Sidi-Bel-Abbès

“ With much fine recital and many appeals to the holy marabouts to bear witness, Sidi demonstrated that the thief was no other than Mohammed the porter, who had the stone hidden with extraordinary cunning, and from whom it was to be got only at my own personal risk.
"Under the shadow of the Kasbah it lies," said he; "under the shadow of the Kasbah must you seek it with those I shall send to you, and no others. Obey them in all things; be silent when they are silent, speak when they speak, fly and lose not haste when they bid you fly." ”

“ Sidi-El-Hadj-Aïssa, who is the patron of the oasis, is a figure of great importance in the Moslem history of Algeria, and he is venerated throughout the country, more especially as a prophet. Concerning the truth of his foresight it is not for us to criticize, but the facts are worth noting. It appears that after creating this center and making of the divided nomads one people, they did not show the desired gratitude, and as punishment the marabout laid a terrible curse [189] on his followers. In the curse he prophesied the downfall of the city, internal war, and the French invasion. ”

“ Nor is our friend the dark Sidi wanting to the throng: and he is followed by the Arab with his well-known head-gear, by the handsome Afghan, and by the broad- shouldered native of Bokhara in his heavy robes. Mark too the hurried steps of the brocade-worker from Surat, and note the contrast of colour as the grimy fitter or black-smith passes through the porch side by side with the spotlessly-clad Konkani Musulman, whose high features and olive skin betray his Indo-Arab origin. Rich and poor, clean and unclean, all pass in to prayer. ”

“ Arriving at Elche, we made straight for the house of the merchant, Sidi ben Ahmed, with whose family Moll had been so intimate previously. Here we were met by Sidi himself, who, after laying his fingers across his lips, and setting his hand upon his heart, in token of recognition and respect, asked us very civilly our business, though without any show of surprise at seeing us. But these Moors do pride themselves upon a stoic behaviour at all times, and make it a point to conceal any emotion they may feel, so that men never can truly judge of their feelings. ”

“ Thence it is one day's journey to Saida, which is Sidon, a large city, p.29 with about twenty Jews. Ten miles therefrom a people dwell who are at war with the men of Sidon; they are called Druses, and are pagans of a lawless character. They inhabit the mountains and the clefts of the rocks; they have no king or ruler, but dwell independent in these high places, and their border extends to Mount Hermon, which is a three days' journey. They are steeped in vice, brothers marrying their sisters, and fathers their daughters. ”

“ After he became a shade my association with him beguiled many dull periods.
[24] “After Sidi’s time there was a celebrated sea robber on the Ægean who was called Red Beard. Sidi and I were with him four years. He was thick set and bullet headed. His heavy jutting lips, cruel eyes, and long fiery red whiskers gave him a rough and wild look. He was an excellent and formidable pirate. Wherever there was wealth to loot, involving wholesale massacre, he was always equal to the situation. ”

“ But at length Nature asserts her sway; and after the dancing has lasted almost without interruption for three hours, the Sidi Patel, Hassan, gives permission for a brief recess, during which he introduces to the spectators the son of the Sidi chief Makanda,—a fine specimen of manhood whose six-foot stature belies the fact that he is still according to Sidi views a minor incapable of looking after his own interests. ”

“ Whoever Sidi ben Aïssa, the patron saint of this strange sect, might have been, he certainly numbers among his followers some of the worst malefactors of Algeria. Any Mohammedan may be initiated into the Aïssáwà. He makes a pilgrimage to Mequinez, in Morocco, calls upon the representative of Sidi ben Aïssa’s family, to whom he offers prayers and money. ”

“ When the war ended, Sidney, who had obtained leave to live in French territory, retired to Languedoc. In the summer of 1670 he was in Paris, and Charles II, in answer to the inquiries of the French government, declared ‘that he did not care where Sidney lived provided he did not return to England, where his pernicious sentiments, supported with so great parts and courage, might do much hurt.’ But a few weeks later the king changed his mind, saying that he would be better in Languedoc and could not be too far from England. ”

“ Sidi sat down again. The basket was opened, and Edgar produced some bread and some cold kabobs (kabobs being small pieces of meat stuck on a skewer) . Sidi eat some bread and fresh fruit, but he shook his head at the meat.
"I shall do better without it," he said. "Meat is for the strong. My wound will heal all the faster without it." ”

“ On the 28th, Sidi-Boubacar, who was become much attached to me, sent me an invitation to his house, where he waited to receive me. He seated me on a fine carpet, spread in the court, under a little shed, and then requesting me to wait a moment, he went for a friend of his, a Moor of distinction. Soon afterwards a slave brought, upon a very clear copper waiter, a meat pasty fried in butter, and a fine slice of melon, bought on the preceding day at the market of Boheim: Sidi-Boubacar broke the pasty and his friend and I as well as himself did justice to it. ”

“ The chief of the Sidi-Embarek, a family which, although of Arab race, had enjoyed great respect and influence in the country for some centuries before Turkish rule was terminated by French usurpation, had actively stimulated the persecution of the family of Omar, whose personal enemy he was. M. de Castellane gives the following account of the founder of the Sidi-Embarek:—"In 1580, a man of the Hachems of the west, named Si-Embarek, left his tribe, with two servants, and went to Milianah. ”

“ Don't forget that life here in Sidi is a great deal better than life in a desert station in the South. It is supportable anyhow; there--it simply isn't; and those who don't desert and die, go mad and die. The exceptions, who do neither, deteriorate horribly, and come away very different men.... Make the most of Sidi, my boy, while you are here, and remember that foreign service, when in Tonkin, Madagascar, or Western Africa, inevitably means fever and dysentery, and generally broken health for life.... ”

“ The rest of the escort scattered themselves along on each side of the long column [Pg 162] of camels. Sidi's party left at the same hour. The sheik up to that time had been engaged in superintending the arrangements for shifting camp, and asked Sidi and Edgar to stop behind for an hour or two in order that he might hear a full account of the events at Cairo. When the story was finished they partook of a meal, and then, after saying adieu, mounted and rode off, and in an hour's time overtook the slow-moving cavalcade. ”

“ Sidney asked eagerly as Master Peyster hesitated.
"Perhaps it is wrong for me to speak further without knowing of what minds are your parents."
"That can be easily learned; our fathers have not the money with which to pay their own tax, 11 after giving up all they owned to aid in satisfying the thirst for gold with which the king's officers in this colony are afflicted," Sidney said with a laugh which had in it nothing of mirth. ”

“ Abe had not offended in vain, however, for after dinner that night, when Sidney sought his father in the Koblins' suite at Riesenberger's cottage, the King was in an ugly mood.
"Say, Pop," Sidney began, "how about you for twenty till Saturday night?"
"What d'ye mean?" Max bellowed. "Ain't I given you ten dollars only this morning?"
Sidney laughed uncomfortably. "Ain't you the old tightwad!" he said. ”

“ Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother.
Death! ere thou hast slain another
Learned and fair and good as she,
Time shall throw a dart at thee."
Sir Philip Sidney was her brother, born at Penshurst in 1554. The estate came through various owners, until, in the reign of Henry II., it was granted to Sir William Sidney, who commanded a wing of the victorious English at Flodden. Sir Philip, we are told, would have been King of Poland had not Queen Elizabeth interposed, "lest she should lose the jewel of her times." Algernon Sidney, beheaded on Tower Hill, was his descendant. ”

“ Sir Philip Sidney, called by Sir Walter Raleigh "the English Petrarch," was the author of Arcadia. Queen Elizabeth called him "the jewel of her dominions;" and Thomson, in his Summer, "the plume of war." The poet refers to the battle of Zutphen, where Sir Philip received his death-wound. Being thirsty, a soldier brought him some water; but as he was about to drink he observed a wounded man eye the bottle with longing looks. Sir Philip gave the water to the wounded man, saying, "Poor fellow, thy necessity is greater than mine." ”

“ Very shortly after the arrival of Sidonia, the Grand-duke and his suite quitted the Castle, which had been his Highness’ head-quarters during his visit to the manufacturing districts; but no other great change in the assembled company occurred for some little time.
CHAPTER XIII.
‘You will observe one curious trait,’ said Sidonia to Coningsby, ‘in the history of this country: the depository of power is always unpopular; all combine against it; it always falls. Power was deposited in the great Barons; the Church, using the King for its instrument, crushed the great Barons. ”

“ The discussion at the divan of Hafiz Bey lasted all the morning. Rodoan Aga and the Moslems of Gaza retired to dine and take their mid-day nap, while Sidney retired to his room to meditate on his embarrassed position. Had he possessed a couple of horses, or money enough to purchase them, he would, without a moment's hesitation, have put his foot in the stirrup and left Gaza, its consuls, and its governor behind, and trusted to his good fortune for finding his way to Jerusalem. ”

“ At this moment, it was his mother’s policy to appear to leave the ascendancy to the Huguenot party, and he was therefore allowed to contract friendships which deceived the intended victims the more completely, because his admiration and attachment were spontaneous and sincere. Philip Sidney’s varied accomplishment and pure lofty character greatly attracted the young King, who had leant on his arm conversing during great part of the ball, and the next morning sent a royal messenger to invite the two young gentlemen to a part at pall-mall in the Tuileries gardens. ”

“ Why couldn’t someone else save the fair name of Cape Cod—someone like a crippled boy whom most of the towns-people looked upon as a loafer?
“I’d like to catch ’em, myself,” he said slowly in such a low voice that Sidney barely caught the words.
“Oh, Lav, why not? We have as good a chance as anyone, knowing as much as we do. What’ll we do first?” For Sidney was ready for adventure. ”

“ Such is the description given by Sir William Temple of the happy state of this self-constituted cabinet council, when Henry Sidney, the uncle of Lord Sunderland, who was entirely of their party and entered into all their views, was appointed Envoy to the States of Holland. But soon "a change came o'er the spirit of his dream." His plan of the council, from which so much had been expected, had already shown symptoms of failure. The machine he had invented being too cumbrous, and formed of too jarring materials to bear the strain and friction to which it was exposed, soon went to pieces ”

“ Sidney distrusted his Dutch colleagues; the unauthorised return of Montagu and the fleet to England robbed his words of weight; while the ambition of the king of Sweden and the weakness of the king of Denmark were almost insurmountable obstacles to peace. His own government left him without instructions and without information of the revolutions of public affairs in England. Sidney watched with anxious eyes the breach between the parliament and the army in October 1659, condemning, in his letters to his friends, the stiffness and severity of the former (Blencowe, pp. 169, 182) . ”

“ As Philip Sidney paced under the shadow of the beeches, the deep bronze of fallen leaves at his feet glowing here and there into living gold, as the low rays of the eastern sun shone through the branches, thinly veiled, as yet, with tender green, to any casual observer, he did not wear the appearance of a man whose heart knew any bitterness or was weighted with any burden. ”

“ The natives about Sidney and Paramatta are represented as in a state of wretchedness still more deplorable than those resident in the interior.
"Those in the vicinity of Sidney are so completely changed, they scarcely have the same pursuits now; they go about the streets begging their bread, and begging for clothing and rum. ”

“ A sharp altercation was going on between two of the servants, each wishing to have the honour of taking Lady Mary Sidney's youngest son on his pillion.
Presently the boy himself appeared in his black velvet riding suit, booted and spurred, his red-gold locks—the true Sidney badge—falling over his shoulders from under the stiff, pointed cap which shaded his forehead.
'I am to ride alongside of you, not on the pillion like a babe. Peace! I tell you, Mr Philip saith so. ”

“ It was a life like that of one of the little gambling courts and watering-places of Germany, with more heartiness, in consequence of the constant arrival of friends and victims from England. The town lots of Adelaide formed the great rouge-et-noir table. The climate rendered out-of-door life delightful, the imaginary streets swarmed with well-dressed crowds; so much really good society, so many fashionable men, had never before been found in a colony ”