William Shaler
Published: 2015-07-14
Total Pages: 328
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Excerpt from Sketches of Algiers: Political, Historical, and Civil; Containing an Account of the Geography, Population, Government, Revenues, Commerce, Agriculture, Arts, Civil Institution, Tribes, Manners, Languages, and Recent Political History of That Country It is with all the diffidence, which a secluded man, unused to literary labours, must naturally feel, on such an occasion, that the author ventures to lay these Sketches before the public. The absence of any work, giving a correct view of the real power and political importance of the piratical state of Algiers; the belief that few other persons have had equal opportunities for becoming acquainted, in an authentic shape, with the facts of which they treat, and of tracing to their causes several remarkable events, which have occurred since his residence here; and the influence that the toleration of these freebooters must necessarily have upon the prosperity of the American commerce in the Mediterranean, - all these causes, operating together, have induced him to engage in the undertaking. The result of his labours will show, that the intrinsic power of this redoubted government is quite insignificant; at least, that it is unequal to the pretensions, which have been founded upon it. Within less than half a century, the United States have solved several political problems, of the deepest interest to mankind. They have, also, stripped the phantom of Barbary importance of its imaginary terrors, and exposed to derision the frauds, by which it has been so long upheld. It seems improbable that Algiers can ever again rise to her former dignity, without their consent. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.