Marocco. In short,-1 am well persuaded, that so long as gentlemen are sent to the Barbary powers as ambassadors or consuls, and remain there four or five years before th e y can make themselves sufficiently acquainted with the complection o f the Mohammedan courts and intrigues, not to say the language, which but v e ry few are at all lik e ly e ve r to acquire sufficiently to hold colloquial intercourse at Court: we must not expect to gain any considerable commercial or political advantages with these countries. It may also be necessary here to observe, that there are various expressions, not considered indelicate, among Europeans, .which ought not to be used before the Ceed, or Emperor, b y any one who is desirous to negociate advantageously. I have known a négociation totally frustrated by one trifling, or incautious expression. A c cu ra c y o f pronunciation, and refinement o f expression, added to easy and affable manners, and a good person, would be attended with incalculable advantages in négociations at this court, the language, as well as the manners and customs o f which, although fixed and regulated b y invariable rules, are unknown and unattended to by the nations o f Europe, at least b y those o f the North : and this I conceive to be one o f the reasons w hy a négociation w ith the Court o f Marocco seldom or e ve r terminates advantageously to the European negociator. In treaties o f peace between any European power and the Sultan o f Marocco, one o f the clauses always affects to protect the subject : so in the English treaties, i f an Englishman residing in the empire commit any misdemeanor, he is not to be ju d g ed b y the Mohammedan law, but b y that o f his own country, and is to be delivered up to the Consul until satisfaction be given ; From the supineness o f Consuls, however, this clause, as w e ll as many others, has been often disregarded, and the wording altogether misunderstood or misconstrued. A s various reports have gone abroad relative to the affair o f Mr. A . Layton, a British merchant at Mogodor, having had his teeth pulled out b y order o f the Emperor, it may be interesting to set that transaction in its true light. Mr. A. Layton was the ch ie f partner in a house o f considerable capital and respectability ; the other partners were Frenchmen, who having had official notice given them, that as the King o f France had broken off a ll connection with Marocco, the French merchants should quit the country, or seek some other protection ; accordingly, the affairs o f this House being extended in the country, various impediments rose against the ir quitting their establishment su d d en ly ; they proposed therefore to take Mr. A . Layton as a partner under the firm o f A . Layton and Co. making it b y this stratagem an English house. One afternoon the three partners, A . Layton, Secard, and Barre, together with a clerk, went out on horseback with some greyhounds belonging to the fo rm e r; and in returning towards Mogodor, one o f the dogs attacked a c a lf belonging to a neighbouring v illa g e ; a Shelluh, who was the owner o f the calf, shot the d o g ; on this a fray ensued, and the villa ge was soon in an u p ro a r ; in the scuffle some Shelluh women were seen to throw stones, and Mr. Barré was considerably bruised : Layton also received and gave several blows. T h e party returned to Mogodor, when Layton immediately made a complaint to the Governor, who promised him justice should be done, and accordingly sept for the parties, who on their par t insisted on justice being done to them, alleging, that a woman had had two o f her teeth knocked out b y
27f 39
To see the actual publication please follow the link above