21 MAY 1842, Page 10

EDUCATION FOR CONSULS AND DIPLOMATIC AGENTS : THE LONDON UNIVERSITY.

AN incident has just occurred, at Constantinople, calculated to place in a striking point of view the necessity of making a profes- sional education an indispensable requisite in persons appointed to Consular and Diplomatic situations ; a subject to which we have oftener than once directed the attention of our readers.

A serious misapprehension of the intentions of the Porte with respect to Syria was occasioned by a blunder of the first Dragoman (interpreter) of the British Embassy. The Reis Effendi is stated to have used an ambiguous phrase in reply to a question addressed to him through the medium of this official ; who on his part took upon him to interpret it in a sense favourable to the wishes of his employers, and as such to report it to Sir STRATFORD CANNING. The Turkish Minister has since_ declared that he did not use the phrase in the sense attributed toit by the Dragoman. For-this it is understood that Mr. F. Pisaso, the Dragoman in question, has been suspended or excluded from the discharge of the higher and more confidential duties of his office.

There are various ways of accounting for Mr. PISANI'S conduct without suspecting him of wilful premeditated treachery. He may, from the inborn habitual fear which the Greeks of the Fatter entertain of their Mussulman rulers, have been afraid of insisting upon an explicit declaration of the meaning of the Reis Effendi's words; or he may from a low cunning (also said by those who have been most conversant with his race to be characteristic of them) have snatched at an opportunity of momentarily pleasing his em- ployers by interpreting the language of the Turkish Minister in a sense favourable to their wishes, heedless of the mischief that might be the ultimate consequence; or he may have been actuated -by both motives. It is no new discovery for those who are acquainted with the diplomacy of Constantinople, that the timid and supple character of those who monopolize the important charge of Dra- gomans has often seriously compromised the Ambassadors of the nations employing them with the Turkish Government.; as also that men of this temper, occupying the position in society which those Greeks do in the Ottoman capital, are peculiarly accessible to corruption. But the notoriety of this recent occurrence may in- duce the British public to ask seriously why such persons continue to be the only accredited channels of communication between our Ambassadors and the Divan? why it is thus placed in their power insidiously to direct all our negotiations? why they are thus necessarily intrusted with all those secrets which the representa- tives of the other powers are ever ready to purchase from them ?

The answer is, because the British Government will appoint in- dividuals to Diplomatic and Consular charges in Constantinople who are unacquainted or imperfectly acquainted with the language and customs of the country. It sends out—there are exceptions, as for example, Mr. CAterwaranr —but in many instances it sends out men so incapable of transacting business with the Turks in their own language, that they become mere tools in the hands of their interpreters—their menial servants. This absurd practice has been persevered in till the families at Constantinople, from whom these officials are selected, are come to look upon themselves as having a "vested right" to the employment. At every communication the interpreter has both the Turkish Minister and the English Ambassador in his power; he may sell the one to the other, or both to the Russian envoy. If Charges d'Affaires and Secretaries to the Embassy unable to converse with the natives are still to be employed, at all events let the interpreter be a British subject—a British subject in reality, not a nominal subject of Maltese or Ionian birth, or a mongrel half-breed of the Levant, without a single British feeling in his bosom : let him be one whose preju- dices as well as his more enlightened principles warrant him ours. And with this view, let measures be taken by the State for educat- ing such a class of servants.

The routine habits of the Turks may at first render them averse to such an innovation. The extensiveconnexiona, local knowledge, wily and unscrupulous character of the .Greeks, will be used to the utmost to thwart, baffle, and'throw discredit on the new functionaries. But if it is worth the nation's while to keep up an Embassy at Con- stantinople,and Consuls throughout the Turkish empire, it is of im- portance that a competent Diplomatic and`Consular staff and unsus- pected channels of communication be insured. Nor does the neces- sity relate to Turkey alone. Lord PALMERSTON'S unblushing asser- tion in the House of Commons, when Mr. DISRAELI challenged his two precious appointments to South America, may indicate even to those who have not looked into the subject, to what a length Minis- ters of all parties have tampered with the efficiency of our foreign agents by jobbing the Consular and Diplomatic offices. If a pro- fessional education be declared indispensable to such appointments, the range of possible mischief in -this way will be essentially nar- rowed.

There is another and indirect benefit which would be derived front requiring an educational qualification from all Diplomatic aspirants. The bulk of mankind care for education only as the means of opening to them a career in life. The diffusion of a high standard of education throughout society can only be effected by making many individuals feel the direct pecuniary advantages it affords. The Universities of Europe have been the great instru- ments of advancing art, literature, and science; but they could never have been 'so had they been supported and frequented by those only who pursue knowledge for its own sake. They were the doors through which access was obtained to the profitable and honourable employments of the law, the church, and the medical profession. Men of studious tastes were encouraged to indulge them by the prospect of being able to support themselves as teachers in those establishments ; young men of birth and fortune, Who were under no necessity of following a profession, were sent there in order that they might escape the shame of being less accomplished than professional men. The tastes and pursuits of the Universities were diffused through society ; and even those branches of physical and chemical knowledge which are supposed to have flourished in spite of academic neglect, only originated outside the walls of our Universities—they have received the syste- matic character which first raised them to the rank of science with- in thotte institutions. The founders and patrons of the London University are dissatisfied with its slow progress : it will coutinue to be slow until they can make the herd feel the tangible advan- tages to be derived from its tuition. Oxford and Cambridge mo- nopolize the education for the Church ; the Inns of Court mono- polize the education for the bar and, bench ; the College ,of Physicians and Surgeons and the Apothecaries Company mo- nopolize the medical education. The time will come- when the London University (and perhaps- -other provincial Uni- versities) may obtain from a wiser generation a share of these now exclusive privileges ; but in -the mean time, its prosperity and usefulnesss would be materially eitended by erecting within it a faculty authorized to educate and license (under the supervision of the state young men aspiring to serve their country under the Ministry of oreign Affairs. An impulse might thus be given to the study of international law, history, statistics, geography, political economy, languages, and several subordinate branches of knowledge ; men of cultivated talents would find it for their in- terest to attach themselves to the London University, and would raise its fame and fortunes with their own : many young men would study under them, who though from indolence or other causes they did not follow out a Diplomatic career, would be rendered better and abler citizens in sa narrower circle by their lessons; and the institution would thus become on the one hand the means of providing the country with more efficient and trustworthy agents in an important department of the public service, on the other a powerful instrument fin the extension and diffusion of general knowledge. There is no place in the world that furnishes greater facilities for promoting political and economical science, the study of languages, history, and all branches of knowledge connected with them, than London, with its wealth and extended relations, commercial and political. It requires but some central union to lend coherence and consistency to the efforts of its learned men. The promoters of the London University must surely be 'capable of appreciating such a prospect ; unless the Pre- sident of the Council, Lord WHARNCLIFFE, is grossly flattered, he would be found willing to promote it ; and Sir ROBERT PEEL has shown that he is not insensible to the reflected light which arts and letters •cast upon 'their patrons.