Chapter XVII: Letter I

LETTER FROM LORD CLARENDON TO SHEIK EL BACKAY.

Praise be to God! May He be glorified!

On the part of Clarendon, Minister to the Queen and Government
of England, to the greatly honoured and very noble Sheik,
the learned among scholars who shines by his intelligence,
Sidi Mohamed El Backay, ben Sidi Mohamed, ben Sidi Moktar El
Kounti; to whom we address our thanks and the expression of our
consideration. May God reward him! So be it!

Salutation be with you.

May God accord you His mercy and blessing with the purest of
His graces!

I would have you know that the Queen of England has heard the
report of Doctor Barth (named Abdel Kerim among the Arabs),
who visited you at her command, in your country, to renew
the friendship existing between you and us, and to make you
known to her. Barth has made known to us the goodwill with
which you received him and which can never be forgotten. You
have protected him from a faithless people who were unable to
distinguish good from evil (may God reward you for the good
actions His law recommended to you!). He has informed us of
your strength and courage, and we have felt great joy thereat.

The letters you sent by him have arrived. We have read them and
well understand what they contain. It has been a great pleasure
to us. The hopes of the English Government have been understood
by you. What we wish is to open the eyes of the Arabs of the
south to commerce and all appertaining to it, and we are now
aware that you have looked upon our mission with pleasure and
have accepted our friendship with joy.

We have given you our word that the friendship binding us shall
not diminish through the centuries, and that all that the Arabs
require of us we will do, without increase or diminishment. We
will assist them in all that they are unable to perform, and as
our government is very powerful we will protect your people who
turn to us, above all with the aid of your Lordship, who have
long shown your power and your friendship for us.

The Queen experienced great joy when she knew the benefits
with which you loaded Abdel Kerim, who was enabled to return
in peace owing to your reception and the honours with which
you surrounded him, and she sends you presents of products
manufactured in England.

These presents have been packed in cases and sent to the
Consul-general of Tripoli, who will send them on to you. God
grant that they may arrive safely and in good condition, and
that they may please and rejoice you.

We request and recommend you to say to the chief of the
Aoulemidens and the chief of the Tademekkats, that the Queen of
England has received the letters sent by them to her through
Abdel Kerim. We have all been pleased by them. She begs you
to say to these chiefs that she salutes them and sends them a
poignard and a sabre, the poignard for one, and the sabre for
the other. You will easily recognise these objects, for the
name of the recipient is written upon each.

To conclude this letter, we wish to say to you that our joy
would be great to see one of your people, above all a child of
your own house, whose visit would honour us. We wish to show
him our power, our manufactures, and many other things.

May God prolong your life and preserve you to live.

Your friend,

CLARENDON,
_Minister of the English Government_.

LONDON, _the fifteenth day of April 1859_.