Interpreter. "His Majesty will give the necessary instructions; but the claims will have to be examined, as Your Excellency has already suggested. His Majesty makes the sign of the conclusion of our interview."
Minister. "Assure His Majesty how deeply indebted I am to him for these favours he has shown me, but allow me to in some measure acknowledge them by giving information of importance. I am entirely au courant, through private[page 222] channels, with the unworthy tactics of the British Minister, as also those of his two-faced colleagues, the representatives of France and Spain, and can disclose them to His Majesty whenever he desires."
Interpreter. "His Excellency does not know how to express his gratitude to our Lord for his undeserved and unprecedented condescension, and feels himself bound the slave of our Lord, willing to do all our Lord requires of his hands; yes, my lord. But he trusts that our Lord will not forget the houses—and the one in town is only a little one,—or the payment of the indemnity to Maimon Botbol, yes, my Lord, or the discharging of the claims. God bless our Lord, and give him victory! And also, pardon me, my Lord, the Minister says that all the other ministers are rogues, and he knows all about them that our Lord may wish to learn: yes, my Lord."
"God is omniscient. He can talk of those matters to the Foreign Minister to-morrow. In peace!"
Once more a few of his stock phrases were manœuvred by Kyrios Mavrogordato, as with the most profound of rear-steering bows the representatives of civilization retreated, and the potentate of Barbary turned with an air of relief to give instructions to his secretary.
[*] Strictly speaking, only "Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary."
III. The Result
A few weeks after this interview the Hellenike Salpinx, a leading journal of Athens, contained an article of which the following is a translation:—
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