2d, The second class comprehends all idiots and madmen, who are considered by the Moors as under the special protection of heaven, and as moved by a divine impulse in every thing that they do. They are, therefore, treated with the veneration ; care fully fed and clothed ; and permitted, without restraint, to indulge in the most extravagant and immoral ac tions. Many of them are poor, imbecile, and inoffen• sive creatures, who find, in the superstition of their neighbours, all that humanity and protection which their helpless and degraded condition requires ; but others among them arc furious maniacs, who often amuse themselves in their malevolent fits, by torment ing and sometimes murdering such unfortunate per sons as may happen to fall in their way ; and not a few are the most depraved wretches in existence, who assume the character of insanity, that they may find an easy subsistence, and have full liberty to indulge in their brutal propensities.
This quality of saintship is considered as in a great degree hereditary, descending regularly from father to son, and sometimes even from master to servant. Every tribe and village almost has its tutelary saint, to whom the inhabitants regularly carry their first fruits, and pay similar acts of superstitious homage. They are frequently employed as guides to travellers, and their presence affords the best protection from every insult or aggression. They are not only vene rated during their lives, but, after death, their tombs are generally held sacred ; and chapels of an octa gonal form are often erected on the spot, which are regarded as at once the most holy oratories, and the most inviolable asylums. The habitations of the liv ing saints are generally near these tombs of their an cestors ; and are often surrounded with importunate votaries, who, from touching the garments or receiv ing the benedictions of these consecrated personages, expect the remission of their sins, and success in all their undertakings. In these sanctuaries prayers are offered up, as the last resort in desperate cases ; treasures are deposited, as in the most secure of all concealments ; and a refuge is found by the greatest offenders, which the most powerful are afraid to vio late. Among the Moors, also, as among all other Alahommedans, those persons who have made the pil grimage to Mecca, are held in the highest venera tion ; are considered as having received at once the remission of sin and an increase of perfection ; are de nominated Hage, that is, " holy ;" and are always ad dressed by the title of Seedy, or " my lord." Even the camels and horses which have made this sacred journey, are counted Hages ; are well fed, exempted from labour, and permitted to graze at full liberty wherever they may choose to stray. Hospitality and alms-giving are the cardinal virtues, and the Indispen sable obligation of Mussulmen ; but the Moors are more deficient in those duties, than the Turks and most other followers of Mahomet. Their standard of be nevolence, indeed, is not very high ; as no one is held bound to bestow alms who does not possess 5 camels, or SO sheep, or 200 pieces of silver ; and when they have given 6d. in the pound to the poor, they are con. sidered as having yielded complete obedience to the precept.
The state of knowledge in Barbary is low in the extreme ; and the modern Moors have not the smal lest portion of the literary spirit of their ancestors. They are not deficient in natural genius and abilities ; but their minds are degraded by their oppressive go vernment, and cramped by their limited education. In the state of childhood, they display an uncommon share of acuteness and vivacity ; and are remarkable, while at school, for their memory and application, but after having been taught to repeat a few select passages from the Koran, and perhaps also to read and write, their progress in learning is terminated, and they are allowed to grow up without any farther discipline or insi-uction. There are still some remains of literary institutions in the city of Fez ; and the children of the more wealthy Moors are sometimes sent thither to acquire a more accurate knowledge of the Arabic language, and to be instructed in the religion and laws of their country. Their studies,
however, are confined to the Koran and its comments ; or, at the utmost, to the cultivation of poetry, to which their language is admirably adapted. They generally record any extraordinary event in rhyme ; and the young men sometimes hold extemporary, po etical conversations, in which they display an astonish ing fluency of expression, and accuracy of measure. One great trial of skill on these occasions, consists in proposing enigmas in verse, of which another person expresses the solution in corresponding measures. The rest of their literature is composed of a little in accurate geography, and some tiresome memoirs of modern transactions among themselves. They have no conception of the speculative sciences, and wonder at the folly of Europeans, who bestow time and ex pense upon such pursuits. They are utterly igno rant of mathematics ; and regard as unmeaning cu riosities the few philosophical instruments of their ancestors, which have been preserved among them. Of the MSS. which they possess of the works of se veral learned Artbians, those only are considered as ,worthy cf perusal, which treat of astrology and ma gic. The elementary operations in algebra and arith metic are not understood by one in twenty thousand ; but they display the greatest ingenuity and quickness of apprehension in making calculations by memory, and communicating the results, by touching each others fingers. Their most profound astronomers do not possess sufficient skill in trigonometry to construct a sun dial. Their whole art of navigation consists in what is called pricking a chart, and distinguishing the principal points of the compass. Their highest attainment in chemistry is the distillation of rose water. The extent of their physiology is to distin guish the figures of a few plants and animals in a Spa nish edition of Dioscorides. The amount of their me dical skill is to know the properties of a few simples, and to accompany the application of these with suitable in cantations. They depend chiefly upon topical remedies, and seldom make use of internal medicines. They can scarcely even be brought to conceive how a substance, received into the stomach, should be able to reach the head or the extremities. A decoction of ground pine i3 frequently used in fevers, of arisarum in the stone, and of hanzxra in the venereal disease. The gall of the bird houbary is in great esteem as a cure for sore eyes ; and a composition of myrrh, saffron, aloes, and myrtle berries, is given in the plague. A drachm or two of orbanche root is given in diarrhzas ; and round birtliwort is a sovereign remedy for colics and flatu lences ; but the great resource in all distempers is the hammams or natural hot baths and springs. Their surgery consists much in bleeding, cupping, scarifying, and fomentations. In rheumatism and pleurisy, they scarify, or puncture with red hot iron, the place that is affected. They sometimes evacuate the water, in hydrocele, with a lancet ; and even couch for the ca •taract, with a piece of thick brass terminating gradually at one end in a point not very sharp. Sim ple and gun shot wounds are healed by actual cau tery, or by pouring fresh butter boiling hot into the sore ; and the roasted leaves of the prickly pear are applied as warm as possible, to bruises, boils, and other inflamed swellings. The bite of venomous ani mals is cured by burning or cutting deep upon the wounded part ; or by burying the patient to the neck in hot sand to produce perspiration ; or, if no great danger is apprehended, by applying merely hot ashes, or the powder of alhenna, with two or three slices of onion, by way of cataplasm. They occasionally ino culate for the small-pox, upon the fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and forefinger ; and in these cases they think it necessary to purchase the matter from an affected person, by giving a few nuts or com fits in exchange. The patient is kept warm ; fresh butter is rubbed upon the skin to prevent pitting ; 6 or S grains of alkermes are now and then administer ed to throw out the pustules ; and the eye-lids are tinged with lead ore to prevent the ulcers from fal ling upon the eyes.