ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



969 



thorough knowledge of their re- 

 spective languages. For a com- 

 plete and most satisfactory proof 

 and illustration of this position, we 

 must refer our readers to Mr. 

 Jackson's eleventh chapter, from 

 which we are constrained, by our 

 limits, to make no other than the 

 following extracts : 



" When we recollect that the 

 envoys to Marocco for the last 

 century have been men almost 

 wholly unacquainted with the 

 manners, customs, and religious 

 prejudices of the people, and ig- 

 norant of their language, we shall 

 cease to be surprised that our con- 

 nections with that empire has been 

 so limited, and impeded by mutual 

 misunderstanding of each other's 

 sentiments, originating, but too of- 

 ten, in deficiency and inaccuracy 

 of interpreters. What expecta- 

 ■ tions can be indulged of terminat- 

 ing successfully negotiations with 

 a prince, in conversing with whom 

 some ignorant and illiterate inter- 

 preter, generally a Jew, and a de- 

 voted subject of the emperor, must 

 be made the confidential servant of 

 the party treating ? Besides, every 

 one acquainted with the nature of 

 the government, and political princi- 

 ples of the court of Marocco, is well 

 aware, that, even supposing it pos- 

 sible to procure a Jew, capable of 

 interpreting accurately the English 

 into Arabic,and vice versa, yclthcre 

 are many expressions necessary for 

 an envoy to use to the emperor, 

 which no Jew in the country dare 

 to utter on pain of losing his head ; 

 the general garrulity of those peo- 

 ple, moreover, is such, that they 

 are perhaps unworthj' of being in- 

 trusted with any secret wherein the 

 interest of a nation is concerned. 

 Of this the empcror^himoclf is con- 



vinced, as was also his father, who 

 frequently, during his reign, ex- 

 pressed his regret to Mr. A. Lay- 

 ton, that no English consul could 

 be found capable of holding direct 

 intercourse with him." 



" In a conversation with the 

 minister at Marocco for European 

 affairs, his excellency asked me if, 

 in the event of his master's writing 

 to his majesty, the latter would be 

 able to get the letter interpreted ; 

 I answered in the affirmative ; and 

 a very polite aad friendly letter 

 was afterwards written, which re- 

 quested an answer ; but it remain- 

 ed here in the secretary of state's 

 office, without any attention being 

 paid to its contents ; a mark of dis- 

 respect which gave great offence 

 to the emperor. 



" It appears to me extraordi- 

 nary, that a language which is 

 spoken over a much greater extent 

 of country than any other on earth 

 — a language combining all the 

 powers and energy of the Greek 

 and Latin, should be so little un- 

 derstood, that an Arabic letter, 

 written by the presenr emperor 

 of Marocco to the king of Great 

 Britain, actually lay in the secre- 

 tary of state's office some months 

 without being transiated. The 

 circumstance coming to the know- 

 ledge of the chancellor of the ex- 

 chequer (the right honourable 

 Spencer Perceval) that gentleman 

 expressed a wish to a friend of 

 mine to have a translation, and 

 the letter was transmitted to me for 

 that purpose. Doctor Buife, who 

 delivered it, assured me it had 

 been sent to one, if not both uni- 

 versities, and to the Post-office, but 

 that, either from a difference in the 

 punctuation 



