Text: C. F. Briggs (?), Literary, Broadway Journal (New York), May 17, 1845, vol. 1, no. 20, p. ??

[page 311:]

EVIEWS [[REVIEWS]].

HEADLONG HALL AND NIGHTMARE ABBEY.

THE FRENCH IN ALGIERS..

Nos. 7 and 8 of Wiley & Putnam's Library of Choice Reading.

The first of these works has become a semi-classic in English literature, and being one of those books which only wits love to read, for it makes no appeal to the vulgar, has not been circulated to the extent that its merits deserve in this country. It is a broad but pleasant satire on the false philosophies and false tastes that were in vogue thirty years ago — but as each of its personages represents a class, with a very trifling alteration of names, it will apply as well to the errors of the present as to those of the past age. The author is neither a poet nor a cynic, but a good-natured scholarly gentleman, who is rather disposed to laugh the world cut of its errors than to sneer at them; he is neither as startling nor as amusing as Swift, but he is infinitely more friendly and winning. One would not care to be on terms of intimacy with the Dean, but the most sensitive of men would never fear the genial humor of the guests of Headlong Hall; or the tenants of Nightmare Abbey. McLaurel, the Scottish reviewer, in [page 312:] Headlong Hall, might have furnished Bulwer an original for his Macgrowler. To be fully appreciated the author should be fully read; some of his works possess considerable novel-esque interest, but they depend mainly upon their fine satirical vein. We trust that the publisher will bring out the other works of the author in their popular series to render the collection complete. They consist of, Maid Marian, Crotchet Castle, Melincourt, and the Misfortunes of Elphin, in addition to the two first published.

The French in Algiers is new aid startling; the name of Lady Gordon on the title page, the ingenious translator of the Amber Witch, should alone be sufficient to give it currency.

The following extract from the Journal of an officer of the French, who was a prisoner to the Arabs, will give an idea of the quality of this interesting book:

I had gone only a few steps, when a troop of Arabs suddenly poured out of a ravine, came down upon us at full gallop, and surrounded us on all sides. They advanced towards me, crying, “Semi! Semi!” (Friends! Friends!) Deceived by these exclamations I turned to explain them to the Doctor, when one of the Arabs snatched at the musket which I held in my hand; this showed me their real intentions, and I instantly fired at the Arab who had tried to seize the musket, and broke his shoulder. He dropped his gun, which was loaded, and was forced to throw his arm around the neck of his horse to prevent falling off. I darted at the gun, but two Arabs took aim at my head, and as I turned away to avdtd their fire, one ball gave me a slight wound on the head, and the other passed through my shirt and grazed my breast.

I had not lost sight of the wounded Arab's gun, and stooped again to pick it up, when something rough slipped over my face; I raised my hands to it, and felt a rope round my neck; at the same moment, a violent jerk brought me to the ground, and an Arab who had the other end of the rope fastened to his saddle-bow, set off at full gallop.

My cries and entreaties were all in vain; the Arab spurred ou his horse, and I was dragged half-strangled through rocks and briars. This horrible torture lasted some minutes, until the horse was forced by steep and stony ground to slacken his pace, when I got on my feet again. In spite of the wounds with which my face, hands, and legs were covered, and the stunning effects of such a shock, I still had strength to seize the cord so as to keep myself from being strangled, and to run forward and catch hold of the horse's tail:

But as soon as the other Arabs, who had been dispersed by the sailors sent to our assistance, rejoined their companions, I was loaded with abuse and stripped nearly naked. Our misfortune had been seen from the brig, which immediately fired upon the Arabs; but every shot cost me a fresh shower of blows, and the horse to which I was tied took fright at the noise and started forward, and I again fell to the ground; the Arabs ran after me, beating me all the time; and if by chance I succeeded in getting on my feet, my pitiless persecutor set off again at a gallop, casting looks of contempt upon me.

The incessant galloping of the horse, and the violent jerks of the cord which dragged and rolled me among the rocks and briars, leaving a track of blood behind me — the abuse and the blows of the Arabs, lasted a quarter of an hour: this sounds but a short time, but it seemed very long to me.

As soon as the Arabs thought themselves out of reach of pursuit, they halted in order to cut off my head. The rope was taken off my neck, my hands bound behind my back, and I was tied to a dwarf palm-tree. I was so tired, that I lay down upon the ground perfectly indifferent to the fate which I knew awaited all prisoners taken by the Arabs. I had but one sad thought, of my family and my poor sister; but this was soon driven away by the near approach of death, and the animated scene in which I, though chained and silent, was the principal person.

A violent discussion had arisen among the Arabs; they brandished their sabres over my head, and each claimed the pleasure of cutting it off, all crying at once, “I took him, I have a right to cut off his head;” and each, to prove the truth of his assertion, showed a fragment of my shirt or of my coat. The Arabs were already taking aim at one another, and exclaiming, “I ought to cut off his head, and I will kill you if you don’t let me enjoy my rights,” when a horseman galloped up and threw into my lap the head of Jonquie, one of the sailors; as I turned away in disgust at this horrible spectacle, I saw the Arab whom I had wounded lying on the ground about fifty paces off. lie could scarcely support himself, and was endeavoring to aim at me with a pistol which he held in his left hand. But horsemen were every instant passing to and fro before him, and he dropped his hand, patiently awaiting the favorable moment to fire.

I was expecting the end of this horrible discussion with some impatience when the arrival of another horseman changed the determination ot! the Arabs. This was Adda, a spy of Abd-el-Kader, who had often visited us at Arzew, where he feigned an intention of establishing himself, and allayed any suspicion we might entertain of him, by assuring us that his frequent visits were for the purpose of selecting some favorable spot for the settlement of his tribe. Delighted at the good will he manifested towards us, we had frequently invited him to dinner. But the traitor had far different designs. He made use of his visits to mark the exact spot to which our cattle were driven: he had determined to seize them, and it was with that object that he had [column 2:] hidden himself in the ravine with the troop which had taken me prisoner.

When Adda saw them furiously disputing who should kill me, he exclaimed that I was an officer, and that Abd-el-Kader would give them much more for my head if it was left upon my shoulders, and would willingly replace the three horses they had lost if I were taken to him alive.

But the Arabs still continued to brandish their yataghans over my head, with the most horrible imprecations against the dog of a Christian.

Adds used still longer arguments; and when the dying Arab had been removed, it was decided that I should be presented alive to Abd-el-Kader, who was to choose the manner of my death, after paying my .ransom and replacing the horses which our men had shot.

Just as we were setting off, an Arab brought me a straw hat with poor Jonquie's head in it, and bade me carry it. I refused, and was instantly assailed on all sides by blows and abuse, and cries of “Carry the head, dog of a Christian.”

“I will die first,” said I, throwing myself on the ground; and the Arabs were about to dispatch me with the butt-ends of their rifles, when Adda, who was very anxious to deliver me alive to Abd•el-Kader; interposed. The head was hung to the saddle-bow of one of the Arabs, and after venting their ill-humor on me by more blows, we started.

During our journey across the plain of Macta, we stopped at three successive wells, where several Arabs of the neighboring tribe met us and drew water for our men and horses. I went towards the well to drink, but the Arabs who held the bucket spat in my face, saying, “This water is not for a dog of a Christian like thee.”

I made no answer, and went to the next well, but there too the Arab who was drawing water spat in my face, and said, “This water is not for a Christian like thee.”

Again I bore it with patience, but the Arab at the third well, not content with spitting in my face and addressing the same compliment to me as his predecessors had done, dashed a bucket full of water in my face. I was bathed in perspiration, and no doubt such treatment would have brought on an inflammation in my chest if I had had time to be ill. As it was, I shivered and threw myself on the ground (always my last resource,) crying, “You may kill me if you please; I will not move another step, I am dying of thirst.” This was no more than the truth, for my tongue and my mouth were like a piece of dry cork, and I was fainting from thirst. At length Adda went himself, drew some water and brought it to me.

We resumed our journey through a country iu which the barley harvest was going on, and every time we passed any Arabs at work in the fields or a party of horsemen, my guards called out, “Come and see the Christian dog;” and they all came and spat in my face, and fired off their muskets close to my head, so that the balls whizzed about my ears. I must confess that these demonstrations of joy alarmed me a good deal until I got used to them.

During the course of our day's journey we had to Lord several rivers; but though I was often up to my middle in the water, these barbarians would not allow me to take a little in the palm of my hand, till at last, in spite of their threats and blows, I flung myself down in the bed of the river and drank deep draughts: this refreshed me but for a short time, and at every fresh river I had to resort to the same expedient.

At length I fell, exhausted with fatigue. It was three o’clock, and I had walked since five in the morning, and my feet were torn and bleeding. The Arabs mounted me on one of their horses, but in a quarter of an hour the owner of it dragged me off its back by my leg. I walked for two hours more, and then rode again. At length we arrived about nightfall at the camp of the Borgia tribe.

Here I was exposed to the blows, insults, and spittings of men, women, and children. A tent was pitched for my guards into which I was but half admitted, and I lay on the earth beyond the carpet.

Our party had chickens boiled with kuskussu for supper, which they ate voraciously; I should have been very glad of a bit, but they considered me unworthy of such a dainty, and flung me a handful of kus-kussu, which I could not swallow, as it was dry and bad, and my throat was so sore.

We were travelling the road from Mascara to Mostaganem, and my heart beat for joy at the sight of the tracks of the French cannon. I hoped that we might fall in with some French out-posts, and for a moment I forgot all my misery, and even the putrid and bloody head before me, and fancied myself on board the brig and in the arms of my friends and relations, or firing a broadside at the Arabs. I was rather roughly waked out of my reverie by a shower of blows which the Arabs gave me in order to hasten my horse's pace. In a few minutes I urged the animal on, and immediately they beat me violently, crying, “A Christian dog like thee may not dare to strike the horse of an Arab.”

We continued our journey in this manner for six hours, at the end of which the Arabs began to shout for joy, and Adda told me that we had reached Abd-el-Kader's camp, which is close to the town of Kaala. It was not without emotion that I passed the first tents of the man who was to decide my fate.

ABD-EL-KADER.

Abd-el-Irader's camp stood in a grove of fig trees, on the road from Mascora to Mostaganem, and the tracks of the wheels of the French artillery were still visible in the very midst of it. On arriving at the first tent my guards forced me to dismount, and in a moment I was surrounded by a host of Arabs of every age and both sexes, shouting and screaming — “ Son of dog,” “Dog of a Christian,” “Cut off his bead,” &c., with the usual accompaniment of blows and spitting.

Presently the chaous came to my rescue, and by dint of vigorous blows they at last succeeded in delivering me from the hands of these savages, and conducted me to Abd-el-Kader's tent. My first reception in the camp had not been of a kind fitted to dispel the fears with [page 313:] which I went into his presence. But as soon as Abd-el-Kader saw the pallor of my face he smiled and motioned me to sit, saying, “As long as thou art with me fear neither insult nor ill usage.” Emboldened by this gracious reception I asked him for something to drink, as, thanks to my guards, 1 had not drank since the day before. Abd-el-Kader immediately ordered me to he conducted to the tent which served as a store-house, and there I received a melon, some grapes, white bread, and water. The melon was so good, the water so cool, and Abd-el-Kader's manner had been so humane, that my hopes and my appetite revived. After devouring the melon and drinking a whole jar of water, I was again led into the Sultan's presence. His tent is the most magnificent in the camp: it is thirty feet long and eleven feet high; the inside is lined with hangings of various colors, covered with arasbesques and crescents in red, blue, green, and yellow. A woollen curtain divides it into two unequal parts, in the futhermost and smaller of which is a mattress on which the Sultan sleeps. At the further end is a small entrance for the service of the tent and the slaves especially attached to the person of the Sultan: these are Ben Abu and Ben Fuka, of whom I shall have to say more hereafter. During the day the tent remains open and accessible to all.

On the ground, in one corner, lie four silken rags rolled up: these are home before Abd-el-Kader on every march by four horsemen; the flag, belonging to the cavalry, is red; the second, that of the infant. ry, has a horizontal yellow stripe between two blue ones; the third, two horizontal stripes — one green and the other white; and the fourth is half red and half yellow. Every Friday these flags are unfurled in front of the Sultanfs tent. There is also a small mattress covered with a carpet, on which lie two red silk cushions; at each end of the mattress is a chest, and behind it two other chests; the whole is then covered with a carpet, and forms Abd-el-Kader's sofa: the chests contain his clothes and money. A carpet is spread on the ground for strangers. These things, together with a high footstool, covered with red silk, which serves the Sultan as a horse-block, constitute all the furniture of the Sultan's tent. The tent is always guarded by thirty negroes, who are never relieved, and have no other bed than the earth. A good many chaous are always in attendance, ready to obey the commands of their ruler.

I will now endeavor to describe a man, of whom at present very little is known. From all that I had heard. I expected to find a bloodthirsty barbarian, always ready to cut off heads: my expectations were false indeed.

Abd-el-Kader is twenty-eight years of age and very small, his face is long and deadly pale, his large black eyes are soft and languishing, his mouth small and delicate, and his nose rather aquiline; his beard is thin but jet black, and he wears a small mustachio, which gives a martial character to his soft and delicate face, and becomes him vastly. His hands are small and exquisitely formed, and his feet equally beautiful; the care he takes of them is quite coquettish: he is constantly washing them, and paring and filing his nails with a small knife with a beautiful carved mother-of-pearl handle, which lie holds all the while as he sits crouching on his cushion with his toes clasped between his fingers.

His dress is distinguished by the most studied simplicity; there is not a vestige of gold or embroidery on any part of it. He wears a shirt of very fine linen, the seams of which are covered with a silk braid terminating in a small silk tassel. Over the shirt is a haick, and over the haick two white bernouscs; the uppermost garment is a black bernouse. A few silk tassels are the only ornaments about his dress; he wears no arms in his girdle, his head is shaved and covered by three or four scullcaps, one within the other, over which he draws the hood of his bernouse.

The second time that I went to the Sultan's tent, he was seated on some cushions, with his secretaries and some marabout:, crouching in a semicircle on either side of him: his smiling and graceful countenance contrasted charmingly with the stupid, savage faces around him.

The Sultan, with a smile of the greatest kindness, bade me be seated, and asked me, in Arabic, my name and where I was taken, and on my answering his questions, told me to fear nothing so long as I was with him.