THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PROTECTORATE.
My next three chapters treat of contemporaneous events which happened
within a short time of the conclusion of the Kasr-es-Said Treaty in
different parts of the Regency. While M. Roustan was endeavouring to
turn his new position to the best advantage, the Bey, as might be
expected, spared no effort to conceal the nakedness of the land from his
outraged subjects. In the first place, a Tunisian version of General
Bréart’s interviews with Muhamed es Sadek duly appeared in the
Government Gazette. This extraordinary document contrasts strangely with
the patriotic utterances of three days before.
NOTICE.
_Praise be to God._
The Raïd (Gazette) informs the public that yesterday (Saturday) His
Highness the Bey had a satisfactory interview with General Bréart, the
Commander-in-Chief of the French army which happens to be in the
neighbourhood of the capital. This meeting took place in the presence of
the Chargé d’Affaires and Consul-General of the benevolent French
Government. Its object was solely to prove the friendly relations which
exist between the two countries. His Highness suggested to the General
the prudence of abstaining from a visit to the metropolis, on account of
the excitement it might produce, and also requested him to go away with
all his troops. The General acceded to the demand, and assured His
Highness that he and his soldiers would depart by the same route as they
had arrived by, in order to reassure the inhabitants and secure public
tranquillity.
We hasten to give publicity to this news.
TUNIS, _17th Djoumada et Thani_ 1298 (_15th May_ 1881).
Unfortunately for the Bey the Raïd was powerless to deceive anybody.
Tunis now assumed, as far as the European quarters were concerned, an
appearance of unwonted gaiety. A score of newspaper correspondents at
least arrived from the interior, to seek a respite from the official gag
and the hardships of camp life; officers in mufti thronged the streets,
and the legendary French colony, with its cohort of Israelites,
Mozabites, and Algerians, prepared to do honour to the conquerors. M.
Roustan did not permit the Raïd alone to enjoy the prerogative of
issuing notifications. The ink was hardly dry on the treaty before the
following circular was composed:—
NOTICE.
I have the honour to inform you that General Bréart, Plenipotentiary of
the Government of the Republic and Commander-in-chief of the French
troops, will be happy to receive the nation on Sunday the 15th May at
half-past ten o’clock.
(Signed) TH. ROUSTAN.
What took place on that eventful occasion cannot be better described
than in the words of the telegram sent to the _Standard_ by Mrs. Taylor,
the witty and talented correspondent of that paper:—
Generals Bréart and Maurand came by train from Manouba. They proceeded
on foot from the station to the French Consulate, escorted by Tunisian
soldiers.
M. Roustan received them in the uniform of his new rank, which he had
already prepared, in anticipation of his elevation as French Minister.
M. Valensi, who acted as spokesman of the deputation of French
inhabitants, said in the course of his address that he did not know
whether most to admire the valour of the French troops during the
campaign, or the admirable diplomacy of the French Minister, by which
the present situation had been brought about.
The correspondent of the _Temps_, speaking in the name of the Press,
regretted that, after the privations and toils undergone by the French
troops, they should not be permitted to march through the capital.
M. Roustan replied that the magnanimity displayed by the French upon
this occasion marked a new era in their relations with Tunis. France
would develop the resources of the country, securing her preponderance,
and enabling her agents to rival those of friendly nations.
In the afternoon a grand review was held at Manouba in the presence of
the generals, M. Roustan, the Musallis, and a crowd of Maltese and
Italians.
These passing gaieties were not allowed to postpone for any length of
time the more serious business connected with French “protection.” Ali
Bey came back to Tunis and refused to give a written promise to adhere
to the terms of his brother’s convention, which the Sultan now declared
by telegraph to be null and void. This refractoriness was not destined
to be of long duration; the stoppage of his income soon convinced Ali
Bey of the practical inconveniences of patriotism; he signed the
declaration required of him, burned his ships by tearing up General
Logerot’s note which he had kept as an emblem of Gallophobism, and
became from that day the devoted friend and ally of France. In the
course of the 16th and 17th May, M. Roustan discovered in the heart of
Tunis a conspiracy which threatened alike the Bey and the Protectorate.
Of course all details and evidence were superfluous, and so M. Roustan
confined his action to presenting the now docile Muhamed es Sadek with a
list of the proscribed traitors. By a mere coincidence it contained the
names of all those persons who had been unfavourable to M. Roustan’s
views during the acute stage of Tunisian politics. Arbi Zerouck, the
President of the municipality, managed to escape in the middle of the
night to the British Consulate-General; M. Conti was dismissed for his
over-zeal in promoting fruitless appeals, and the rest of the supposed
culprits avoided the same fate by “making friends with the mammon of
unrighteousness,” and conciliating the presiding genius of the new
_régime_. El Arby was fortunate enough to obtain permission, through Mr.
Reade’s intercession two days later, to put the Mediterranean between
himself and his persecutors. The patronage now at M. Roustan’s disposal
was judiciously bestowed; General Elias Musalli succeeded M. Conti with
the exalted rank of a Tunisian _Ferík_ or General of Division, and Sy
Hsuna Meteli, the Bey’s buffoon, became President of the Tunisian
municipality. A year has passed since then: Sy Hsuna has now the best
carriage and finest pair of horses in Tunis, but the streets of the town
have become an impassable quagmire.
The French troops now occupied successively Mater and Beja, but signs
were not wanting of rocks ahead. The Bey’s circular announcing the “re-
establishment of friendly relations with France” was received with
derision all over the interior. When the injunction “to receive the
French like brothers” was proclaimed at the Enfida, the Arabs declared
they “would have nothing to do with the slayers of the Sheikhia,” and
the few remaining employés of the _Société Marseillaise_ took refuge in
Tunis under an escort of Mr. Levy’s tenants. About the same time England
met the just reward of her credulity. On the 19th and 23d May the
Maltese ships “Nuova Stella” and “Santa Maria” were boarded and searched
by the Commander of the French gunboat “Léopard” off the Tunisian coast.
A week later another evidence of the still smouldering flame of Arab
discontent was afforded by the murder of M. Seguin, the correspondent of
the _Télégraphe_ at Beja. On the 28th May, M. Seguin was walking a short
distance outside the town when he was suddenly set upon by an Arab
fanatic, who, quitting a group of natives on the road, rushed upon him
and felled him to the ground with a heavy stone. Seguin, who was a
small, thin man, attempted to defend himself with a dagger which he
drew, but his assailant snatched it from his hand and inflicted no less
than eight fearful wounds about his head, chest, and stomach before he
could be dragged from the body of his victim. Seguin bore his sufferings
with much courage, and died in great agony at six o’clock the next
morning. His assassin was a deserter from the 2d Regiment of Algerian
Native Infantry—commonly called Turcos—and is said to be a native of
Morocco. I afterwards learned that M. Seguin was not more than thirty-
two years of age, and was a brilliant scholar; he had been a pupil of
the Ecole Normale, and his career might have been a very successful one
but for the extreme violence of his political sympathies and
antipathies. He joined the Commune heart and soul, and acted as Private
Secretary to Rossel during his occupancy of the War Office. M. Seguin
contrived to escape, or he would most probably have met with the fate of
his chief. As it was, he left his country until the amnesty, earning his
living by giving lessons. About a year before his death he published a
very remarkable book describing the military forces of the various
European Powers, and estimating the probable results of the next trial
of strength between France and Germany. The title of the work is “La
Prochaine Guerre.” But the next war was in Tunis, and M. Seguin himself
was one of its earliest victims.
Ten days afterwards a crowd assembled outside the gate of Beja to see
the murderer die. As he was marching to the place of execution, he was
heard to exclaim, “I have done my duty; I have killed a Christian. The
Prophet and forty Houris are waiting for me in Paradise.” His eyes were
bandaged, he was made to kneel, and died apparently without a pang. It
is significant that whilst he was being executed, an Imam, or Moslem
priest, stood forth from a neighbouring minaret, and called all faithful
Moslems to prayers. A large crowd of natives witnessed the execution,
but no show of feeling was perceptible.
The end of the limited monarchy constituted in favour of M. Roustan by
the Kasr-es-Said Treaty was now at hand. Nothing short of absolute power
could satisfy his ambition; the Pro-Bey of Tunis must be _aut Cæsar aut
nullus_. This position could only be attained by the French Minister
Resident becoming Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs with General
Elias Musalli as permanent under-secretary. On the 8th June M. Roustan
announced the realisation of this measure to his former colleagues in an
imperial circular:—
TUNIS, _June 8th_, 1881.
SIR,—I have the honour to inform you that I have just transmitted to the
Bey of Tunis the Act of Ratification of the Treaty of Guarantees
concluded on the 12th of last May between the Government of the French
Republic and that of the Regency, a copy of which is enclosed. Article 5
of that treaty stipulating that the French Government shall be
represented at Tunis by a Resident Minister, the President of the
Republic has been pleased to confer upon me that function in virtue of
the Commission, a copy of which I also transmit. On his side the Bey, in
order to ensure, in so far as he is concerned, the execution of the
Treaty of Guarantees, has delegated by a decree (the translation of
which you will find enclosed) the Resident Minister of the French
Republic as his sole representative in his relations with the agents of
the foreign Powers at Tunis. In bringing these various documents to your
knowledge I am anxious to assure you of my earnest desire to maintain,
in the _double functions_ which I am invested, the good relations
existing between the two Governments, and between them and that of the
Bey, and I hope I may count on your part on the reciprocity of these
sentiments.—I am, &c.,
ROUSTAN, _Resident Minister of the French Republic_.
As a matter of course M. Roustan’s first act in his new capacity was to
promulgate the Bey’s decree upon the subject:—
Whereas the execution of Articles 4, 5, and 6 of the Treaty of
Guarantees concluded between the Regency and the Government of the
French Republic necessitates the constant intervention of the Resident
Minister of the Republic in the relations between our Minister for
Foreign Affairs and the agents of the Powers at Tunis, and whereas,
desiring to avoid the complications which might result from this state
of things, we delegate, for the prompt despatch of business, the
Resident Minister of the French Republic as our sole official
intermediary in the relations with the representatives of the Foreign
Powers accredited to our person. We invite the said Resident Minister to
communicate the present decree officially in our name to the Government
of the Republic and to the agents of the Foreign Powers at Tunis.—Signed
on the 11th Redjeb 1298 (8th June 1881). Countersigned, MUSTAPHA,
_Minister of the Bey_.
One only of the foreign representatives hastened to offer immediate
compliance with the terms of this almost insolent _pronunciamento_. The
Chevalier Charles Tulin de la Tunisie at once tendered to M. Roustan the
congratulations and adhesion of Germany. Such unexpected condescension
was, however, looked on a little suspiciously both at Tunis and in
Paris. During the crisis at Tunis M. Tulin certainly did his best to
efface from the memory of Frenchmen his very different conduct during
the dark days of 1870. In his youth M. Tulin had written an erudite work
to prove that Tunisian consuls were really miniature ambassadors; later
in life he had been ready to call before a court of law some luckless
individual who had dared to assume the name _De Tunis_ in disparagement
of his own high sounding title of _De la Tunisie_ (the unfortunate Bey
being the fountain of honour in both cases,) and he finished his career
by becoming the _alter ego_ of M. Roustan. M. Tulin, bristling with
decorations, learned in etiquette, and deeply versed in the _Almanach de
Gotha_, was an excellent type of the old school of Tunisian
diplomatists. Not wishing to change his peculiar patronymic from De la
Tunisie to Du Protectorat, he left Tunis as soon as he had done homage
to M. Roustan and has never returned there.
Mustapha was now seized with an uncontrollable desire to see face to
face the new allies and masters of Tunis. The Pro-Bey granted the
required permission; some _ahads_ and _nicháns_ were prepared as fast as
the Tunisian jewellers could make them, autograph letters containing
complimentary nothings were written, and a French man-of-war was placed
at his disposal. M. Roustan nominated his suite, General Elias Musalli,
Dr. Mascaro, and the broker Volterra, now Master of the Tunisian Mint.
The whole party assembled at the Goletta, in the wooden pavilion on
piles built out into the sea, commonly called the Summer Palace, to take
leave of the Bey. At the supreme moment Muhamed es Sadek placed around
the neck of M. Roustan the same decoration as had up to that time been
reserved only for princes and potentates. The act was logical enough: M.
Roustan had become the sovereign of the nearly broken-hearted old man.
Later in the day the “Jeanne d’Arc,” with its precious freight of
Tunisian worthies, left for Marseilles. Nobody has appreciated the
humour of the situation more keenly than M. De Blowitz, who had been for
many days undergoing _malgré lui_, a gradual process of disenchantment,
concerning Tunis. “The proper aim of the agents of a country,” he wrote
a day or two later, “is to serve it with all their might, and have in
view, as their recompense, only the honour of having served it. But in
truth, if M. Roustan has substituted himself too ostentatiously for his
Government, the Bey offers the more curious spectacle of a man who
surpasses in self-abasement anything the East has as yet yielded of the
kind. The delivery of the riband to M. Roustan is one of those sickening
comedies which are only played in the extreme east and on the confines
of civilisation. The journey of Mustapha, who is in a hurry to prostrate
himself before his conquerors, the enthusiastic declarations of the Bey,
and the lofty attitude of M. Roustan, certainly form one of those
unsavoury scenes which should be preserved in history as a warning.”
Five weeks before, Mustapha was described in nine-tenths of the French
papers not only as an arch-enemy and an Italian emissary, but as a
criminal of the deepest dye. The Kasr-es-Said Convention intervenes, and
this same Mustapha now arrives in France. It is here that we must look
for the _dénouement_ of this unsurpassed comedy of political folly. The
correspondent of the _Daily News_ has immortalised the scene in his
telegram of the 15th June 1881:—
Mustapha Pacha and his suite arrived at Toulon at seven o’clock this
morning, in the “Jeanne d’Arc.” The Bey’s Premier was saluted by fifteen
guns. He visited the squadron in the harbour, and breakfasted on board
the “Colbert.” Then he returned to the “Jeanne d’Arc,” and was rowed on
shore in the admiral’s boat. The Sub-Prefect received him. Mustapha
Pacha was dressed in a black coat, with the fez. He wore the Grand
Cordon of Nichán, the Cross of the Legion of Honour, and the cordon of
the same decoration which has just been conferred on M. Roustan. He left
Toulon this evening for Marseilles, Lyons, and Paris. Apartments are
engaged for him at the Grand Hotel, where he stays ten days. It is
rumoured that he will visit London _incognito_, then return to Paris for
a week, and go back to Tunis by way of Bordeaux, Madrid, and Algiers.
I must leave Mustapha to distribute his _nicháns_ and _ahads_ with
General Musalli’s assistance at the Grand Hotel, and return to the
serious side of the war in Tunis.