CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
THE COMING STRUGGLE LOOMS ON THE HORIZON.
The barbarians of Barbary had roused the wrath of England to an extremepitch in consequence of a deed which did not, indeed, much excel theirwonted atrocities, but which, being on a large scale, and very public,had attracted unusual attention--all the more that, about the same time,the European nations, having killed as many of each other as theythought advisable for _that_ time, were comparatively set free to attendto so-called minor affairs.
The deed referred to was to the effect that on the 23rd of May 1816 thecrews of the coral fishing-boats at Bona--about 200 miles eastward ofAlgiers--landed to attend mass on Ascension Day. They were attacked,without a shadow of reason or provocation, by Turkish troops, andmassacred in cold blood.
Previous to this Lord Exmouth had been on the Barbary coast makingtreaties with these corsairs, in which he had been to some extentsuccessful. He had obtained the liberation of all Ionian slaves, thesehaving become, by political arrangement, British subjects; and havingbeen allowed to make peace for any of the Mediterranean states thatwould authorise him to do so--it being well-known that they could donothing for themselves,--he arranged terms of peace with the Algerinesfor Sardinia and Naples, though part of the treaty was that Naplesshould pay a ransom of 100 pounds head for each slave freed by thepirates, and Sardinia 60 pounds. Thinking it highly probable that heshould ere long have to fight the Algerines, Lord Exmouth had sentCaptain Warde of the `Banterer' to Algiers to take mental plans of thetown and its defences, which that gallant officer did most creditably,thereby greatly contributing to the success of future operations. By acurious mistake of the interpreter at Tunis, instead of the desire beingexpressed that slavery should be abolished, England was made to _demand_that this should be done, and the alarmed Tunisians agreed to it.Taking the hint, Lord Exmouth made the same demand at Tripoli, withsimilar result. At Algiers, however, his demands were refused, andhimself insulted. Returning to England in some uncertainty as to howhis conduct would be regarded--for in thus "demanding," instead of"desiring," the liberation of slaves, he had acted on his ownresponsibility,--he found the country agitated by the news of the Bonamassacre, of which at that time he had not heard.
The demands, therefore, which he had made with some misgiving, were nowhighly approved, and it was resolved that they should be repeated to thebarbarians in the thunder of artillery.
A member of the House of Commons, stirred to indignation by the newsfrom Bona, got up and moved for copies of Lord Exmouth's treaties withAlgiers for Naples and Sardinia, and all correspondence connectedtherewith. He strongly condemned the principle of _treating at all_with states which presumed to hold their captives up to ransom, as by sodoing virtual acknowledgment was made that these pirates had a right tocommit their outrages. He was given to understand, he said, that theDey, pressed by dissatisfied Algerines for limiting their sphere ofplunder, had pacified them by assuring them that a wide field of plunderwas still left! Treaties of peace made with them by some states hadonly the effect of turning their piracies into other channels, as wasalready beginning to be felt by the Roman states. He then described thewretched condition of the slaves. He cited one instance, namely, thatout of three hundred slaves fifty had died from bad treatment on the dayof their arrival, and seventy more during the first fortnight. The restwere allowed only one pound of black bread per day, and were at alltimes subject to the lash of their brutal captors--neither age nor sexbeing respected. One Neapolitan lady of distinction, he said, had beencarried off by these corsairs, with eight children, two of whom haddied, and she had been seen but a short time ago by a British officer inthe thirteenth year of her captivity. These things were notexaggerations, they were sober truths; and he held that the tolerationof such a state of things was a discredit to humanity, and a foul blotupon the fame of civilised nations. It is refreshing to hear men speakthe truth, and call things by their right names, in plain language likethis!
The House and the country were ripe for action. An animated debatefollowed. It was unanimously agreed that the barbarians should becompelled to cease their evil practices, and Lord Exmouth's conduct wasnot only approved, but himself was appointed to accomplish the duty oftaming the Turks.
A better or bolder sea-lion could not have been found to take charge ofOld England's wooden walls on this occasion--ironclads being thenunknown. He was a disciple of the great Nelson, and a well-triedsea-warrior of forty years' standing. He went to work with the energyand promptitude of a true-blue British tar, and, knowing well what todo, resolved to do it in his own way.
Many naval officers considered the fortifications of Algiersimpregnable. Having seen and studied them, Lord Exmouth thoughtotherwise. Lord Nelson, founding probably on erroneous information, andnot having seen the place, had said that twenty-five line-of-battleships would be necessary to subdue it. Our Admiral, with CaptainWarde's correct plan in his pocket, knew that there was not room foreven half that number of ships to be laid alongside the town. TheAdmiralty strongly urged him to take a powerful fleet. Lord Exmouthagreed to that, but decided that it should be a small one. To thesurprise of their Lordships he fixed on _five_ liners, with a fewsmaller craft, as a sufficient number for the work he had to do. Hesaid--
"If they open fire when the ships are coming up and cripple our masts,we shall have some difficulty, perhaps, and the loss will no doubt begreater, but if they allow us to take our stations, I am sure of them,for I know that nothing can resist a line-of-battle ship's fire."
It was usually thought by naval men that a ship could not be thoroughlyeffective until she had been a considerable time in commission.Doubtless the thought was correct, and founded on experience;nevertheless, Lord Exmouth proved himself an exception to ordinary navalrulers. He commissioned, fitted, and manned a fleet, and fought and wona great battle within the incredibly brief space of two months! Butmore of that hereafter.
Meanwhile the pirates prepared briskly for the coming struggle, andwrought hard at the batteries, while Christian slaves swarmed and toilednight and day on the ramparts of Algiers.