EDITOR'S PREFACE.

Of all those peculiarities which distinguish the present age, giving it a marked superiority over every preceding period of our history, none is so conspicuous, or more conducive to the interests of mankind, than the very general curiosity excited by works of this nature; and although, like most others, they have a tendency to accumulate beyond all reasonable limits, that should not militate against the claims of any new candidate for public notice; particularly if, as in this instance, the author has endeavoured to make his book the vehicle of important truths, while he offered a faithful picture of the manners and customs of the people whom he professed to describe.

In ushering, however, another quarto into the world, it would be improper were I to omit some account of the motives which have led to its publication.

Having frequented the shores of Northern Africa during the late war, those intervals of relaxation afforded from professional duties, were devoted to the collection of all the useful information I could obtain relative to the places I happened to visit: this was, in the first instance, communicated to His Majesty's Government, and finally published, with considerable additions, in 1812. Since that period, Mr. Pananti is the only writer who has given a detailed account of a place to which I had not a sufficient degree of access to allow of my including it in the LETTERS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN. In regretting this circumstance, I was, however, fully aware of its importance, on several accounts, over the rest; and therefore, determined to embrace the` first opportunity that presented itself, of bringing the subject before the public. This was furnished by the industry and observation of the above-named personage, whose melancholy stars led to his being carried into Algiers as a slave; and thus enabled him to give a much more minute description of that Regency than has ever yet appeared in Europe.

After those interesting events connected with the recent history of Barbary, which rendered an account of Algiers a desideratum in literature and politics, it will, I dare say, be considered as rather fortunate, that such a writer should have had the means of elucidating the present state of that country; hitherto only known by the lawless depredations of its unprincipled chiefs. Although this circumstance is alone sufficient to excite a considerable degree of interest in its favour, I should never have undertaken the humble office of a translator, did I not believe the author's labours had much greater claims to the attention of the philosopher, politician, and man of letters, than books of travels usually possess. In saying thus much,

I am only performing an act of justice to Mr. Pananti, whose independent spirit, and high sense of virtue, preclude the possibility of his compiling a book for the sake of bettering his fortune, without contributing to the improvement of his fellow creatures. Had the author devoted his talents to the composition of a novel or romance, there is little doubt, but that he would have stood a much better chance of being remunerated for the pecuniary losses occasioned by his captivity having aspired to the high honour of disseminating knowledge of a more important nature than can possibly result from works of fiction, he must be satisfied with that intellectual reward which never fails to arise from an honest endeavour to serve mankind.

Though it is evident that the author's principal object in publishing, was to call the serious attention of Europe to the necessity and importance of colonizing Northern Africa, and, at all events, to put an end to piracy, he was by no means indifferent to those details which are calculated to amuse the general reader. It is hoped these will be found to possess a sufficient degree of interest to render them worth perusal; even should the more abstract reasonings be regarded with indifference.

As this is the first prose work of any consequence which the author has given to the public, its merits will not be particularly enhanced by any praises which I might be disposed to bestow on his poetical talents. However, these are such as to have placed Mr. Pananti's name very high amongst the living poets of Italy. While in England, where, rather than remain a passive spectator of his country's degradation, he took shelter during the revolutionary storm; b

in addition to many smaller pieces, he published two volumes, in 1809, entitled Il Poeta di Teatro, descriptive of the state of our Italian opera. This, in addition to local interest, contains many digressions on the manners, customs, and events of the day, and is in other respects distinguished by all that epigrammatic humour which abounds in his earlier productions: many of these were published previous to his quitting Tuscany, and are justly celebrated in Italy.

Having experienced every difficulty which a total loss of his property, the hardships of captivity, and a broken spirit could produce, Mr. P. endeavoured to console himself on returning to Florence, by compiling the following narrative; and as stated in a note prefixed to the second edition of the original, the transactions which took place previous and subsequent to the attack under Lord Exmouth, gave additional importance to his materials. How the author has availed himself of this circumstance, it is for the public to determine.

As all that occurred to Mr. Pananti on the subject of Africa, together with the observations suggested by late events, are amply detailed throughout his work, I have only to express an ardent hope that they will produce some effect on the august personages who are about to meet in Germany during the ensuing summer: for next to the great question of South American independence, none demand more serious consideration than that of Italy and the coast of Barbary.

In paying a just tribute of applause to the author's political principles, and the unrestrained liberality with which he treats the

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

xi important questions he has discussed, no less admiration is due to the government of Tuscany and its mild censorship, which gave him so wide a latitude for the dissemination of his sentiments. In fact, the publication of such a work as the following, may be regarded as an epoch in the history of Italy, and excites the more surprize, from newspapers and other periodical works being generally under the most peremptory restrictions in nearly all the Italian states.

With respect to the difference of arrangement, adopted in this edition of Mr. Pananti's narrative, the division into chapters has the advantage of being more familiar to us, while a degree of unity, which seems wanting in the original, is given to the whole work. Inimical to literal translation, from a conviction that no language on earth is susceptible of an exact transcript into another, my chief study in the following sheets, has been that of transfusing the author's ideas into the idiom of our own country. Although, owing to difficulties which must always arise on such occasions, I am not so vain as to flatter myself with having attained this object in its fullest extent; it will be exceedingly gratifying to find, that some progress has been made towards a design, which might, I think, be more generally adopted, without injuring the interests of literature, or diminishing the number of readers.

To those who are not fond of quotations, I beg to observe, that many in the original which appeared least calculated to create an interest with the English reader have been suppressed; while a translation is added to the most material, and care has been taken that none should interfere with the course of the narrative.