But our indefatigable General was planning another campaign, even beyond the Isser, against a little chief, named Ben-Salem, who held the valley of the Sebaou, and on the 29th of September he went in command of the column to operate in the east beyond the gorges of the Isser. The expedition destroyed a small bordj, the capital of Ben-Salem, having encountered but little firing; Colonel Leblond of the 48th of the line being unfortunately killed, a valuable officer. The Governor-general returned to Algiers on the 16th of October, and there found Mme. Bugeaud, who had arrived with her children on the 19th.

Another chief, formerly a khalifa of Abdel-Kader, Si-Mohammed Ben Mahi-Eddin, a man of great energy, gave us his assistance most devotedly in this campaign, especially as the column was returning. He took charge of the transport and escort of the sick and wounded, and he did it as well as French soldiers could have done.

The Governor-general rewarded him with the style of Khalifa for the hundred and twelve tribes of the Sebaou district just conquered. He wished to strike the fancy of the natives by making this first ceremony of investiture at Algiers a grand solemnity. At eight o'clock in the morning, the Khalifa proceeded to Government House, accompanied by his brother, three agas, and the hundred and twelve kaïds of the tribes placed under his command, guided by Chef d'Escadron Daumas. The Governor-general made them an address through the interpreter, M. Léon Roches, exhorting them to be faithful to their contract of alliance; and promising them greatness, threatening punishment and transportation to France

if they broke it when once undertaken, and then he invested the chiefs with suitable robes.

Though the General's activity had been crowned with success, he thought he could perceive an intention to reduce the number of troops in Algeria, shown in some acts of the War Minister. As he was unfortunately always interested in the discussions of the Chambers, and the attacks of the press upon Algerian matters, he did not confine himself to addressing observations to his superior, Marshal Soult, he chose to bring his case before the public, by publishing a pamphlet, protesting against any measure of this kind. Marshal Soult was very properly annoyed at this proceeding, and did not conceal his displeasure with the Governor-general.

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M. Guizot was in regular correspondence with General Bugeaud. The great Minister displayed an unfailing esteem and attachment for the soldier, notwithstanding the divergence of their temperament and character. M. Guizot's Memoirs give some interesting particulars of this intimacy. It may seen how cleverly and dexterously the politician brought the Governor-general round to his opinions, not directly opposing him, as the War Minister too often did. These are the fine and wise words that M. Guizot addressed to his friend General Bugeaud, in order to allay the irritation produced by the reproof that the War Minister had thought it his duty to convey to his immediate inferior in rank, in reference to the pamphlet mentioned :—

M. GUIZOT to GENERAL BUGEAUD.

Paris, 20 September, 1842.

You complain of me, my dear General, and you have some

VOL. II.

E

reason to do so. Yet I am not without excuses. I have a great dislike to empty words. I had nothing necessary, nothing practical to say to you. I venture to think that you trust me, whether near or far off, whether I speak or am silent. So I have not written to you. I have rejoiced in your success, and believed in it beforehand, because I have confidence in you. I have supported you in the Council and elsewhere, whenever I had a chance. I have laboured with some success to secure the predominance of the only policy that can support you, and that you can support. These are my proofs of friendship, my dear General, be sure you have gained mine; and I shall be faithful to it, and always charmed to prove it to you.

You are entrusted with a great work, and you will succeed in it. That is glory, you love it, and you are right. There are only two things in this world that are worth caring for,-domestic happiness and glory. The public are beginning to believe that they must rely upon you as regards Africa, and give you all you want to complete what you have begun. I have just read what you have just written, it is conclusive. In your place, I do not know if I should have written it; deeds are more authoritative than words. But your reasoning is supported by your deeds I shall make use of it in the next session. Meantime, finish your work of securing and completing the military supremacy. Then we will consider the territorial establishments. I am as much impressed as you are with the necessity of action in Algiers while Europe is at peace. Africa is the business for our leisure time.

The General's reply was thus :

GENERAL BUGEAUD to M. GUIZOT.

Algiers, 18 October, 1842.

Yes, I trust you, far or near, writing or silent, my dear Minister, and am honoured by the friendship you assure me of.

You tell me, 'In your place I do not know if I should have written, deeds are more authoritative than words.' I have not written to turn my deeds to account, and have not said a word about them. I wrote, chiefly to oppose a notion that appeared in the papers, in private conversations, in letters, and especially in the War-Minister's letters, the reduction of the army in Africa. The Marshal War-Minister has found fault with this publication. Had he a right to do so according to precedent? You can judge by the reply I made him, and enclose a copy of it for you. But supposing that I was to blame, was it right to admonish me in the papers? I was very much vexed at an article published in the

Moniteur of Paris. I do not think I have failed in discipline or propriety, and I flatter myself that no general in command, two hundred leagues from his country, has been better disciplined than I have.'

There was some reason for the African General's vexation. Although Marshal Soult was dictatorial and quick to take offence, he highly esteemed his old comrade of the grand army. He liked to remind him that they had both been present at the battle of Austerlitz, one with his corporal's stripes, the other invested with the dignity of Marshal of France. Unhappily, General Bugeaud was not patient.

The year 1842 was fatal to France. The death of the Crown-Prince, the Duke of Orleans, killed* on the 13th of July upon the road to Neuilly, destroyed the hopes of a whole people. The African army, having seen him in action on the field of battle, loved him, and held him in high esteem. The Duke, intelligent and brave, had the rare power of charming and attracting. And so the hearts of men were drawn to him irresistibly; and it must be said that few princes were more popular, more beloved, or more sincerely and bitterly lamented than was the father of my lord the Count of Paris.

In the month of October, 1842, the Duke d'Aumale, promoted to the rank of general, returned to Africa.

Before leaving Algiers, the General-in-command wrote the following letter to his friend Gardère; and in it will be found, as is always the case at this

By a carriage accident.-ED.

period of his life, Bugeaud's two great subjects of thought, Abdel-Kader and the opposition.

Algiers, 12 November, 1842.

MY DEAR GARDERE, -You have not written to me for a long time, neither have I to you, because you were in the midst of the honeymoon, and I in the midst of the labours of Hercules; that is to say, in those labours that consist in subduing thousands of wild beasts, and it must also be said some great citizens, who want to give the Arabs a nationality.

You have been travelling, I know; you have been at Bordeaux to show your young wife to your relations and friends; that is charming. I presume that you are happy, and wish you the continuance of that delightful state.

As for me I am always fighting against Abdel-Kader, who strives against his ill-fortune with grand energy and ability. He is really a master man, worthy of a better fate. I consider his business is done, without recovery. He may support himself for a time as a partisan chief; he can never regain a sovereign's power; and I think that in the spring we shall finally expel him from the last territory that provides him with any resources, between the Chélif and the Mina.

Now the important enemies are no longer there, they are at Paris. Around those in power there are envious men, incapable of believing anything, detracting from everything that is done, and so managing to inspire doubts in the minds of the Minister and the King. These speeches come to me, and I sometimes see traces of them in the official correspondence. I am in a rage; but what can be done? I console myself by thinking that generals have always been subject to such mortifications.

I am sending the King six horses, that the Minister had told me to buy for him. I request Marshal Soult to cause the price of the purchase, amounting with incidental expenses to 7200 francs, to be remitted to you.

Answer me, and tell me of your young brother, of your travels, and your plans.

My wife and daughters are here, and well. in Périgord, as we dreaded the climate for him.

Charles has stayed

BUGEAUD.

All the way along the valley of the Chélif, the eye wandering along the blue line of the southern