l, dictated and signed
by the first grandees in the State, both civil and military, and from
the commercial classes, inviting him to ascend the throne of his
ancestors. Had he been a mere adventurer or usurper he might have lived
henceforth, and died, Emperor of Morocco, But his whole soul was
patriotically bent on one object, the freedom and independence of
Algeria. He disdained to wear a borrowed crown. As he afterward
declared, "His religion forbade him to injure a sovereign chosen and
appointed by God."

During the year 1844 the Sultan had made a rapid incursion into the
Tell, everywhere appealing to the tribes; but he found the national
spirit overawed by the presence of French detachments in all directions,
and he returned to his deira in despondent spirit. He now received
appeals from some of his devoted caliphs to undertake a fresh campaign,
especially from the loyal and chivalrous Ben Salem, who dwelt in the
gorges of the Djur jura Mountains. To him Abd-el-Kader replied,
promising to come "as soon as affairs in the west were settled."

Months passed away and the Arab tribes who had submitted began to feel
the pressure of French domination and to resent the supercilious conduct
of French officials. In the spring of 1845 their former Sultan
reappeared. He swept down into the valley of the Tafna and routed and
cut to pieces a French detachment. In this action the lower part of his
right ear was carried away by a musket-ball, the only wound which he
ever received. Another detachment of six hundred men laid down their
arms without firing a shot. Some stir was made among the Arabs by these
successes, and the French commanders took alarm. Lamoriciere, Cavaignac,
and Bedeau wrote pressing letters for reinforcements, and urged the
return of Bugeaud. The most formidable foe of Abd-el-Kader reached the
scene of action in October, 1845, bringing fresh forces, and in a week
he took the field at the head of a hundred twenty thousand men. This
fact is the highest eulogy that can be accorded to the military prowess
of a man who so long defied the power of France.

The end of the great career was rapidly coming. After another vain
appeal to the Moorish ruler even Abd-el-Kader felt that all was lost. A
French writer in the _Biographie generale_ truly declares:

"The greatness of the man was strikingly displayed in the very hour of
his downfall. Destitute of resources, surrounded by foes, at open enmity
with the Emperor of Mo