The uniform which is to displace this ancient and magnificent costume, is a caricature of us, as much as a scandal to the Moors; yet it is paraded as a necessary condition of learning the use of arms. In the last century, the Spanish army, indignant at the introduction of the Prussian discipline, exclaimed, “With the old tactics we raised Charles V. to the throne of Germany, and Philip V. to that of Spain; we put Don Carlos on the throne of Naples, and conquered Parma and Oran:” no doubt the argument was inconclusive. But to tell the Saracens that their costume is unfit for military purposes, was reserved for the genius of the nineteenth century. Shoe-strings at Versailles announced that the revolution was accomplished; a neckcloth sealed the fate of the khans of the Crimea; so button-holes at Rabat seem to presage, not that a barrier is raised in Morocco to the French, but that the sceptre of the Sheriffs is passing away. Mehemet Ali’s uniform at least followed, while it disfigured, the dress in use. This one is a complete change; the bare leg, the distinctive mark of the Moor, has disappeared. The cap, their own original shashia,--the peaked cap of liberty,--is, for “fashion’s sake,” changed to the round shallow one of Egypt; cuffs and collars, the gracefulness of which so struck Napoleon, when he saw Eastern clothing, are the salient features of this tailoring invasion; which, after desolating Spain, has now fallen upon Morocco. Tertullian, in his letter on the “Toga and the Pallium,” ridicules the Africans of his day, for copying from Italy a dress which the ancestors of those Italians had borrowed from their own: what would he have said now? The new uniform was of course of all sorts of tints and colours, from chocolate to pink. FOOTNOTES: [200] Jamsamia. [201] Deut. iv. 41-43. [202] Ayala, p. 1333. [203] Al Makbari, passing by Malta, exclaims, “That accursed island, from the neighbourhood of which whoever escapes may well say, that he has deserved favour;--that dreaded spot, which throws its deadly shade on the pleasant waters of the Mediterranean--that den of iniquity and treason, that place of ambush, which is like a net to circumvent the Moslems that sail the seas!” [204] “The regal power allotted to us makes us common servants to our Creator; then of those persons whom we govern; so that, observing the duties we owe to God, we distribute blessings to the world. In providing for the public good of our states, we magnify the honour of God, like the celestial bodies, which, though they have much honour, yet only serve for the benefit of men. It is the excellence of our office to be instruments whereby happiness is distributed to the nations. Pardon me, sir, this is not to instruct; for I know I speak to one of a more clear and quick sight than myself; but I speak thus because God hath been pleased to grant me a happy victory over some part of those rebellious pirates that have so long molested the peaceful trade of Europe.”