He Then Defeated His Brother _Mahomet_, And Closely
Besieged Him In Tafilet, Whence That Good Prince Died Of Grief.
To
enumerate the bloody exploits of this prince would extend my letter to
a volume; suffice it therefore to say, that his reign was short, and
the remembrance of it never to be effaced.
He died in 1672 of a
fractured skull, in consequence of a fall from his horse.
He was succeeded by his brother _Muley Ishmael_, who distinguished
himself by some brave actions; and his reign would have formed a grand
epoch in the history of this country, had he not stained it by a
succession of tyranny and cruelties, too shocking to dwell upon. He
died in 1727 at the advanced age of eighty-one, leaving behind him a
numerous offspring. This prince, in order to ensure his despotic and
arbitrary power, contrived to form a regular army of foreign soldiers,
which he effected, partly from the negro families, then settled in
Barbary, but principally from a vast number of blacks which he
obtained from the coast of Guinea.
_Muley-Achmet-Daiby_, one of the numerous sons of Ishmael, ascended
the throne of Morocco, and, after reigning two years, died of a
dropsy. His successor, _Muley Abdallah_, by far surpassed all his
predecessors in point of vices and cruelty. His conduct was so
flagrant, that he was deposed no less than six times, but as often
re-elected. Amidst civil wars, divisions, and devastations, the plague
again made its appearance, and committed the same dreadful ravages as
in the reign of _Ishmael_. Being reinstated for the sixth time,
_Abdallah_ took advantage of the troubles occasioned by this terrible
disease, to excite divisions among his negro soldiers, by whose power
alone he had suffered all his humiliations.
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