MORAVIANS. 



MOROCCO. 



373 



bers) for the year were: For church support, $127,- 

 798; for retired ministers, $2,259; for the Bohe- 

 mian mission, $1,535; for foreign missions, $0,- 

 070; for the Alaska mission, $2,920; for home 

 missions, $9,050; for the theological seminary, 

 $3,308; for all other Moravian causes, $1,008; for 

 general Christian objects, $2,285; the total, as 

 footed up in the tables, being $29,175. The total 

 of gifts reported by the provincial treasurer as 

 passing through his hands for Moravian causes 

 alone, excluding all income from funds, gifts for 

 individual churches, and collections made by in- 

 dividual pastors, was $28,547. 



Gifts of $4,840 were made during 1900 to the 

 Moravian College and Theological Seminary, in 

 addition to which the library of the institution 

 received a considerable collection of books and 

 pamphlets of theological and historical interest 

 from Mr. F. Leinbach. 



The contributions of the churches to the Alaska 

 mission for the year ending July 31 footed up to 

 $3,120. The Society for the Propagation of the 

 Gospel appropriated $8,449; and with other mis- 

 cellaneous items, the total receipt and expendi- 

 ture of the mission was $14,157. The mission re- 

 turned 780 members of all classes, showing a de- 

 crease of 214, which was attributed to the un- 

 usually large number of deaths, the result of an 

 epidemic of influenza. Had the death-rate been 

 no larger than in the previous year the figures 

 would have shown an increase of 40. Two hun- 

 dred and sixty-nine " new people " and candidates 

 were returned, 17 persons had been confirmed dur- 

 ing the year, 14 couples married, and 32 members 

 placed under church discipline. The missionary 

 force consisted of 5 brethren and 7 sisters, with 

 21 native helpers. 



At the annual meeting of the London Associa- 

 tion in aid of Moravian Missions, May 3, it was 

 reported that the number of stations was 190, 

 with 260 day-schools attended by about 25,000 

 pupils, and 123 Sunday-schools, numbering more 

 than 18,000 pupils. The most pressing needs at 

 present were largely increased help for the Gen- 

 eral fund, 10,000 for the Medical Missionary 

 fund, 500 for the leper home at Jerusalem, and 

 2,000 annually would be required for a few years, 

 till the mission in Labrador could be reestablished 

 on a firmer footing. 



MOROCCO, an empire in northern Africa. The 

 Emperor is an absolute monarch, ruler in tem- 

 poral and spiritual affairs, deferring occasionally 

 in religious matters to the Sharif of Tafilet and 

 often in civil affairs to his Grand Vizier or Cham- 

 berlain. The reigning Sultan is Mulai Abdul Aziz, 

 born Feb. 24, 1878. The Grand Vizier in the be- 

 ginning of 1901 was Abdullah ben Ahmed; Min- 

 ister of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Krim ben Sliman ; 

 Minister of War, Kaid el Mehedi el Menebhi; 

 Minister of Finance, Shuikh Tasi; Grand Cham- 

 berlain, Mohammed ben Dris ben Allem. 



Morocco has an area of about 219,000 square 

 miles, of which all except 53,800 square miles is 

 desert. The population is estimated variously ber 

 tween 2,750,000 and 9,400,000. Fez, the northern 

 capital, has about 140,000 inhabitants ; Tangier, 

 30,000, including 5,000 Christians; Morocco, the 

 southern capital, 50,000. 



Abdul Aziz, the young Sultan of Morocco, was 

 the favorite son of the late Sultan, Mulai Hassan, 

 and his chosen heir, though a younger son, child 

 of a Georgian slave whom Fedul Garnit, the com- 

 panion of his childhood, who made the pilgrimage 

 to Mecca for him by proxy, brought back with 

 him from Constantinople for his own harem, and 

 presented to his master when the latter expressed 

 A wish to see the famous beauty. This white 



Sultan's 



i :.,, \I\A 

 \-ith 'his 



! in the 

 mill, }','> 



slave, Leila Rekia, took prwdoii 



affections over his four Shercct'n 



concubines, and had her son <! 



successor. The people wen; not < 



choice, nor the army, nor the 



Mulai Hassan died suddenly in his i"n! i-; 



neighborhood of Rabat, his Chami.i 



Hamed ben Musa, who was nearest to 



the highest in authority where none enjoyed much 



political power, for the late Sultan was his own 



Chancellor, concealed the death, even from the 



palanquin-bearers who carried the corpse, until 



he had proclaimed Mulai Abdul Aziz and taken 



Possession of the palace, the royal treasury, and 

 he offices in his name. There was a rising in 

 favor of the eldest son which Bo Hamed crushed. 

 The youthful Sultan made Bo Hamed his Grand 

 Vizier, and left everything to him, and Bo Hamed 

 used his opportunities as Moorish Grand Viziers 

 do when the Sultan's despotic power is entrusted 

 in their hands. He amassed a fortune of many 

 millions, and was feared and dreaded from one 

 end of Morocco to the other, until he himself was 

 afraid to leave the city of Morocco, where he 

 built a magnificent palace. His chief lieutenant 

 and confidant was the Kaid Mehedi el Menebhi, 

 who had been imprisoned with his relations dur- 

 ing the reign of Mulai Hassan. Bo Hamed re- 

 leased them for a bribe and took the young man, 

 who was attractive, energetic, and crafty, into 

 favor. When Bo Hamed died the expected civil 

 disturbances which usually follow the demise of 

 the man of po\ver in Morocco did not occur. His 

 mantle fell on Mehedi el Menebhi, who made his 

 position secure by bringing into the royal coffers 

 the vast wealth of Bo Hamed, whose relatives 

 were cast into prison. The wily courtier did not 

 at once grasp the office of Vizier, but put for- 

 ward a man of riper years and reputation, Ab- 

 dullah ben Ahmed, taking for himself the post 

 of Minister of War, though in affairs of state his 

 voice was more potent with the Sultan, whq still 

 remained in the southern capital and was more 

 interested in photography, cycling, and other 

 European inventions than in the government of 

 his empire. The old Vizier's conservative notions 

 were shocked when he saw the Commander of the 

 Faithful riding a bicycle. He ventured to re- 

 prove his Shereefian Majesty, and the time of 

 Mehedi el Menebhi having arrived, he lost his 

 office in the customary w T ay, being suddenly and 

 secretly carried away in March, 1901, to a dis- 

 tant town and cast into chains together with his 

 relations, his fortune being garnered into the 

 Sultan's treasury. Other high officials were dis- 

 missed and degraded like the Vizier el Hadji el 

 Mokhtar, and their property was confiscated, in- 

 cluding freed slaves as well as those still in bond- 

 age, all of whom to the number of 1,050 were sold 

 in the open market. 



The constant residence of Mulai Abdul A.ziz in 

 the city of Morocco caused a great relaxation of 

 his authority throughout the empire. His prede- 

 cessors had ruled as the Romans did in north 

 Africa by setting up rivals in power and inciting 

 tribes against one another in order to triumph 

 over both. Fear and terror, accompanied by a 

 reverential regard for the dynasty of Filali, de- 

 scended from the Prophet, have kept the turbulent 

 Berber tribes of the plains and the mountains in 

 submission, while the voluptuous Moors of the 

 cities are willing to pay a rich tribute if they 

 are permitted to enjoy their lives and property 

 from one year to another. The ambulant court, 

 sojourning now in the north, in Fez or Mequinez, 

 now in the south, in Rabat or Morocco, accom- 

 panied on the march to and fro by an army that 



