWed. We recently gave an instance of this in extracting- from the Times, an account of Louis iVapoleon s coup rUtat, from the pen of a distuiqmshed Ireiichmsm, which he was unable to

publish in Paris.. We now furnish a second: the French have been amusing themselves by bombarding several towns on the coast of Morocco, and the inhabitants have transmitted an account of the proceedings to the Times, which is, we imagine, the first instance on record of the Followers of the Prophet appealing by such means to the sympathies of Englishmen. It has not escaped the observation of writers in the English press that the French fleet, which was suspected of a bias towards the Prince de Joinville (and not without reason, for a large proportion recorded their votes against Louis Napoleon), was removed from France and employed on the coast of Morocco at the time the " Coup" was contemplated ; thus removing the danger of their protest, at a time when such protest might have seriously embarrassed the Government, and afforded a powerful nucleus round which the disaffected might gather. Such policy (if it existed) has succeeded, for the President has now the power, and has lavishly used it, of decorating the officers and seamen employed in the expedition, gaining their acquiescence by bestowing yards of red ribbon, the accepting and wearing which few Frenchman are proof against. The following is the narrative and appeal published in the Times :— Praise sk to God ! "From the Poor in God, &c.,—to the most learned and renowned writers of the English newspapers—those journals the circulation of which extends over the whole earth, whose words are the words of truth, and the justness of whose reasonings is always self-evident, whose magic influence'operates on the destinies of nations as well as individuals, and whose power is more to be considered than, royalty itself, for Princes tremble at their reproofs. " Praise be to God, who is one, single, and unique, the Eternal Lord, &c, —prayers perpetual as eternity. "We have ever found your nation—may God continue to add to its abundance and prosperity ! —foremost in promoting the happiness of the weak—and relieving them in their distress. The views of the Englishmen are charitable, his ears are never deaf to the complaint of the oppressed. " We, therefore, filled with the most sacred inspirations of patriotism and love of-justice, come forward and record the acts of injustice and perfidious behaviour of those sons of wickedness, those persevering enemies of. God's word, and of everything else that is holy—the French. (May God confound their counsels, shatter the framework of their government, and bring them to grief!) We speak of the recent bombardment of our peaceful town (Sallee). May she never again be molested! Having looked upon these affairs with the eye of a. watchful and interested observer, we purpose now, by the blessing of God, t<« lay before the English a full, clear, and faithful narration of all that took place on that black day, as also the causes which led to the calamitous event.

li Know, then, that some months ago a vessel of the French nation was thrown upon the shore of the river of Sallee. The wind was strong-, the sea was rough, and by the united violence of the two the ship was broken to pieces. Yet the French say some of our brethren broke up the vessel! The greater part of the cargo was saved and'sold by auction; a small portion, however, viz., 50 bags of wheat, was left on the shore, which some of the poorest of our brethren—may they be pardoned for their sins!—not able to withstand the allurements of the evil spirit, and yielding to the yearnings of their stomachs, too long pressed by starvation, ate —nay, devoured on the spot. Our Kiiid (Sidy Mohamed Ben Abd-el-Kady Zneeber) did all he could to restrain his subjects from taking what was not their own ; but the appeals of excessive hunger overmatched authority's loudest injunctions. We do not justify the deed—God forbid ! but we have ever been willing to remedy it by indemnifying the losers. If the French have not been repaid for their plundered property it is their own fault, for their Consul in Tangier refused to comply .with the request of the Great Basha, that he (the French Consul) should give him under h?s own signature a clear statement of the amount of the loss, in order that the money might be immediately paid. "Is there justice in France? We cannot but believe that there is, and some of the

French Ministers must be great and honest men: assured of this, we are led to apprehend that it was owing to misrepresentations on the part of the French Consul, that a French squadron appeared off our peaceful town on the 3rd of Safar (2fith of November), and the Admiral not even allowing1 our Kaid time to communicate with the Sultan at Tangier, commenced a vigorous attack upon us, treating us as though we were pirates. We, too, consider them pirates ; for, were they not, they would have required satisfaction from the Sultan of-Morocco and not have presented an ultimatum t&fc^our Governor, who was not authorized 10 treat wich them. " We would now ask the English whether, under the circumstances, as we" have related them, —and God knows that what we have said > jjf is the pure truth, —there was sufficient cause for *\ the French to go to war with us ?

" Early in the morning of the 3rd Safar arrived oil" our town a French squadron consisting of a very-large vessel, with guns in her as numerous as the quills in a porcupine's back, and four smoke propelled ships, which were also tilled- with guns. Shortly afterwards a boat brought from the large vessel Lo the shore some officers,- who conveyed to the Kaid a letter, wherein the French Consul demanded that a large sum of money be paid him immediately. This demand could not, of course, be acceded to; for, had the Kaid paid the sum without orders to that effect from the Sultan, his head would have been in danger. lie, however, begged that time might be given him to refer the matter to the Court. This the French refused; and accordingly, about 9 o'clock a.m., the large vessel opened a heavy fire upon us, which we immediately returned. The suiokeships also fired at us, and we repaid them their shot. This interchange of shot and shell continued from the morning until the night, when our enemies saw there was no use in wasting more powder and ball. We had already driven one smoke-ship out of action. The next morning they went away not daring, to renew the fight. Although thousands of shots were fired at us that day, praise be to God, and thanks. unto Lord Mahomet! only twelve believers '^*' Gjxl rest their souls :—lost their lives, viz., five artillerymen, four women, and three children. Scarcely any damage was done to the lOwn. Some balls struck our Saint-house (Sid Ben Aisha,) which was too strong to fall down. A few piastres will repair the injury done to the house of the Kaid; and God will repay the poor for what they have suffered. " Many of our enemies must have fallen that day, for God is great, and he spares not the infidels. All this occurred at a moment when we were not prepared to fight. We were taken completely by surprise. Our guns were not in good order, and some of our best artillerymen were absent; besides which, the gates of the town having been closed, by way of precaution against the warlike tribes of Arabs, who live in the surrounding districts, many of our soldiers were called away from the batteries to defend the walls against invasions from the interior ; albeit, order was maintained among us ; and so unexpected and harmless was the attack of our enemies, that the business and trade of the town was not even interrupted. " What, then, would have been the result of an engagement between its and the French, had they given us a proper and honourable notice of their hostile intentions? Why, not a ship of our enemies would have escaped sink- ' ing, and Fiance would have mourned for him- . dreds of her best seamen. . " They declare, however, they have obtained satisfaction ! We would wish to know in what does satisfaction consist. Is it satisfaction to send cannon balls into a saint-house? Or to knock a little plaster off the residence of aj^. kaid? Is it an agreeable thing to know that " you have added to the misery of the pauper by making apertures in the walls of his dwelling for the wind and rain to enter ? Is there any pleasure in killing an artilleryman in the di^-f"' charge _of his duty? Or in'throwing a poor family into mourning by bereaving them-of a mother, or sister, or daughter ? Is there any particular honour in destroying an infant who had never been heard of a Frenchman ? " Tliey say, also, they have given us a lesson. Ihey have certainly taught us to hate them, and to understand that Frenchmen are perfidious, or that their government has been deceived. " This is what we have to say. Peace, &c."