Mr. McMath to Mr.
Seward.
No. 16.]
Consulate of the United States of
America, Tangier,
January 12, 1864.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your despatch, No. 9, dated 14th November last, and, in
pursuance of instructions therein contained, I informed the Moorish
minister for foreign affairs that the President was entirely satisfied
with the royal order issued, in the name of his Majesty the Sultan,
relative to vessels of the insurgents visiting the ports of Morocco. As
soon as the royal order reached the bashaws of the ports, they at once
informed our vice-consuls that, should the occasion require it, they
would be ready and willing to carry the order into effect.
Your despatch, No. 10, dated December 9, last, with enclosures, reached
me on the 7th instant. Before it came to hand, Sir Moses Montefiore,
baronet, of London, had, with the sanction of Earl Russell, it is said,
visited Madrid, and obtained from the minister for foreign affairs
instructions to the Spanish minister in this city to demand from the
Sultan the immediate liberation of the two unfortunate Jews who were
implicated with the two Jews so barbarously executed for the supposed
poisoning of the receiver at Saffi, and, I am glad to say, his Majesty
has set them at liberty. Sir Moses visited Tangier, and after remaining
here ten days went to Gibraltar, at which place he embarked on one of
her Britannic Majesty’s frigates for Mogadore, en route to Morocco city,
to have an interview with the Sultan on the condition of the Jews in the
empire. T. F. Reade, esq., her Britannic Majesty’s consul in this city,
accompanied him as interpreter. I beg to enclose a printed copy of the
instructions given by her Catholic Majesty’s government to her Catholic
Majesty’s minister and consuls in this country in reference to the
future treatment of the Jews in this country. Her Britannic Majesty’s
minister, and the Italian and Portuguese consuls general have also
received instructions from their governments of a like character.
Whether the Jews apprehended a general crusade against themselves on
account of their religion, or acts of injustice from any other cause,
after the horrible occurrence which took place at Saffi, resulting in
the execution of two of their race, without the least shadow of proof of
guilt or that a crime had been committed, they were clearly justified,
in my opinion, in appealing to the liberal nations of Europe, and to our
own, for an amelioration of their unfortunate condition in this country.
In view of all the circumstances connected with the late occurrence at
Saffi, and upon the authority of your instructions, at the same time
exercising the greatest care for the just rights of all concerned, I
believe it to be my duty, in the name of humanity, to exert my influence
with his Majesty’s government to prevent any injustice to this race.
Your circular, No. 43, dated 28th November last, has been received.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
[Page 426]
The mission of Sir Moses Montefiore.
Sir Moses Montefiore, who has been staying for some few days in
Gibraltar, is about to proceed to Saffi, one of the ports of western
Barbary, whence he will travel into the interior to have an
interview with the Sultan. We subjoin an extract from a circular
addressed by the Spanish minister to the consular agents of his
government in Morocco, which shows that Sir Moses Montefiore has
been completely successful in his mission. The execution of two
Jews, and the condemnation to death of two others, in connexion with
the death of the Spanish collector at Saffi, was the cause of Sir
Moses Montefiore’s journey to this quarter of the world. The Spanish
authorities believed that the collector was designedly poisoned; the
Jewish population of Barbary was firmly convinced that his death was
the result of natural causes, and in the subsequent proceedings,
which it is not necessary again to detail, the Jews of Morocco saw
only a persecution of their race. They therefore appealed earnestly
for help to their co-religionaries in Europe. It will be seen that
the Spanish government indignantly repudiate the notion that the
action of their authorities in this matter was prompted by a feeling
of hostility towards the Jews in Morocco, and they denounce as
calumnious everything which has been written in that belief. We
stated on a former occasion that the prevailing impression on the
minds of the Jews, that they were the objects of systematic
persecution, was no doubt a mistaken one, and we are glad to see
that the Spanish government have now taken the best and most
effectual means of removing the erroneous opinion by enjoining their
consuls and vice consuls in Morocco to use their influence for the
defence and protection of the Jews against cruelty and injustice
from the Moorish authorities.
The object which Sir Mosès Montefiore hopes to accomplish by his
personal visit to the Sultan is, doubtless, to obtain some
improvement in the social status of the
Morocco Jews. The fact that his humane mission is supported by the
governments of Christian Europe will, no doubt, powerfully
contribute to its success. Every one who desires to see a good cause
prosper must sympathize with Sir Moses Montefiore in his generous
and self-sacrificing endeavors to benefit his fellow-creatures, and
must heartily wish that he may safely pass through the fatigues and
perils of a land journey in Barbary in mid-winter, which he is about
to encounter at an advanced age, and return to England with the
satisfaction of having perfectly succeeded in the object which drew
him from his country.
Extract from a circular addressed by his
excellency Señor Don Francisco Merry y Colon, resident minister
of her Majesty the Queen of Spain at Tangier, in the empire of
Morocco, to the consuls and vice-consuls of Spain at the ports
of that empire, and with a copy of which his excellency Señor
Don Francisco Merry y Colon kindly favored Sir Moses Montefiore,
bart., at Tangier, on Sunday, the 10th
Tebeth, 5624, (20th December,
1863.)
“CIRCULAR Á LOS CÓNSULES Y VICE-CÓNSULES DE ESPAÑA EN
LOS PUERTOS DE MARRUECOS.
“El gobierno de S. M. la Reina ha visto con el may or desden las
calumnias groseras que han sido dirijidas contra España suponiendo
que los cónsules de España en Marruecos habian emprendido una
cruzada contra los Israelitas establecidos en este Imperio.
“Estas calumnias no deben influir en nada en el ánimo de Vd., ni
deben ser causa de que los ajentes de España en Marruecos alteren su
proceder respecto á los Hebreos ni dejen de ampararlos y
protejerlos. Al contrario, el mejor modo de contestar
vietoriosamente á tales calumnias, es aumentar la solicitud por esta
raza que en tan triste situacion se halla en este pais.
[Page 427]
“Así es que Vd. deberá aprovechar euantas ocasiones se le ofrezcan
para evitar actos de erueldad por parte de las autoridades
Marroquies contra los Hebreos, y aun en casos de injusticia notoria
y cuando se les quiera imponer el suplicio de los palos para que
declaren sobre cualquiera asunto, interpondrá Vd. resueltamente su
influencia cerea de la autoridad local para evitar que se cometan
actos de barbarie
“Dios guarde a Vd., &ca.
[Translation.]
“The government of her Majesty the Queen has seen with great
displeasure the gross calumnies which have been written against
Spain, in the belief that the Spanish consuls in Morocco have
undertaken a crusade against the Israelites established in this
empire.
“Such calumnies must not in the least influence your feeling, nor
ought they to cause the agents of Spain to alter their course of
proceeding respecting the Hebrews in Morocco, or to cease supporting
and protecting them.
“On the contrary, the best mode of replying successfully to such
calumnies is by increasing your solicitude for this race, which is
so sadly circumstanced in this country.
“Thus you will avail yourself of every occasion which may arise to
prevent acts of cruelty on the part of the Moorish authorities
against the Hebrews, and also in cases of notorious injustice, and,
when it is in question to inflict the punishment of the lash, you
will resolutely interpose your influence with the local authorities
to prevent the commission of such acts of barbarity.”
The executive committee of the Jewish congregations in Tangier desire
to publish the following expression of their gratitude to Sir Moses
Montefiore for his generous and successful exertions on behalf of
the Jews in Morocco:
“We, the executive committee of the Jewish congregations at Tangier,
having accompanied our honored and venerable patriot, Sir Moses
Montefiore, baronet, to Gibraltar, are unwilling to lose the
opportunity of giving a public expression to our thanks, and of
recording our conviction that his visit to the empire of Morocco has
already been productive of a most important influence, and that
there is much reason to hope that great and permanent benefit to our
co-religionists in that part of Africa will result from it.
“Leaving home with the cordial support and countenance of the
government of her Majesty the Queen of England, Sir Moses Montefiore
had the gratification of a gracious reception from the Queen of
Spain and from many of the highest personages of her court. The many
distinguished introductions with which he was furnished were
powerfully seconded by the conciliatory character of his own
personal influence. Hence the object of his mission, for which we
are deeply indebted to the board of deputies of the Jews in England,
not merely obtained the prompt and warm support of the English
minister, our proved friend his excellency Sir J. Hay Drummond Hay,
K. C. B, but also that of the other representatives of foreign
powers, amongst whom the Spanish minister, his excellency Don F.
Merry y Colon, must be specially named, as, by direction of his
government, he promptly circulated to his subordinates, the Spanish
consuls and vice-consuls in Morocco, a code of instructions
admirably calculated to secure our brethren from any repetition of
the unfortunate occurrences which have recently inflicted upon them
so much suffering and alarm. The influence of the representatives of
the other foreign powers will likewise be cordially employed for the
same purpose. The good will of our Sultan, already felt to be in our
favor, cannot fail to be strengthened and secured by the visit which
our venerable champion is on the point of paying to the court of
Morocco, where he will have the company and support of our friend
the British consul, T. F. Reade, esq.
“We think it needless to enter into further details respecting Sir
Moses Montefiore’s movements, of which, in due time, an official
report will appear; yet it would not be doing justice to him or to
our feelings were we to omit to state that, besides making various
munificent donations of a charitable character, in which the poor of
all classes and sects in Tangier participated, he took a most
important step for the promotion of female education by inducing’
the principal Israelite ladies in that city to institute and
themselves superintend a school for the poor girls of our community,
bestowing the generous gift of £300 to secure the speedy
commencement of this most desirable undertaking, and to connect with
it the memory of his late lamented wife, the amiable and excellent
Lady Judith Montefiore.
“May the Almighty still lengthen out the days of our honored friend
and benefactor, preserving him to his country and to his brethren of
the family of Israel, and bestowing his choicest blessings upon
him.”
