PART III.

CHAP. I.-OF THE ELECTION OF GEHWAR, OF HIS GOVERNMENT, AND OF THE STATE OF THE PROVINCES.

THE succession of the Omeyan princes on the throne of Cordova having been thus brought to an end, partly by the machinations of the Xeques and Walies, who sought to establish their own greatness on the ruin of that illustrious family, but also partly by the distrust and superstitious conviction of the people, who were persuaded that the fortunes of that race must have taken an unfavourable turn, the members of the Council and Aljama of Cordova assembled together, and began to deliberate on the steps next to be taken.

They declared it to be an indisputable fact, known to all men, that in the whole realm of Spain there now remained no one of the family of the Omeyas, small or great, rich or poor, and they next cast their eyes on the virtues and excellent qualities of Gehwar, a wise and prudent Vizier, the descendant of Hagibs, Walies, and Chancellors, who had been ever in the councils of the by-gone kings.

This illustrious person was much esteemed and beloved by the people: he had secured the respect of all parties; and in the dangerous period of revolt and civil discord through which the city of Cordova had so painfully passed, Gehwar had constantly distinguished himself by an extraordinary impartiality, a love of justice but too rarely found at that time, and a never-failing regard for the common welfare.

For these virtues, which were known to all, Gehwar received the unanimous voices of the council, and being proclaimed king, was enthroned in Cordova amidst the acclamations of the whole people. It is true that there were not wanting statesmen who dreaded the concealed ambition which they suspected to lurk behind the wise and moderate

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conduct of their new ruler, but Gehwar found means to conciliate even the most distrustful, and caused all who approached his person to conceive the most flattering hopes of a prosperous and glorious reign.

With a cautious policy which proved the excellence of his understanding, Gehwar had no sooner received the oath of allegiance from the Xeques, Alcaides, and principal inhabitants of the city, than he hastened to establish a new form of government eminently aristocratic in its principle, and concentrating the chief powers of the state in a Council: this Gehwar composed of the most important, influential, and honourable citizens of Cordova. In these men he vested the whole authority and force of the sovereignty, reserving to himself nothing more than the presidency of that Divan. All that was now done, therefore, each decree and every command, went forth to the people in the name of this Council; and if any one addressed a petition or request to the king in particular, he replied as follows:-"In this matter I can neither grant nor refuse; it belongs to the Council to decide, and I am but one of the Divan."

In this manner did Gehwar extend the mantle of peace over the people of Cordova, and from the first he won over to himself the minds of all; the most distinguished men of the city were devoted to his government heart and mind, nor was there a dweller in Cordova that failed to sound his praise. Among other proofs given by Gehwar of his moderation was this, that he refused for some time to abandon his private residence for the royal palaces, and when at length it became needful that he should do so, the regulations introduced by his command into the arrangements of the household were such that the service and economy of the royal abode were found to differ but slightly from those of a private dwelling. The new sovereign reduced, among other things, the great number of the servants, and freed the gates of the Royal Alcazars from that enormous crowd of occupants by which they were beset in the time of the Omeyas. He dismissed a large part of the Life Guards also, and established so judicious an economy in every department of expenditure made for the palace, that a very important diminution in the cost of the household was the immediate result.

One of the many praiseworthy regulations of Gehwar, and that for which he was at the time most gratefully celebrated, was the removal of all that horde of informers and pretended lawyers, who had long been suffered to live by calumnies, by the fomenting of quarrels, and by the prolongation of law-suits. In the place of these men the king established a closely-limited number of legal officers, all of whom he caused to be paid in proportion to their appointments, and after the manner of the judges. The king also prohibited the continuance in their usurped functions of those pretended physicians and ignorant charlatans who professed to cure disease without the knowledge and experience that could alone qualify them to do so. He furthermore decreed the institution of a college, by whose members, all of whom were men of learning and practical experience, every man should be examined who might thenceforth present himself for the exercise of medicine or the service of the hospitals.

The due provision of cities with all needful articles of food was another object of the king's attention, and one of the results of his care in that respect was to render Cordova the granary of all Spain, seeing that within a certain period of time it rose to that eminence; the markets and store-houses of the capital becoming the resort of dealers from every province of the kingdom.

It was by King Gehwar, moreover, that the Almoxarifs or collectors of dues, and the Alcaldes or inspectors of products, were established; he also appointed superintendents to all the gates and public squares, their office being to see that justice was maintained, and that the due liberty of coming and going was accorded to all whose business called them to those places of assemblage. All the chiefs of these offices were bound to render an account of their administration at stated periods to the council of state.

Among the most carefully-selected and most trusted of the new king's Alwacires or ministers were those to whom he confided the police of the city and its guardianship by day as well as by night. These officers distributed arms among the most respected inhabitants of each quarter, to the end that those men might watch the boundary of their own quarter and the district with which they were familiar. The streets of shops and ranges of booths were closed by

command at a given hour, and all the streets of the city were defended by gates for the prevention of those nocturnal disorders by which the more peaceable of their inhabitants had been afflicted in other times, and with the purpose of rendering it more difficult for such criminals as were flying from one night-watch to escape into the rounds of another, thereby eluding the pursuit of justice. The guardians thus entrusted with the maintenance of order were expected to exhibit an increasing vigilance during the period of their watch, and were bound to furnish an exact account of whatever they had observed to those who followed them, with the relation of all that had taken place within their hours of guard.

By these cares the city lived in tranquillity and within the shadow of just laws; its inhabitants prospered, the merchants and artisans became rich, and all showered benedictions on the head of Gehwar, who, seated on the throne as on a watch-tower, looked down from that elevation with eyes that were ever mindful of all things appertaining to the good government of the state, or which were required for the well-being of his people.

To the Walies of the provinces King Gehwar wrote letters informing them of his election to the crown, and calling on them to appear for the purpose of proffering him their oaths of allegiance; but the greater part of them excused themselves with various pretexts, feigning urgent causes whereby they were at that time prevented from repairing to Cordova, yet concluding with false protestations of submission, and offering the insincere expression of their wishes for his prosperity and continued welfare. Those who permitted themselves the most openly to manifest their indifference to the king's election, were the Walies of Toledo, Saragossa, Malaga, Seville, Granada, and Badajoz: but Gehwar endeavoured to conceal his perception of their true motives, and the conviction which he felt of their resolve to introduce division and anarchy into the Realm which he was so earnestly labouring to tranquillize. He wrote to them again, therefore, expressing his approbation of the zeal with which they were giving themselves to the interests of their respective governments, and the care they manifested for the welfare of the provinces entrusted to their rule, reminding them at

the same time that the security of the kingdom, and its continuance in the prosperity then commencing, depended wholly on the union and concord which he hoped to see maintained through all its provinces.

But while the prudent Gehwar was thus employed for the common weal, let us see what was in fact the state of those provinces, and relate the manner in which the Walies of the same had gradually raised themselves to the sovereignty of their respective governments.

The Wali of Seville at that time, and who had then become the absolute master of the whole district, was Muhamad Ben Ismail Ben Abed, called Abul Casem. His family was originally of Hemesa, and his descent is described as follows:-When Baxir Ben Baleg, the Coraixi, had made his descent on Andalusia, there came with him two Syrian leaders called Itaf Ben Naim and Naamin Ben Almondar Ben Mê Alcemai, both of a hamlet called Alaris, which was on the extreme border of Algifer, between Syria and Egypt. They were of the tribe of Lahmi, and trom these men did the family of Abed claim descent, boasting much of the antiquity of their origin, and declaring that their forefathers had established themselves in Seville at the time when the division of the lands was made in the days of Gesam Ben Derar. They add, that Itafa Ben Naim then selected his abode in Caria Jumin, which was in the territory of Taxena, and within the jurisdiction of Seville.

Ismail Aben Abed, the father of that Mohamad who bore rule in the reign of Gehwar Ben Mohamad Ben Gehwar, had secured to himself a large share of authority and consideration in Andalusia, by his prudence and by the influence of his great riches: both these he maintained during the civil wars, and even after they had ceased to afflict the land. He lived with a parade and ostentation but little different from that affected by kings, insomuch that there was no private person in all Spain who surpassed or even equalled him in that respect. The possessor of extensive domains in many Comarcas, and of immense herds of cattle in every kind, Ismail Aben was also the lord of innumerable servants, and expended riches uncountable in a spirit that was highly generous and liberal. His house was the asylum of all the most illustrious among the cavaliers who were per