MR. SUMNER's LECTURE
W H I T E S L A V E R Y
IN THE
BARBARY STATES,

WHITE SLAVERY
IN
THE BARBARY STATES.
A.
L E C T U R E
BEFORE THE
BOSTON MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION,
FEB. 17, 1847.
By C H A R L E S S U M N E R .
Mutato nomine, de te
Fabula narratur,
IHoRACE.
IB O S T O N :
WILLIAM D. TIC KNOR AND COMPANY.
1 S 4 7.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by
WM. D. TICKNor AND Company,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
C A M B R I D G E :
M ET c A L E A N D C o M P A N Y,
PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY.
JMWERSITY OF MICHIGAN
GENERAL LIBRARY
ANN. Ashow, Micaraw
L E C T U R E.
Histo RY has been sometimes called a gallery, where are pre-
served, in living forms, the scenes, the incidents, and the charac-
ters of the past. It may also be called the world’s great charnel-
house, where are gathered coffins, dead men’s bones, and all the
uncleanness of the years that have fled. As we walk among its
pictures, radiant with the inspiration of virtue and of freedom, we
confess a new impulse to beneficent exertion. As we grope amidst
the unsightly shapes that have been left without an epitaph, we may
at least derive a fresh aversion to all their living representatives.
In this mighty gallery are the stately images of the benefactors of
mankind, – the poets who have sung the praises of virtue, the his-
torians who have recorded its achievements, and the good men of
all time, who, by word or deed, have striven for the welfare of
others. Here are depicted those scenes in which the divinity of
man has been made manifest in trial and danger. Here also are
those grand incidents which have attended the establishment of the
free institutions of the world, - the signing of Magna Charta, with
its priceless privileges of freedom, by a reluctant monarch, and of
the Declaration of Independence, the annunciation of the inalienable
rights of man, by the fathers of our republic.
On the other hand, in this dreary charnel-house are tumbled in
ignominious confusion all that now remains of the tyrants, the per-
secutors, and selfish men, under whom mankind have groaned.
Here also are the extinct institutions or customs, which the earth,
weary of their infamy and injustice, has refused to sustain, – the
Helotism of Sparta, the Serfdom of Christian Europe, and Algerine
Slavery.
4
From this charnel-house let me draw forth one of these to-night.
It may not be without profit to dwell on the origin, the history, and
the character of a custom, which, after being for a long time a by-
word and a hissing among the nations, has at last been driven from
the world. Perhaps the easy condemnation which it cannot fail to
receive at our hands may direct our judgment of other institutions,
still tolerated in defiance of justice and humanity. I propose to
consider the subject of White Slavery in Algiers, or perhaps it
might be more appropriately called, White Slavery in the Barbary
States. As Algiers was its chief seat, it seems to have acquired a
current name from that place. This I shall not disturb ; though I
shall speak of white slavery, or the slavery of Christians, through-
out the Barbary States.
If this subject should ſail in interest, it cannot in novelty. I am
not aware that any person has ever before attempted to combine in
a connected essay the scattered materials with regard to it.
The territory now known under the name of the Barbary States
is memorable in history. Classical inscriptions, broken arches, and
ancient tombs — the memorials of various ages — still continue to
bear most interesting witness to the revolutions which it has encoun-
tered.* Early Greek legend made it the home of terror and of
happiness. Here was the retreat of the Gorgon, with snaky tresses,
turning all she looked upon into stone ; and here also the garden
of the Hesperides, with its apples of gold. It was the scene of ad-
venture and mythology. Here Hercules wrestled with Antaeus, and
Atlas sustained with weary shoulders the overarching sky. Phoe-
nician fugitives transported to its coasts the spirit of commerce, and
Carthage, which these wanderers first planted, became the mistress
of the seas, the explorer of distant regions, the rival and the victim
of Rome. The energy and subtlety of Jugurtha here baffled for a
while the Roman power, till at last the whole country from Egypt
to the Pillars of Hercules underwent the process of annexation to
the cormorant republic of ancient times. Its thriving population
and its fertile soil rendered it an immense granary. It was filled with
famous cities, one of which was the refuge and grave of Cato, flee-
* The classical student will be gratified and surprised by the remains of antiquity
which are described by Dr. Shaw, English chaplain at Algiers in the reign of
George the First, in his Travels and Observations relating to Several Parts of Barbary
and the Levant, published in 1738.
5
ing from the usurpations of Caesar. At a later day Christianity was
here preached by some of her most saintly bishops. The torrent
of the Vandals, which had wasted Italy, passed over this territory,
and the arms of Belisarius here obtained some of their most signal
triumphs. The Saracens, with the Koran and the sword, potent
ministers of conversion, next broke from Arabia, as the messengers
of a new religion, and, pouring along these shores, diffused the faith
and doctrines of Mohammed. Their empire was not confined even
by these extended limits ; but, under Musa, entered Spain, and at
Roncesvalles encountered the embattled chivalry of the Christian
world under Charlemagne.
The Saracenic power did not long retain its unity or importance ;
and as we view this territory in the dawn of modern history, when
the countries of Europe are appearing in their new nationalities, we
discern five different communities or states, – Morocco, Algiers,
Tunis, Tripoli, and Barca, – the latter of little moment and often
included in Tripoli, the whole constituting what was then and is still
called the Barbary States. This name has sometimes been referred
to the Berbers, or Berebbers, so called, constituting a part of the
inhabitants ; but I delight to follow the classic authority of Gibbon,
who thinks” that the term first applied by Greek pride to all stran-
gers, and finally reserved for those only who were savage or hostile,
has justly settled as a local denomination along the northern coast
of Africa. The Barbary States, then, bear their past character
in their name.
They occupy an important space on the earth's surface ; on the
north, washed by the Mediterranean Sea, furnishing such oppor-
tunities of prompt intercourse with Southern Europe, that Cato
was able to exhibit in the Roman Senate figs which had been
freshly plucked in the gardens of Carthage ; bounded on the
east by Egypt, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the
south by the vast, indefinite, sandy, flinty wastes of Sahara, sepa-
rating them from Soudan or Negroland. In the advantages of po-
sition they surpass every other part of Africa, -unless, perhaps,
we except Egypt, — communicating so easily as they do with the
Christian nations, and thus, as it were, touching the very hem and
border of civilization.
Climate adds its attractions to this territory, which is removed
* Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chap. lvi. Vol. IX. p. 465.
6
from the cold of the north and the burning heats of the tropics,
while it is enriched with oranges, citrons, olives, figs, pomegranates,
and luxuriant flowers. Its position and character invite a singular
and instructive comparison. It is placed between the twenty-ninth
and thirty-eighth degrees of north latitude, occupying nearly the
same parallels with what are called the Slave States of our Union.
It extends over nearly the same number of degrees of longitude with
our Slave States, which seem to stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to
the Rio Grande. It is supposed to embrace about 700,000 square
miles, which cannot be far from the space comprehended by what may
be called the Barbary States of America. Nor does the comparison
end here. Algiers, which has been the most obnoxious place in
the Barbary States of Africa, which was branded by an indignant
writer as “the wall of the barbarian world,” and which was the chief
seat of Christian slavery, is situated on the parallel of 36° 30' north
latitude, being the line of what is termed the Missouri Compro-
mise, marking the “wall” of Christian slavery in our country west
of the Mississippi.
Other less important points of likeness between the two territo-
ries may be observed. They are each washed to the same extent
by the sea, with this difference, that the African States are bounded
on the north by the Mediterranean, and on the west by the Atlan-
tic ; whereas, the American States are bounded on the south by
the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east by the Atlantic. But there
are no two spaces on the surface of the globe of equal extent (and an
examination of the map will verify what I am about to state), which
present so many distinctive features of resemblance, whether we
consider the parallels of latitude on which they lie, the nature of
their boundaries, their productions, their climate, or the “peculiar
domestic institution ” which has sought shelter in both.
I have introduced these comparisons in order to bring home to
your minds, as near as possible, the precise position and character
of the territory which was the seat of the evil I am about to describe.
It might be worthy of inquiry, why Christian slavery, banished at
last from Europe, banished also from that part of this hemisphere
which corresponds to Europe, should have intrenched itself in
both hemispheres between the same parallels of latitude ; so that
Virginia, Carolina, Mississippi, and Texas should be the Amer-
ican complement to Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis. Per-
haps the common peculiarities of climate, breeding indolence, las-
7
situde, and selfishness, may account for the insensibility to the
claims of justice and humanity which seem to have characterized
both regions.
The cruel custom of enslaving Christians in the Barbary States
was for many years the shame of modern civilization. The nations
of Europe made various efforts, continued through successive cen-
turies, to procure its abolition, and to rescue their subjects from
bondage. These may be traced in the pages of history. Litera-
ture also affords illustrations of its character which must not be neg-
lected. At one period, the French, the Italians, and the Spanish
borrowed most of the plots of their stories from this source.* The
adventures of Robinson Crusoe make us familiar with one of its
forms. He was captured by a Sallee f rover, and made a slave.
“At this surprising change of my circumstances,” he says, “from
a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed; and
now I looked back uponmy father’s prophetic discourse to me, that
I should be miserable and have none to relieve me, which I thought
was so effectually brought to pass, that I could not be worse.”f
And Cervantes, in the story of Don Quixote, over which so many
generations have shaken with laughter, turns aside from its genial
current to give the narrative of a Spanish captive who had escaped
from Algiers. The author is supposed to have drawn from his own
experience ; for he was during five years and a half in slavery at
Algiers, from which he was finally liberated by a ransom of about
six hundred dollars. § This inconsiderable sum of money gave
to freedom, to his country, and to mankind the author of Don
Quixote.|
* Sismondi's View of the Literature of the South of Europe, Vol. III. p. 402,
Ch. 29.
f Sallee is a port of Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean.
f Chap. II.
§ The exact amount is left uncertain both by Smollet and Thomas Roscoe in their
lives of Cervantes. It appears that it was five hundred gold crowns of Spain, which,
according to Navarrete, is 6770 reals (Vida de Cervantes, p. 371). The real is
supposed to be less than ten cents.
| The unhappy condition of his fellow-captives scems to have been ever upper-
most in the mind of Cervantes. He lost no opportunity of arousing his countrymen
to offorts for their emancipation, and for the overthrow of the “peculiar institution ”
under which they groaned. This was not done, as in our day, by means of public
addresses and meetings, but mainly through the instrumentality of the theatre.
Shortly after his return to Spain, he pictured the various sufferings, pains, and hu-
8
With these preliminary remarks, the way is now open for the
consideration of the subject to which I have invited your attention.
In unfolding it I shall naturally be led to touch upon the origin of
slavery, and the principles which lie at its foundation, before pro-
ceeding to the contemplation of the efforts for its abolition, and their
final success in the Barbary States.
I. Slavery was universally recognized by the nations of antiquity.
It is said by Pliny, in a bold phrase, that the Lacedaemonians “in-
vented slavery.” If this were so, the glory of Lycurgus and Le-
onidas would not compensate for this blot upon their character. It
is true that they recognized it, and gave it a shape of peculiar hard-
ship. But slavery is older than Sparta. It appears in the tents of
Abraham ; for the three hundred and eighteen servants born to him
were slaves. It appears in the story of Joseph, who was sold by
his brothers to the Midianites for twenty pieces of silver.j It ap-
miliations of slavery in a comedy, - which ſound much favor, though not artistic in
its composition, — entitled El Trato de Argel, or Liſe in Algiers. This was followed
by two others in the same spirit, — Los Baños de Argel, The Galleys of Algiers, and
La Gran Sultana Doña Cattalina de Oviedo. The last act of the Barios closes with
the information, that this comedy “is not drawn from the imagination, but was born
far from the regions of fiction, in the very heart of truth.” The same may be said
of the tales of The Captive in Don Quixote, El Liberal Amante, The Liberal Lover,
and some parts of La Española Inglesa. All these are to be regarded, not merely
as literary labors, but as charitable endeavours in the cause of human freedom.
Lope de Vega, whom Cervantos calls “that prodigy,” has employed his genius in
the same cause, in his comedy, The Captives of Algiers, Los Cautivos de Argel;
and at a later day Calderon, in his El Principe Constante, has cast a poet's glance at
Christian slavery in Morocco. In England the story of Inkle and Yarico, by Steele,
in the Spectator, and some parts of the drama of Oronooko, by Southerne, have taught
the cruelty and injustice of enslaving our fellow-men. All these belong to what
may be called the literature of Antislavery.
* Nat. Hist., Lib. VII. c. 57. The word slave, which enters into the languages of
modern Europe, in its original use signified glory, and was proudly assumed as the na-
tional designation of the races in the northeastern part of that continent, who were
afterwards degraded from the condition of conquerors to that of servitude ; Slava (laus,
gloria) Slavonian. See Gibbon, Roman Empire, Vol. X. p. 190, c. 55, notes. In
the Russian language it still signifies glory; as Slava Rossie, Glory of Russia. Sau-
er's Travels, p. 139. Strange that the word should have undergone such a change in
its meaning ! But its original sense may still be received by those who consider
slavery essential to democratic institutions, and therefore a part of the true glory of
the country.
f Genesis xiv. 14.
f Genesis xxxvii. 28. Slavery, and even the slave-trade, have been vindicated
by these and other texts of the Scriptures. See Bruce's Travels in Africa, Vol. II.
9
pears in the poetry of Homer, who stamps it with a reprobation
which can never be forgotten, when he says,” —
“Jove fixed it certain, that whatever day
Makes man a slave takes half his worth away.”
In later days it prevailed extensively in Greece, whose haughty
people deemed themselves justified in enslaving all who were stran-
gers to their manners and institutions. “The Greek has the right
to be the master of the barbarian,” was the sentiment of Euripides,
one of the first of her poets, which was echoed by Aristotle, the
greatest of her intellects. And even Plato, in his imaginary re-
public, the Utopia of his beautiful genius, still sanctions slavery.
But, notwithstanding these high names, we learn from Aristotle him-
self, that there were persons in his day — pestilent Abolitionists of
ancient Athens — who did not hesitate to maintain that liberty was
the great law of nature, acknowledging no difference between the
master and the slave, – that slavery was, therefore, founded upon
violence, and not upon right, and the authority of the master unnatu-
ral and unjust.f I am not in any way authorized to speak for any
Antislavery society, even if this were a proper occasion ; but I
presume that this ancient Greek morality embodies substantially
the principles of the resolutions which are put forth at their public
meetings, – so far, at least, as they relate to slavery.
It is true, most true, that slavery stands on force and not on right.
It is one of the results of war, or of that barbarism in which savage
war plays such a conspicuous part. It was supposed that to the
victor belonged the lives of his captives, and, by consequence, that
he might bind them in perpetual servitude. This principle, which
p. 319. After quoting these texts, he says that he “cannot think that purchasing
slaves is either cruel or unnatural.”
* Odyssey, Book XVII.
f Pol., Lib. I. c. 1.
# Pol., Lib. I. c. 3. A Scholiast on Aristotle's Rhetoric has preserved a saying
to this purpose of Alcidamas, the scholar of Gorgias of Leontium, - “God sent
forth all persons free; nature has made no man a slave.” In conformity with
this are the words of the good Las Casas, when pleading before Charles the Fifth for
the Indian races of America. “The Christian religion,” he said, “is equal in its
operation, and is accommodated to every nation on the globe. It robs no one of his
freedom, violates none of his inherent rights, on the ground that he is a slave by nature,
as pretended ; and it well becomes your Majesty to banish so monstrous an oppres-
sion from your kingdoms in the beginning of your reign, that the Almighty may
make it long and glorious.”— Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I. p. 379.
2
10
has been the foundation of slavery in all ages, is adapted to the
rudest conditions of society only, and is wholly inconsistent with a
period of real refinement, humanity, and justice. It is true that it
was recognized by Greece ; but her civilization, brilliant, to the ex-
ternal view, as the immortal sculptures of the Parthenon, was, like
that stately temple, dark and cheerless within.
Slavery extended, with new rigors, under the military dominion
of Rome. The spirit of freedom which animated the days of the
republic was of that selfish and intolerant character which accu-
mulated privileges upon the Roman citizen, while it heeded little
the rights of others. But, unlike the Greeks, the Romans admit-
ted in theory that all men were originally free by the law of nature,
and they ascribed the power of masters over slaves, not to any al-
leged diversities in the races of men, but to the will of society.*
The constant triumphs of their arms were signalized by reducing to
captivity large crowds of the subjugated people. Paulus Emilius re-
turned from Macedonia with an uncounted train of slaves, composed
of persons in every department of life ; and in the camp of Lucullus,
in Pontus, slaves were sold for four drachmae, or seventy-two cents,
a head. Terence and Phaedrus, Roman slaves, have, however,
taught us that genius is not always quenched even by a degrading
captivity ; while the writings of Cato the Censor, one of the most vir-
tuous slaveholders in history, show the hardening influence of a sys-
tem which treats human beings as cattle. “Let the husbandman,”
says Cato, “sell his old oxen, his sickly cattle, his sickly sheep, his
wool, his hides, his old wagon, his old implements, his old slave, and
his diseased slave. He showld be a seller, rather than a buyer.”f
The cruelty and inhumanity which flourished in the republic, pro-
fessing freedom, found a natural home under the emperors, – the
high-priests of despotism. Wealth increased, and with it the num-
ber of slaves. Some persons are said to have owned as many as
ten thousand, while extravagant prices were often paid, according to
the fancy or caprice of the purchaser. :
It is easy to believe that slavery, which prevailed to such an ex-
* Institute I. tit. 2.
f “Vendat bowes vetulos, armenta delicula, oves deliculas, lanam, pelles, plostrum
vetus, ferramenta vetera, servum senem, servum morbosum, et si quid aliud supersit,
vendat. Patrem familias vendacem, non emacem esse oportet.” – De Re Rustica, § 2.
# Martial mentions a handsome youth who cost as much as four hundred sestertia,
or $16,000. Ep. III. 62.
1 1
tent in Greece and Rome, must have existed in Africa. It was
here, indeed, that it found a peculiar home. If we trace the pro-
gress of that unfortunate continent, from those distant days of fable
when Jupiter
“ did not disdain to grace
The feast of AEthiopia's blameless race,” “
the merchandise in slaves will be found to have contributed to the
abolition of two hateful customs, once universal in Africa, – the eat-
ing of captives, and the sacrificing of them to idols. Thus it is, that,
in the march of civilization, even the barbarism of slavery is an im-
portant stage of human progress.
In the early periods of modern Europe, slavery was a general
custom, which has only gradually yielded to the humane influences
of Christianity. # It was fair-haired Saxon slaves from England
that arrested the attention of Pope Gregory in the markets of
Rome. As late as the thirteenth century, it was the custom on the
continent of Europe to treat all captives taken in war as slaves.
Of this Othello is a sufficient witness, when he speaks
“Of being taken by the insolent foe
And sold to slavery; of my redemption thence.”f
* Iliad, Book I.
ł It appears from William of Malmesbury (Book II. ch. 20, Life of St. Wolston),
that there was a cruel slave-trade in whites which once prevailed in England.
“Directly opposite,” he says, “to the Irish coast, there is a seaport called Bristol,
the inhabitants of which frequently sail into Ireland to sell those people whom they
had bought up throughout England. They exposed to sale maidens in a state of
pregnancy, with whom they made a sort of mock marriages. There you might see
with grief, fastened together by ropes, whole rows of wretched beings of both sexes,
of elegant forms, and in the very bloom of youth, – a sight sufficient to excite pity
even in barbarians,— daily offered for sale to the first purchaser. Accursed deed
Infamous disgrace that men, acting in a manner which brutal instinct alone would
have ſorbidden, should sell into slavery their relations, nay, even their own off-
spring.” When Ireland, in 1172, was aſſlicted with public calamities, the people,
but chiefly the clergy (praccipue clericorum) began to reproach themselves, believing
that these cvils were brought upon their country, because, contrary to the right of
Christian freedom, they had bought as slaves the English boys brought to them by
the merchants; wherefore, the English slaves were allowed, throughout all Ire-
land, by the consent of all, to depart in freedom. (Quod olim Anglorum pueros a mer-
catoribus ad se advectos in servitutem, emerant contra jus Christiana libertatis; unde,
cum omnium consensu, per totam Hiberniam, servi Angli abire permissi sunt.) —
Chronica Hibernia, or the Annals of Phil. Flatesbury in the Cottonian Library, Do-
mitian A. XVIII. 10, quoted in Stephens on West India Slavery, Vol. I. p. 6.
# Drayton's picture of the French, in his poem of The Battle of Agincourt, may
also be quoted : —
12
It was also held lawful to enslave all infidels, or persons who did not
receive the Christian faith. The early common law of England
doomed heretics to the stake ; the Catholic Inquisition did the
same ; and the Laws of Oleron, the maritime code of the Middle
Ages, treated them “as dogs,” to be attacked and despoiled by all
true believers.” It appears that Philip le Bel of France, in 1296,
presented his brother Charles, Count of Valois, with a Jew, and
that he paid Pierre de Chambly three hundred livres for another
Jew. f And the statutes of Florence, boastful of freedom, as late
as 1415, expressly allowed republican citizens to hold slaves who
were not of the Christian faith. And still further, the comedies of
Molière, depicting Italian usages not remote from his own day, show
that at Naples and Messina even Christian women continued to be
sold as slaves. §
It is not astonishing, then, that the barbarous states of Barbary
— a part of Africa, the great womb of slavery, - professing Ma-
hometanism, which not only recognizes slavery, but expressly ordains
“chains and collars ” to infidels || — should continue and perpetu-
ate the traffic in slaves, particularly in those who did not receive
the faith of their Prophet. In the duty of constant war upon unbe-
lievers, and in asserting a right to the services or ransom of their
captives, they followed the lessons of Christians themselves.
It is not difficult, then, to account for the origin of the cruel cus-
tom now under consideration. Its history forms our next topic.
II. The Barbary States, after the decline of the Arabian power,
seem to be enveloped in darkness, rendered more palpable by the
increasing light among the Christian nations. As we behold them
in the fifteenth century, in the twilight of European civilization, they
appear to be little more than scattered bands of robbers and pirates,
“For knots of cord to every town they send,
The captived English that they caught to bind ;
For to perpetual slavery they intend
Those that alive they on the field should find.”
* Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, Vol. II. p. 30.
# Encyclopédie Méthodique (Jurisprudence), Art. Esclavage.
# “Quinon sunt Catholicae fidei et Christianae.” See De l'Abolition de l'Escla-
vage Ancien en Occident, par Biot, p. 440; a work crowned with a gold medal by the
Institute of France, but which will be read with some disappointment.
§ L’Etourdi; Le Sicilien ; L'Avare.
| Koran, Chap. 76.
13
— the land-rats and water-rats of Shylock, - leading the lives of
Ishmaelites. Algiers is described by an early writer as “a den of
sturdy thieves, formed into a body, by which, after a tumultuary
sort, they govern.”* The habit of enslaving the prisoners they
took in war and in their piratical depredations aroused against them
the sacred animosities of Christendom. Ferdinand the Catholic,
aſter the conquest of Granada, and while the boundless discoveries
of Columbus, giving to Castile and Aragon a new world, still occu-
pied his mind, found time to direct an expedition into Africa, which
was placed under the military command of that great ecclesiastic,
Cardinal Ximenes. It is recorded that this valiant soldier of the
Church, on effecting the conquest of Oran, in 1509, had the inex-
pressible satisfaction of liberating upwards of three hundred Chris-
tian slaves. # *.
The progress of the Spanish arms induced the government of
Algiers to invoke assistance from abroad. At this time, two broth-
ers, Horuc and Hayradin, the sons of a potter in the island of Les-
bos, had become famous as corsairs. In an age when the sword of
an adventurer often carved a higher fortune than could be earned by
lawful exertion, they were dreaded for their abilities, their hardihood,
and their power. To them Algiers turned for aid. The corsairs
left the sea to sway the land ; or rather, with amphibious robbery,
they took possession of Algiers and Tunis, while they continued to
scourge the sea. The name of Barbarossa, by which they were
known to Christians, is terrible in modern history. i
With pirate ships they infested the seas, and spread their ravages
along the coasts of Spain and Italy, until Charles the Fifth was arous-
ed to undertake their overthrow. The various strength of his broad
dominions was rallied in this new crusade. “If the enthusiasm,”
says Sismondi, “which armed the Christians at an earlier day was
nearly extinct, another sentiment, more rational and legitimate, now
united the vows of Europe. The contest was no longer to recon-
quer the tomb of Christ, but to defend the civilization, the liberty,
the lives, of Christians.” $ A stanch body of infantry from Ger-
* Harleian Miscellany, Vol. V. p. 522, — A Discourse concerning Tangiers.
# Prescott's History of Ferdinand and Isabella, Vol. III. p. 308; Purchas's Pil-
grims, Vol. II. p. 813.
f Robertson's Charles the Fifth, Book W.; Topographia y Historia de Argel por
Fra Haedo; Epitome de los Reyes de Argel.
§ Sismondi, Histoire des Français, Tom, XVII. p. 102.
14
many, the veterans of Spain and Italy, the flower of the Spanish
nobility, the knights of the Order of Malta, with a fleet of near five
hundred vessels, contributed by Italy, Portugal, and even distant
Holland, under the command of Andrew Doria, the great sea-officer
of the age, – the whole being under the immediate eye of the Em-
peror himself, with the countenance and benediction of the Pope,
and composing one of the most complete armaments which the
world had then seen, – were directed upon Tunis. Barbarossa op-
posed them bravely, but with unequal forces. While slowly yield-
ing to the attack from without, his defeat was hastened by an un-
expected insurrection within. In the citadel were a number of
Christian slaves, who, in the assertion of the rights of freedom, ob-
tained a bloody emancipation, and turned the artillery against their
former masters. The town yielded to the Emperor, whose soldiers
soon surrendered themselves to the inhuman excesses of war. The
blood of thirty thousand of the innocent inhabitants reddened his vic-
tory. Amidst this scene of horror there was but one spectacle that
afforded him any satisfaction. Ten thousand Christian slaves met
him as he entered the town, and, falling on their knees, thanked him
as their deliverer. *
In the treaty of peace which ensued, it was expressly stipulated
on the part of Tunis, that all Christian slaves, of whatever nation,
should be set at liberty without ransom, and that no subject of the
Emperor should for the future be detained in slavery.f
The apparent generosity of this undertaking, the magnificence
with which it was conducted, and the success with which it was
crowned, drew to the Emperor the homage of his age beyond any
other event of his reign. Twenty thousand slaves, freed by his
arms or by the treaty, diffused through Europe the praise of his
name. It is probable that the Emperor was governed in this expe-
dition by motives little higher than those of vulgar ambition and
fame; but the results with which it was crowned, in the emancipa-
tion of so many of his fellow-Christians from cruel chains, place him
with Cardinal Ximenes among the earliest Abolitionists of modern
times.
This was in 1535. In 1517, only a few short years before, he
had granted to one of his Flemish courtiers the exclusive privilege
of importing four thousand blacks from Africa into the West Indies.
* Robertson's Charles the Fifth, Book W. | Ibid.
15
Perhaps no single order in history has had such disastrous conse-
quences.* The Fleming sold his privilege to some Genoese mer-
chants, who organized a systematic traffic in slaves between Africa
and America. Thus, while the Emperor levied a mighty force to
check the piracies of Barbarossa, and to procure the abolition of
Christian slavery in Tunis, with a wretched inconsistency, he laid
the corner-stone of a new system of slavery in America, in compar-
ison with which what he sought to suppress was trivial and fugitive.
Elated by the conquest of Tunis, and filled with the ambition of
subduing all the Barbary States, and of extirpating the “peculiar in-
stitution ” of Christian slavery, the Emperor in 1541 directed an ex-
pedition of singular grandeur against Algiers. The Pope again
joined his influence to the martial array. But nature proved stronger
than the Pope and Emperor. A sudden storm shattered his proud
fleet, within sight of Algiers, and he was obliged to return to Spain,
discomfited, bearing none of those trophies of emancipation by
which his former expedition had been crowned.}
The power of the Barbary States was now at its height. Their
corsairs became the scourge of Christendom, while their much-
dreaded system of slavery assumed a front of new terrors. Their
ravages were not confined to the Mediterranean. They penetrat-
ed the ocean, and pressed even to the Straits of Dover and St.
George's Channel. From the chalky cliffs of England, and even
from the distant western coasts of Ireland, the inhabitants were
swept into cruel captivity. i. The English government were at
last aroused to efforts to check these atrocities. In 1620, a fleet of
eighteen ships, under the command of Sir Robert Mansel, the Vice-
Admiral of England, was despatched against Algiers. It returned
* Mr. Clarkson says that Charles lived long enough to repent what he had thus
inconsiderately done. — History of the Abolition of the Slave-Trade, Vol. I. p. 38.
f Robertson's Charles the Fifth, Book VI.; Harleian Miscellamy, Vol. IV., p. 504,
—“A lamentable and piteous Treatise, verye necessarye for cuerie Christen Manne
to reade [or the Expedition of Charles the Fifth), truly and dylygently translated out
of Latyn into Frenche, and out of Frenche into English, 1542.”
f Guizot's History of the English Revolution, Vol. I. p. 69, Book II. ; Strafford's
Letters and Despatches, Vol. I. p. 68. It was the boast of Sir George Radcliffe, the
friend of the Earl, in the biographical sketch of him attached to his letters and de-
spatches, that “he secured the seas from piracies, so as only one ship was lost at his
first coming [as Lord Lieutenant to Ireland], and no more all his time ; whereof
every year before, not only several ships and goods were lost by robbery at sea, but
also Turkish men-of-war usually landed and took prey of men to be made slaves.”—
Ibid., Wol. II, p. 434.
16
without being able, in the language of the times, “to destroy those
hellish pirates,” though it obtained the liberation of forty “poor cap-
tives, which they pretended was all they had in the towne.” “The
efforts of the English fleet were aided,” says Purchas, “by a Chris-
tian captive, which did swim from the towne to the ships.” It is
not in this respect only that this expedition calls to mind that of
Charles the Fifth, which received such important assistance from
the rebel slaves ; we also observe a similar inconsistency of con-
duct in the government which directed it. It was in the year 1620,
— dear to all the descendants of the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock
as an epoch of freedom, - while an English fleet was seeking the
emancipation of Englishmen held in bondage by Algiers, that black
slaves were first introduced into the English colonies of North
America f
The expedition against Algiers was followed, in 1637, by another,
under the command of Captain Rainsborough, against Sallee, in
Morocco. At his approach, the Moors sold a thousand of their cap-
tives, British subjects, to Tunis and Algiers. Intestine feud aided
the fleet, and the cause of emancipation speedily triumphed. Two
hundred and ninety British captives were surrendered, and a promise
was extorted from the government of Sallee to redeem the thousand
captives who had been sold away to Tunis and Algiers. An am-
bassador from the king of Morocco shortly afterwards visited Eng-
land, and on his way to his audience at court was attended through
the streets of London “by four Barbary horses led along in rich ca-
parisons, and richer saddles, with bridles set with stones; also some
hawks ; many of the captives whom he brought over going along
afoot clad in white.” $
The success of this enterprise seems to have been hailed in Eng-
land with singular joy. It inspired the Muse of Waller, and filled
* Purchas's Pilgrims, pp. 885, 886; Southey’s Naval History of England, Vol.
W. pp. 60–63. There appears to have been a publication especially relating to this
expedition, entitled, “Algiers Voyage, in a Journal] or briefe Repertory of all Oc-
currents hapning in the Fleet of Ships sent out by the Kinge his Most Excellent
Majestie, as well against the Pirates of Algiers as others. London. 1621. 4to.”
f Bancroft's History of the United States, VoI. I. p. 187.
f They also were aided by “some Christians that were slaves ashore, who stole
away out of the town and came swimming aboard.” — Osborne's Voyages, – Journal
of the Sallee Fleet, Vol. II. p. 493. See also Mrs. Macaulay's History of England,
Vol. II. Chap. 4. p. 219.
§ Strafford's Letters and Despatches, Vol. II. pp. 86, 116, 129.
| Among his poems is one “On the Taking of Sallee,” in which he describes the
visit of the ambassador of Morocco with presents: —
17
with exultation the dark mind of Strafford. “Sallee, the town, is
taken,” said Archbishop Laud in a letter to the latter, in Ireland,
“ and all the captives at Sallee and Morocco delivered ; as many,
our merchants say, as, according to the price of the markets, come to
ten thousand pounds, at least.” “ Strafford saw in the popularity of
this triumph a fresh opportunity to commend the tyrannical designs
of Charles the First. “This action of Sallee,” he wrote in reply
to the archbishop, “I assure you is full of honor, and should, me-
thinks, help much towards the ready cheerful payment of the ship-
ping monies.”f
The coasts of England were now protected ; but her subjects at
sea continued to be the prey of Algerine corsairs. The Jacobite
historian Carte says, f – “They carried their English captives to
France, drove them in chains overland to JMarseilles, to ship them
thence with greater safety for slaves to fllgiers.” The increasing
troubles which distracted and finally cut short the reign of Charles
the First did not divert attention from the sorrows of the English-
men who had fallen into the hands of these Mahometan slave-driv-
ers. At the very height of the struggles between the king and
Parliament, an earnest voice was raised in behalf of these fellow-
Christians in bonds. $ There are publications pleading their cause,
bearing date in 1640, 1642, and 1647. || The overthrow of such
an odious oppression formed a worthy object for the imperial energies
“Hither he sends the chief among his peers,
Who in his bark proportioned presents bears,
To the renowned for piety and force,
Poor captives manumised and matchless horse.”
* Strafford's Letters and Despatches, Vol. II. p. 131.
f Ibid., p. 138.
f Carte's History of England, Vol. IV. p. 231, Book 22.
§ Waller, who was an orator as well as poet, in a speech in Parliament in 1641,
said, - “By the many petitions which we receive from the wives of those miserable
captives at Algiers (being between four and five thousand of our countrymen) it does
too evidently appear, that to make us slaves at home is not the way to keep us from
being made slaves abroad.” — Waller's Works, p. 271.
| Compassion towards Captives, urged in Three Sermons, on Heb. xiii. 3, by
Charles Fitz-Geoffrey, 1642. Libertas; or Relief to the English Captives in Al-
giers, by Henry Robinson, London, 1647. Letters relating to the Redemption of the
Captive in Algiers, at Tunis, by Edward Cason Laud, 1647. A Relation of Seven
Years' Slavery under the Turks of Algiers, suffered by an English Captive Merchant,
with a Description of the Sufferings of the Miserable Captives under that Merciless
Tyranny, by Francis Knight, London, 1640. The latter publication is preserved in
the Collection of Voyages and Travels by Osborne, Vol. II, pp. 465 – 489.
3
18
of Cromwell ; and in 1655, – when, amidst the amazement of Eu-
rope, the English sovereignty had already settled upon his Atlante-
an shoulders, – he directed a navy of thirty ships, under Admiral
Blake, into the Mediterranean. This was the most powerful Eng-
lish force which had sailed into that sea since the Crusades.* Tu-
nis and Algiers were humbled ; all British captives were set at
liberty ; and the Protector, in his remarkable speech at the opening
of Parliament in the next year, announced peace with the “pro-
fane'' nations in that region. †
Perhaps no single circumstance gives a higher impression of the
vigilance with which the Protector guarded his subjects, than this ef-
fort. Í His vigorous sway was followed by the effeminate tyranny
of Charles the Second, whose restoration was inaugurated by an un-
successful expedition under Lord Sandwich against Algiers. This
was soon followed by another under Admiral Lawson, with a more
favorable result. § By a treaty bearing date May 3d, 1662, this
piratical government expressly stipulated, “that all subjects of the
king of Great Britain, now slaves in Algiers, or any of the territo-
ries thereof, be set at liberty, and released, upon paying the price they
were first sold for in the market ; and for the time to come no sub-
jects of his Majesty shall be bought or sold, or made slaves of, in
Algiers or its territories.” || Other expeditions ensued, and other
* Hume says (Vol. VII. p. 259, Chap. LXI.), — “No English fleet, except during
the Crusades, had ever before sailed in those seas.” He forgot, or was not aware of,
the expedition of Sir John Mansel, which has been already referred to (ante, p. 15),
the expediency of which was elaborately debated in the Privy Council as carly as
1617, three years before it was finally undertaken. See Southey's Naval History of
England, Vol. V. pp. 149–157.
f “And so likewise with the Portugal, with France,—the Mediterranean Sea; both
these States; both Christian and profane ; the Mahometan ; you have peace with
them all.” — Carlyle's Letters and Speeches of Cromwell, Vol. II. p. 235, Part IX.
Speech W.
“General Blak,” said one of the ſoreign agents of government, “ has ratifyed the
articles of peace at Argier, and included therein Scotch, Irish, Jarnsey and Garn-
sey-men, and all others the Protector's subjects. He has lykewys redeemed from
thence al such as wer captives ther. Several Dutch captives swam aboard the
fleet, and so escape theyr captivity.” — Thurloe's State Papers, Vol. III. p. 527.
# Waller, in his panegyric on the Protector, has the following verses: —
“Fame, swifter than your winged navy, flies
Through every land that near the ocean lies,
Sounding your name, and telling dreadful news
To all that piracy and rapine use.”
§ Rapin's History of England, Vol. II. pp. 858, 864.
| Recueil des Traitez de Païa, Tom. IV. p. 43.
19
treaties in 1664, 1672, 1682, and 1686, - showing, by their con-
stant recurrence, the little impression produced upon the minds of
these barbarians.” Insensible to justice and freedom, they naturally
held in slight regard the obligations of fidelity to any stipulations
in restraint of robbery and slaveholding.
Complaints continued to be made, during a long succession of
years, of the sufferings of English captives ; # and many American
families, even in those early days of the Colonies, while they were
still struggling with the savage Indians, were compelled to mourn the
hapless fate of brothers, fathers, and husbands, doomed to Algerine
slavery. But during all this time, the slavery of blacks, who were
transported to the Colonies under English colors, still continued.
—s
* Ibid., pp. 307, 476, 703, 756.
f The feelings of an earnest soul found expression in The Gentleman's Magazine
for 1748, Vol. XVIII. p. 531 : —
“O how can Britain's sons regardless hear
The prayers, sighs, groans (immortal infamy!)
Of fellow-Britons, with oppression sunk,
In bitterness of soul demanding aid,
Calling on Britain, their dear native land,
The land of liberty ”
# In the MS. diary of the Rev. John Eliot (the first minister of Roxbury, and the
apostle to the Indians) prefixed to the first volume of the Roxbury Church Records
(Rev. Dr. Putnam's church) are the following words : —
“1673, 3m. [May.] Tidings concerning the redemption of Mr. Foster of Charles-
town from captivity, after neer 18 months' slavery, and his return to London, his sonn
William coming home to his mother at Charlestown, having been his fath” com-
panion in bondage.”
“1673, 1d. 10m. [Dec. 1.] Captain Foster returned home after his captivity.”
This was “William Foster, of Charlestown, navigator,” who “ died at Charles-
town, May 8, 1698, aged about 80.” He was 54 or 55 years old when taken cap-
tive in 1671.
It appears by the MSS. of the late Hon. William Winthrop of Cambridge, and by
the probate records and files of the county of Middlesex (Mass.), that Dr. Daniel
Mason — the earliest graduate by the name of Mason at Harvard College — sailed as
the physician and surgeon of Captain James Ellson, from Charlestown, about 1678
or 1679, in a ship which was taken by a Barbary corsair and carried into Algiers,
whence these persons and others with them never returned. They probably died in
captivity. In a testamentary letter addressed to his wife, and dated at Algiers, June
30, 1679, Captain Ellson desired her to redeem out of captivity Asher Bearstow (of
Watertown), and Richard Ellson, his brother, and to give to his doctor, Daniel Ma-
son, £5. (Middlesex Probate Files.)
William Harris, one of the associates of Roger Williams in the first planting of
Providence, when in the sixty-eighth year of his age, undertook a voyage to Eng-
land, to defend the title of the Petuxet claimants, and to obtain from the king exe-
cution of former decrees in their favor. He sailed from Boston in the ship Unity,
20
Meanwhile, France had plied Algiers with embassies and bom-
bardments. It appears that in 1635 there were three hundred and
forty-seven Frenchmen captives there. Monsieur de Sampson was
sent on an unsuccessful mission, to procure their liberation. They
were offered to him “for the price they were sold for in the mar-
ket”; but this he refused to pay.* Next came, in 1637, Mon-
sieur de Mantel, who was called “that noble captain, and glory of
the French nation,” “with fifteen of his king’s ships, and a com-
mission to enfranchise the French slaves.” But he also returned,
leaving his countrymen still in captivity, f Treaties, however, fol-
lowed at a later day, which were hastily concluded, and abruptly
broken, till at last Louis the Fourteenth did for France what Crom-
well had done for England. In 1684, Algiers, being twice bombard-
edi by his command, sent deputies to sue for peace, and to surren-
William Condy master. The vessel was taken by a Barbary corsair, Jan. 24th, 1679,
and was carried to Algiers, where Mr. Harris with the others, on the 23d or 24th of
February, was sold into slavery. After remaining in this condition more than a
year, his redemption was obtained at the cost of $1200, “the price of a good farm,”
as is stated in some of his papers. The ſate of his companions is unknown.
The following extract from the MS. journal of Chief Justice Samuel Sewall refers
to the captivity of still another American : —
“1714–5, Jan. 10th. Snowy day. Mr. Gee sends his son to invite me to diner
to-morrow at his hous. – Tuesday, Jan. 11th. Went thither, where din’d Dr. In-
crease and Dr. Cotton Mather, Mr. Bridge, Mr. Wadsworth, Mr. Thornton [Timo-
thy], Mr. Jno. Marion, Deacon Barnard, Mr. Ruck, Capt. Martyn, Mr. Hallawell.
It seems it was in remembrance of his landing this day at Boston, after his Algerine
captivity. Had a good treat. Dr. Cotton Mather, in returning thanks, very well
comprised many weighty things very pertinently.”
It is to be hoped that among the weighty things very pertinently comprised by
Cotton Mather in returning thanks was a condemnation of slavery. He could not
then have shrunk from giving utterance to that faith which preaches deliverance to
the captive.
I am indebted for these notices to Dr. Harris, the Librarian of Harvard University,
and Mr. J. Wingate Thornton, of the Boston bar, both of whom have interested
themselves much in our early history. It is probable that other cases might be
traced, here and in other parts of the country.
* Osborne's Voyages, Vol. II. p. 468; Relation of Seven Years' Slavery in Al-
giers.
f Ibid., p. 470.
# In the melancholy history of war, this is noticed as the earliest instance of the
bombardment of a town. Sismondi, who never fails to regard the past in the light of
humanity, remarks, that “Louis the Fourteenth was the first to put in practice the
atrocious method, newly invented, of bombarding towns, – of burning them, not to
take them, but to destroy them, - of attacking, not fortifications, but privale houses,
— not soldiers, but peaceable inhabitants, women and children, – and of confounding
21
der all her Christian slaves. Tunis and Tripoli made the same
submission. Voltaire says, with his accustomed point, that, by this
transaction, the French became respected on the coast of Africa,
where they had before been known only by the slaves which the
barbarians there had made.*
A story is told # which shows the little interest taken by the
French in the cause of general freedom, even while engaged in se-
curing the emancipation of their own countrymen. As an officer of
the triumphant fleet received the Christian slaves who were brought
to him and liberated, he observed among them many English, who,
in the vain pride of nationality, maintained that they were set at lib-
erty out of regard to the king of England. The Frenchman at once
summoned the Algerines, and, returning the English captives into
their hands, said, - “These people pretend that they have been
delivered in the name of their monarch ; mine does not offer them
his protection. I return them to you. It is for you to show what
you owe to the king of England.” The miserable captives were
again hurried to prolonged slavery. The power of Charles the
Second was as impotent in their behalf as was the sense of justice
and humanity in the French officer and the Algerine government.
Time would fail, even if the materials were at hand, to develop
the course of other efforts of France against the Barbary States.
Nor can I dwell upon the determined conduct of Holland, one of
whose greatest naval commanders, Admiral de Ruyter, in 1661, en-
forced at Algiers the emancipation of several hundred Christian
slaves.j. -
Thus far I have chiefly followed the history of military expedi-
tions against the Barbary States. But peaceful measures were often
employed to procure the redemption of slaves; and money accom-
plished what was vainly attempted by the sword. It was the habit
of the European governments, in furtherance of this object, to send
thousands of private crimes, each one of which would cause horror, in one great pub-
lic crime, one great disaster, which he regarded only as one of the catastrophes of
war.” — Sismondi, Histoire des Français, Tom. XXV. p. 452. How much of this
is justly applicable to the recent most wretched murder of women and children by
the forces of the United States at Vera Cruz Algiers was bombarded in the cause
of freedom; Vera Cruz, to extend slavery.
* Siècle de Louis XIV., ch. 14.
f Ibid.
| Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XVIII, p. 441.
22
missions to the different states. These sometimes had a formal di-
plomatic organization ; sometimes they consisted of fathers of the
Church, who held it a sacred office, to which they were especially
called, to open the prison-doors and let the captives go free.*
It was by the intervention of the superiors of the Order of the Holy
Trinity, who were despatched to Algiers by Philip the Second of
Spain, that Cervantes obtained his freedom by ransom, in 1579.j
The expeditions of commerce often served to promote similar de-
signs of charity, and the English government, forgetting or distrust-
ing all their sleeping thunder, sometimes condescended to barter arti-
cles of merchandise for the liberty of their subjects.f
Private efforts often secured the freedom of slaves. Friends at
home naturally exerted themselves in their behalf; and many fami-
lies were straitened by generous contributions to this sacred purpose.
It appears that in 1642 there were four French brothers ransomed
at the price of six thousand dollars. At this same period, the sum
exacted for the poorest Spaniards was “a thousand shillings,” while
Genoese, “if under twenty-two years of age, were freed for a hun-
dred pounds sterling.” $ These charitable endeavours were aided
by the coöperation of benevolent persons. As early as the thir-
* It is to the relations of several of these missions, that we are indebted for works
of interest on the Barbary States. Busnot, Histoire du Règne de Mouley Ishmael, &
Rouen, 1714. The author was a father of the Holy Trinity, who went, accompanied
by some other monks, to Morocco, for the redemption of French captives. Jean de
la Faye, Relation, en Forme de Journal, du Voyage pour la Rédemption des Captifs, &
Paris, 1725. Voyage to Barbary for the Redemption of Captives in 1720, by the JMa-
thurin-Trinitarian Fathers, London, 1735. This is a translation from the French.
Braithwaite's History of the Revolutions of the Empire of Morocco, London, 1729. This
contains a journal of the mission of John Russel, Esq., from the English government
to Morocco, to obtain the liberation of slaves. The expedition seems to have been
thoroughly equipped. “The Moors,” says the author, “find plenty of every thing
but drink, but for that the English generally take care of themselves; for, besides
chairs, tables, knives, forks, plates, table-linen, &c., we had two or three mules,
loaded with wine, brandy, sugar, and utensils for punch.” — p. 82.
f Roscoe's Life of Cervantes, p. 43.
f “The following goods, designed as a present from his Majesty to the Dey of Al-
giers, to redeem near one hundred English captives lately taken, were entered at the
custom-house, viz.,-20 pieces of broadcloth, 2 pieces of brocade, 2 pieces of silver
tabby, 1 piece of green damask, 8 pieces of Holland, 16 pieces of cambric, a gold re-
peating watch, 4 silver do., 20 pounds of tea, 300 of loaſ-sugar, 5 fuzees, 5 pair of
pistols, an escrutoire, 2 clocks, and a box of toys.” — Gent. Mag., Vol. IV. p. 104
(1734).
§ Osborne's Voyages, Vol. II. p. 489; Relation of Seven Years' Slavory in Al-
giers.
23
teenth century, the Society of the Fathers of Redemption was found-
ed, under the sanction of Innocent the Third, expressly for the ran-
som of Christian slaves from infidels.” In Spain annual contribu-
tions were taken for this purpose ; and as late as 1748, we meet
with a proposition in England “to establish a society to carry on the
truly charitable design of emancipating” sixty-four Englishmen, in
slavery in Morocco.f Cervantes confesses his gratitude to the
Society of Redemption,i and none can fail to bless the authors of
that institution of beneficence, — the harbinger of others whose
mission is still unfinished. An early Spanish historian, recounting
the origin of this Society, -which was said to have been suggested
by an angel in the sky, clothed in resplendent light, holding a Chris-
tian captive in his right hand and a Moor in the left, — declares that
it was not the work of men, but of the great God alone. Ś And he
dwells on the glory of their lives, as surpassing far that of a Roman
triumph ; for they share the name as well as the labors of the Re-
deemer of the world, to whose spirit they are the heirs, and to
whose works they are the successors. “Lucullus,” he says, affirm-
ed, “that it were better to liberate a single Roman from the hands
of the enemy, than to gain all their wealth; but how much greater
the gain, more excellent the glory, and more than human is it to re-
deem a captive For whosoever redeems him not only liberates
him from one death, but from death in a thousand ways, and those
ever present, and also from a thousand afflictions, a thousand mis-
eries, a thousand torments and fearful travails, more cruel than death
itself.” ||
War and ransom, however, were not the only agents in the eman-
cipation of the Christian slaves in the Barbary States. It is not to
be supposed that they endured their lot without efforts to escape from
its hardships.
“Since the first moment they put on my chains,
I’ve thought on nothing but the weight of them,
And how to throw them off.”
These are the words of a slave in the play ; T but they express
* Biot, De l'Abolition de l'Esclavage Ancien, p. 437.
f Gentleman's Mag., Vol. XVIII. p. 413.
f Roscoe's Life of Cervantes, p. 50. See his story of Española Inglesa.
§ Haedo, Historia de Argel, pp. 142-144; Dialogo I. de la Captiudad.
| Ibid., pp. 141, 142.
1 Oronooko, Act III. Sc. I. It is not strange that the antislavery character of
24
the natural sentiments of all who have intelligence sufficient to ap-
preciate the great boon of freedom. “Thanks be to God,” says
the captive in Don Quixote, “for the great mercies bestowed upon
me ; for, in my opinion, there is no happiness on earth equal to that
of liberty regained.” “ The history of Algiers abounds in well-au-
thenticated examples of conspiracy against the government by Chris-
tian slaves. So strong was the passion for freedom | In 1531 and
1559, two different plans were matured, which promised for a while
entire success. The slaves were numerous; they had supplied them-
selves with arms, and keys had been forged with which to open the
prisons; but their plot was revealed by one of their own number to
the Dey, who doomed the conspirators to the bastinado and the stake.
Cervantes, during his captivity, nothing daunted by these disappoint-
ed efforts, and the terrible vengeance which awaited them, conceiv-
ed the plan of a general rising of the Christian slaves, to secure
their freedom by the overthrow of the Algerine power, and the sur-
render of the city to the Spanish crown. This was in the spirit of
the sentiment which he has expressed in his writings, that “for lib-
erty we ought to risk life itself, slavery being the greatest evil that
can fall to the lot of man.”f As late as 1763, we find mention of
a similar rising or conspiracy. “Last month,” says a journal of
high authority, f “the Christian slaves at Algiers, to the number of
this play rendered it an unpopular performance at Liverpool, while the merchants of
that port were concerned in the slave-trade.
* Don Quixote, Part I. Book IV. Chap. 12. The same sentiment is expressed
by Thomas Phelps, in his account of his captivity and escape from Machiness, in
Morocco, in 1685. “Since my escape,” he says, “from captivity, and worse than
Egyptian bondage, I have, methinks, enjoyed a happiness with which my former
life was never acquainted; now that, after a storm and terrible tempest, I have,
by miracle, put into a safe and quiet harbour, – after a most miserable slavery to
the most unreasonable and barbarous of men, now that I enjoy the immunitics
and freedom of my native country and the privileges of a subject of England,
although my circumstances otherwise are but indifferent, yet I find I am affect-
ed with extraordinary emotions and singular transports of joy; now I know what
liberty is, and can put a value and make a just estimate of that happiness which
before I never well understood. Health can be but slightly esteemed by him who
never was acquainted with pain or sickness; and liberty and freedom are the hap-
piness only valuable by a reflection on captivity and slavery.”— Osborne's Voyages,
Vol. II. p. 500.
f Roscoe's Life of Cervantes, pp. 32, 310, 311. Thomas Phelps breaks forth in a
similar strain : —“I looked upon my condition as desperate; my forlorn and lan-
guishing state of life, without any hope of redemption, appeared far worse than the
terrors of a most cruel death.” — Osborne's Voyages, Vol. II. p. 504.
f British Annual Register, Vol. VI. p. 60.
25
four thousand, rose and killed their guards, and massacred all who
came in their way ; but after some hours’ carnage, during which
the streets ran with blood, peace was restored.”
But the struggles for freedom did not always assume the shape of
conspiracies against the government. They were often efforts to es-
cape, sometimes in numbers, and sometimes singly. Cervantes’s
captivity was filled with such endeavours, in which, however, he was
constantly balked, although he persevered with determined skill
and courage. One of these was favored by some of his own coun-
trymen, who were hovering on the coast in a vessel from Majorca,
and who did not think it wrong to aid in the liberation of captives.
Another was favored by certain Christian merchants resident at Al-
giers, through whose agency a vessel was actually purchased for this
purpose.* And still another was supposed to be aided by a Span-
ish ecclesiastic, Father Olivar, who had visited Algiers to procure
the legal redemption of slaves, and who, it was thought, might not
be unwilling to promote their escape. If he had any such generous
design, he paid the penalty which similar purposes have found else-
where and in another age. He was seized by the Dey and thrown
into chains; for it was regarded by the Algerine government as a
high offence to further in any way the escape of a slave.f
Endeavours for freedom are animating; nor can any honest nature
hear of them without a throb of sympathy. As we dwell on the
painful narrative of the unequal contest between tyrannical power
and the crushed captive or slave, we cannot but enter the lists on the
side of freedom ; and as we behold the contest waged by a few
individuals, or, perhaps, by one alone, our sympathy is given to his
weakness as well as to his cause. To him we send the unſalter-
ing succour of our good wishes. For him we invoke vigor of arm
to defend, and fleetness of foot to escape. The enactments of hu-
man laws are vain to restrain the warm tides of our hearts. We
pause with rapture on those historic scenes in which freedom has
been attempted or preserved through the magnanimous self-sacrifice
of friendship or Christian aid. We follow with palpitating bosom
the midnight flight of Mary of Scotland from the custody of her
* Roscoe's Life of Cervantes, pp. 31, 308, 309. I refer to Roscoe as the popular au-
thority. His work appears to be little more than a compilation from Navarrete and
Sismondi.
f Ibid., p. 33. See also Haedo, Historia de Argel, p. 185.
4 &
26
stern jailers, – we accompany Grotius in his escape from prison in
Holland, so adroitly promoted by his wife, – we join with Lava-
lette in France, in his flight, aided also by his wife, – and we offer
our admiration and gratitude to Huger and Bollman, who, unawed
by the arbitrary ordinances of Austria, strove heroically, though
vainly, to rescue Lafayette from the dungeons of Olmutz. The
laws of Algiers — which sanctioned a cruel slavery, and which
doomed to condign penalties all endeavours for freedom, and espe-
cially all support and countenance of such endeavours — can no
longer prevent our homage to Cervantes, not less gallant than re-
nowned, who strove so constantly and earnestly to escape his chains,
— nor to those Christians who did not fear to aid him, nor to the
good ecclesiastic who suffered in his cause.
It may not be without interest to pursue the story of some of
these efforts to escape from slavery in the Barbary States, so far as
they can be traced. The following is in the exact words of an
early writer : —
“One John Fox, an expert mariner, and a good, approved, and
sufficient gunner, was (in the raigne of Queene Elizabeth) taken by
the Turkes, and kept eighteene yeeres in most miserable bondage
and slavery ; at the end of which time, he espied his opportunity
(and God assisting him withall) that hee slew his keeper, and fled
to the sea’s side, where he found a gally with one hundred and fifty
captive Christians, which hee speedily waying their anchor, set saile,
and fell to worke like men, and safely arrived in Spaone ; by which
meanes, he freed himselfe and a number of poor soules from long
and intolerable servitude ; after which, the said John Fox came into
England, and the Queene (being rightly informed of his brave ea-
ploit) did graciously entertaine him for her servant, and allowed
him a geerly pension.” "
In 1621, a ship of Bristol was captured by an Algerine corsair, of
whose fate we have a quaint description. All the Englishmen were
taken out except four youths, over whom the Turks, as these bar-
barians were often called by early writers, put thirteen of their own
men, to conduct the ship as a prize to Algiers ; and one of the pi-
rates was appointed captain, being a strong, able, stern, and resolute
person. “ These four poor youths,” so the story proceeds, “being
thus fallen into the hands of merciless infidels, began to study and
* Purchas's Pilgrims, Vol. II, p. 888.
27
complot all the means they could for the obtayning of their freedom.
They considered the lamentable and miserable estates that they were
like to be in, as to be debarred for ever from seeing their friends and
country, to be chained, beaten, made slaves, and to eat the bread of
affliction in the galleys, all the remainder of their unfortunate lives,
and, which was worst of all, never to be partakers of the heavenly
word and sacraments. Thus being quite hopeless, and, for any thing
they knew, for ever helpless, they sailed five days and nights under
the command of the pirates, when, on the fifth night, God, in his
great mercy, shewed them a means for their wished-for escape.” A
sudden wind arose, when the captain coming to help take in the
main-sail, two of the English youths “suddenly took him by the
breech and threw him overboard; but by fortune he fell into the bunt
of the sail, where quickly catching hold of a rope, he, being a very
strong man, had almost gotten into the ship again ; which John Cook
perceiving, leaped speedily to the pump, and took off the pump-
brake or handle and cast it to William Long, bidding him knock
him down, which he was not long in doing, but, lifting up the wooden
weapon, he gave him such a palt on the pate, as made his braines
forsake the possession of his head, with which his body fell into the
sea.” The corsairs were overpowered. The English youths drove
them “from place to place in the ship, and having coursed them
from poop to the forecastle, they there valiantly killed two of them,
and gave another a dangerous wound or two, who, to escape the
further fury of their swords, leaped suddenly overboard to go seek
his captain.” The other nine Turks ran between-decks, where
they were fastened by the English, who, directing their course to
St. Lucas, in Spain, “in short time, by God's ayde, happily and
safely arrived at the said port, where they sold the nine Turks for
galley slaves, for a good summe of money, and, as I thinke, a great
deal more than they were worth.” “ “He that shall attribute such
things as these,” says the ancient historian, grateful for this triumph
of freedom, “to the arm of flesh and blood, is forgetful, ungrateful,
and in a manner Atheistical.”
There is another narrative, derived from the same source, of sin-
gular success on the part of several Englishmen in regaining their
freedom. Being captured and carried into Algiers, they were sold
as slaves. In the words of one of their number, — “ We were hur-
ried like dogs into the market, where, as men sell hacknies in Eng-
* Purchas's Pilgrims, Vol. II. pp. 882, 883.
28
land, we were tossed up and down to see who would give most for
ws ; and although we had heavy hearts and looked with sad coun-
tenances, yet many came to behold us, sometimes taking us by the
hand, sometimes turning us round about, sometimes feeling our
brawny and naked armes, and so beholding our prices written in
our breasts, they bargained for us accordingly, and at last we
were all sold.” Shortly afterwards several of these Englishmen
were put on board an Algerine corsair to serve as slaves. One
of them, John Rawlins, who resembled Cervantes in the hardi-
hood of his exertions for freedom, - as, like him, he had lost the
use of an arm, - arranged a rising on board. “O hellish slav-
ery,” he said, “to be thus subject to dogs O God l strength-
en my heart and hand, and something shall be done to ease us of
these mischiefs, and deliver us from these cruel Mahometan dogs.
What can be worse 2 I will either attempt my deliverance at one
time or another, or perish in the enterprise.” An auspicious mo-
ment was seized, and eight English slaves and one French, with the
assistance of four Hollanders that were freemen, succeeded, after a
bloody contest, in overpowering fifty-two Turks. “When all was
done,” the story proceeds, “ and the ship cleared of the dead
bodies, Rawlins assembled his men together, and with one consent
gave the praise unto God, using the accustomed service on ship-
board, and, for want of books, lifted up their voices to God, as he
put into their hearts or renewed their memories ; then did they sing
a psalm, and, last of all, embraced one another for playing the men
in such a deliverance, whereby our fear was turned into joy, and
trembling hearts exhilarated that we had escaped such inevitable
dangers, and especially the slavery and terror of bondage worse
than death itself. The same night we washed our ship, put every
thing in as good order as we could, repaired the broken quarter, set
up the biticle, and bore up the helme for England, where, by God’s
grace and good guiding, we arrived at Plimouth, February 17th,
1622.” +
In 1685, Thomas Phelps and Edward Baxter, Englishmen, ac-
complished their escape from captivity in Machiness, in Morocco.
One of them had made a previous unsuccessful attempt, which had
drawn upon him the punishment of the bastinado, disabling him from
work for a twelve-month ; “but such was his love of Christian liber-
* Purchas's Pilgrims, Vol. II. pp. 889–896.
29
ty, that he freely declared to his companion, that he would adven-
ture with any fair opportunity.” By devious paths, sheltering
themselves from observation by day in bushes, or in the branches of
fig-trees, they at length reached the sea. With imminent risk of
discovery, they succeeded in finding a boat, not far from Sallee,
which they took without consulting the proprietor, and rowed to a
ship at a distance, which, to their great joy, proved to be an English
man-of-war. Making known to the commander the exposed situa-
tion of some of the Moorish ships at Mamora, they formed part of
an expedition in boats, which boarded and burnt these ships in the
night. “One Moor,” says the account, “we found aboard, who
was presently cut in pieces; another was shot in the head, endeav-
ouring to escape upon the cable; we were not long in taking in our
shavings and tar-barrels, and so set her on fire in several places,
she being very apt to receive what we designed ; for there were sev-
eral barrels of tar upon deck, and she was newly tarred, as if on pur-
pose. Whilst we were setting her on fire, we heard a noise of
some people in the hold ; we opened the skuttles, and thereby saved
the lives of four Christians, three Dutchmen and one French, who
told us the ship on fire was admiral, and belonged to Aly-Hack-
um, and the other, which we soon after served with the same sauce,
was the very ship which in October last took me captive.” The
Englishman, once a captive, who tells this story, says it is “most
especially to move pity for the afflictions of Joseph, to excite com-
passionate regard to those poor countrymen now languishing in mis-
ery and irons, to endeavour their releasement.”*
At a still later day, there are instances of the escape of captives.
In the British Annual Register, there is an account of one in a letter
from Algiers, dated August 6th, 1772. “A most remarkable es-
cape,” it says, “ of some Christian prisoners has lately been effected
here, which will undoubtedly cause those that have not had that good
fortune to be treated with the utmost rigor. On the morning of the
27th July, the Dey was informed that all the Christian slaves had
escaped the over-night in a galley; this news soon raised him, and,
upon inquiry, it was found to have been a preconcerted plan.
About ten at night, seventy-four slaves, who had found means
to escape from their masters, met in a large square near the gate
* Osborne's Voyages, Vol. II, pp. 497–510.
# Vol. XV. p. 130.
30
which opens to the harbour, and, being well armed, they soon
forced the guard to submit, and, to prevent their raising the city,
confined them all in the powder-magazine. They then proceeded to
the lower part of the harbour, where they embarked on board a large
rowing polacre that was left there for the purpose, and, the tide
ebbing out, they fell gently down with it, and passed both the forts.
As soon as this was known, three large galleys were ordered out after
them ; but to no purpose. They returned in three days, with the
news of seeing the polacre sail into Barcelona, where the galleys
durst not go to attack her.”
In the same journal * there is another account, in a letter, dated
September 3d, 1776, from Palma, the capital of Majorca. “Forty-
six captives,” it says, “who were employed to draw stones from a
quarry some leagues’ distance from Algiers, at a place named Geno-
va, resolved, if possible, to recover their liberty, and yesterday took
advantage of the idleness and inattention of forty men who were to
guard them, and who had laid down their arms, and were rambling
about the shore. The captives attacked them with pick-axes and
other tools, and made themselves masters of their arms ; and, having
killed thirty-three of the forty, and eleven of the thirteen sailors who
were in the boat which carried the stones, they obliged the rest to
jump into the sea. Being then masters of the boat, and armed with
twelve muskets, two pistols, and powder, they set sail and had the
good fortune to arrive here this morning, where they are performing
quarantine. Sixteen of them are Spaniards ; seventeen French ;
eight Portuguese ; three Italian ; one a German ; and one a Sardin-
ian.”
But passing over further details of the various efforts of European
nations to overturn the system of White Slavery, and also of its un-
happy victims to escape from it, I descend at once to the period
when our own government, justly careful of the liberty of its white
citizens, was called upon to exert all its powers in their behalf.
The war of the Revolution closed in 1783, by the acknowledgment
of the independence of the United States. Our new national flag
was but freshly unfurled, when the Barbary States commenced prey-
ing upon our commerce. Within three years, no less than ten ves-
* Vol. XIX. p. 176.
# Sparks's Works of Franklin, Vol. IX, pp. 506, 507, where the Algerines are
called “human harpies.”
31
sels were seized by Algerine corsairs. The property of our mer-
chants was sacrificed or endangered. Insurance at Lloyd's, in Lon-
don, could be had only at advanced prices ; while it was difficult to
obtain freight for American bottoms, * The Mediterranean trade
seemed closed to our enterprise. To a people filled with the spirit.
of commerce, and bursting with new life, this was in itself disheart-
ening ; but the sufferings of the poor sailors, captives in a distant
land, aroused a feeling of a higher strain.
It is not easy to comprehend the exact character of the condition
to which they were reduced. There is no reason to believe that it
differed materially from that of the other Christian captives in Al-
giers. It is said, that the masters of vessels were lodged together,
and had a table by themselves, though a small iron ring was attached
to one of their legs, to denote that they were slaves. The seamen
were taught and obliged to work at the trades of carpenter, black-
Smith, and stone-mason, from six o'clock in the morning till four
o'clock in the afternoon, without intermission, except for half an
hour at dinner. Some of the details of their mode of life, which
have been transmitted to us, are doubtless exaggerated. It is suffi-
cient, however, to know that they were slaves; nor is there any
condition, the bare mention of which, without one word of descrip-
tion, is so strongly calculated to awaken the sympathies of every just
and enlightened lover of his race.
Informal agencies were established at an early period, under the
direction of our ministers at Paris, with a view to secure their free-
dom ; and it appears that the Society of Redemption — whose be-
neficent exertions, commencing so early in modern history, were still
continued — offered their aid in this behalf. Our agents were
blandly entertained by that great slave-dealer, the Dey of Algiers,
who informed them that he was well acquainted with the exploits of
Washington, and, never expecting to see him, expressed a hope,
that, through Congress, he might receive a full-length portrait of that
hero of freedom, to be hung in his palace at Algiers. He, how-
ever, still clung to his American slaves, holding them at prices be-
yond the means of the agents. These prices, in 1786, were $6,000
for a master of a vessel, $4,000 for a mate, $4,000 for a passenger,
* Boston Independent Chronicle, April 28, 1785, Vol. XVII. No. 866; May 12,
1785, No. 868; Oct. 20, 1785, No. 886; Nov. 3, 1785, No. 888; Nov. 17, 1785, No.
800; March 2, 1786, Vol. XVIII. No. 908; April 27, 1786, No. 918.
f History of the War between the United States and Tripoli, p. 52.
32
and $1,400 for a seaman; whereas the agent was authorized to offer
only $200 for each captive.” In 1790, the tariff of prices seems
to have fallen. Meanwhile, one had obtained his freedom through
private means, some had escaped, and several had been liberated by
death. The following list will furnish an idea of the sums de-
manded, and also the names of some of the captives : f –
Crew of the Ship Dolphin, of Philadelphia, captured July 30th, 1785.
Sequins.
Richard O’Brien, master, price demanded, 3000
Andrew Montgomery, mate, 1,500
Jacob Tessanier, French passenger, 2,000
William Patterson, seaman (keeps a tavern), 1,500
Philip Sloan, 66 '725
Peleg Loring, “ 725
John Robertson, 6% 725
James Hall, 6% 725
Crew of the Schooner Maria, of Boston, captured July 25th, 1785.
Isaac Stevens, master (of Concord, Mass.), 2,000
Alexander Forsythe, mate, 1,500
James Cathcart, seaman (keeps a tavern), 900
George Smith, “ (in the Dey’s house), 725
John Gregory, 6% 725
James Hermit, “ 725
16,475
Duty on the above sum, ten per cent, o 1,6473
Sundry gratifications to officers of the Dey’s household, 2404
Sequins 18,362;
This sum being equal to $34,792.
As the tidings reached America from time to time of the seizure
of our vessels, and of the dismal ſate of our white fellow-citizens, a
voice of indignation swelled through the land against what were call-
ed “the infernal crews of Algerine corsairs.”f This acquired
* Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II. p. 353.
f Ibid., p. 357; History of the War with Tripoli, p. 64.
f Boston Independent Chronicle, May 18, 1786, Vol. XVIII. No. 916. It seems
that at one time there was an apprehension that Dr. Franklin had been captured.
“We are waiting,” says one of his French correspondents, “with the greatest im-
patience to hear from you. The newspapers have given us anxiety on your ac-
33
new force, when, by the fortunate escape of several captives, at
two different periods, what seemed to be an authentic picture of
their condition was presented to the world. It will be proper to
give briefly the story of these fugitives, at once to show the hard-
ships of their lot, and the foundation of the appeal to the country
which was made with so much effect.
The earliest of these escapes was in 1788, by one of our country-
men who had been taken in a vessel belonging to Boston. After
his arrival at Algiers, he was, with the rest of the ship's compa-
my, exposed for sale at public auction, whence he was sent to the
country-house of his master, about two miles from town. Here
he was chained to the wheelbarrow, and kept on one pound of bread
a day, for the space of eighteen months, during which unhappy
period he had no opportunity of learning the fate of his companions.
On the 10th of December, 1787, he and another white slave were
removed to a jail in Algiers, where, in a gang of four hundred white
slaves, he encountered three of his shipmates, and twenty-six other
Americans. After remaining for some time crowded together in the
slave-prison, they were all distributed on board the different galleys
in the service of the Dey. Our countryman and eighteen other
white slaves were put on board a xebec, which carried eight six-
pounders and sixty men. On the coast of Malta they were attacked
by an armed vessel belonging to Genoa, which, after much blood-
shed, took them, sword in hand. Eleven of the unfortunate slaves,
compelled to this unwelcome service in the cause of a tyrannical
master, were killed in the contest, before the triumph of the Genoese
could deliver them from their chains. Our countryman and the
few still alive were at once set at liberty, and, it is said, “treated
with that humanity which distinguishes the Christian from the bar-
barian.” +
His escape was followed the next year by that of several others,
achieved under circumstances widely different. They had entered,
about five years before, on board a vessel belonging to Philadelphia,
count; for some of them insist that you have been taken by the Algerines, while
others pretend that you are at Morocco, enduring your slavery with all the patience
of a philosopher. These reports, luckily, have not been confirmed.” — M. Le Veil-
lard to Dr. Franklin, Passy, Oct. 9th, 1785, Sparks's Works of Franklin, Vol. X.
p. 230.
* Boston Independent Chronicle, Oct. 16, 1778, Vol. XX. No. 1042; History of
the War with Tripoli, p. 59.
34
which was captured near the Western Islands, and carried into Al-
giers. The crew, consisting of twenty persons, were doomed to
bondage. Several were sent into the country and chained to work
with the mules. Others were put on board a galley and chained to
the oars. The latter, tempted, perhaps, by the facilities of their po-
sition near the sea, made several attempts to escape, which, how-
ever, for some time proved fruitless. But their love of freedom
triumphed over the suggestions of humanity. They rose at last
upon their overseers, some of whom they killed, and confined
others, and then, seizing a small galley near their own, set sail for
Gibraltar, where in a few hours they landed as freemen. It was
thus that these fugitive slaves achieved their liberty by killing their
keepers and carrying off their property.*
Such stories could not be recounted without producing a strong
effect. The glimpses which were thus opened into the dread regions
of slavery gave a harrowing reality to all that conjecture or imagi-
nation had pictured. It was, indeed, true, that our own white breth-
ren, heirs to the freedom newly purchased by precious blood,
partakers in the sovereignty of citizenship, belonging to the fel-
lowship of the Christian church, were degraded in unquestioning
obedience to an arbitrary taskmaster, sold as beasts of the field,
and galled by the manacle and the lash ! It was true that they
were held at specified prices, and that their only chance of free-
dom was to be found in earnest, energetic efforts of their country-
men in their behalf. It appears that in 1793 there were one hun-
dred and fifteen American captives in Algiers. Their condition
excited the fraternal feelings of the whole people, while it occupied
the anxious attention of Congress and the prayers of the clergy. A
petition from these unhappy persons, dated at Algiers, December
29th, 1793, was addressed to the House of Tepresentatives.f
“Your petitioners,” it says, “are at present captives in this city of
bondage, employed daily in the most laborious work, without any
respect to persons. They pray that you will take their unfortunate
situation into consideration, and adopt such measures as will restore
the American captives to their country, their friends, families, and
connections; and your petitioners will ever pray and be thankful.”
* History of the War with Tripoli, p. 62.
f Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II. p. 359.
# Ibid., p. 360.
35
But the action of Congress was sluggish, compared with the swift
desires of the friends of the captives.
Appeals of a different character, addressed to the country at
large, were now commenced. Colonel Humphreys, the friend and
companion of Washington, and our minister at Portugal, most effi-
ciently aided these, by a letter to the American people, which ap-
peared in the newspapers of the time, dated Lisbon, July 11th,
1794. He suggested a grand lottery,” sanctioned by the United
States, or particularlotteries in the individual States, in order to obtain
the money required to purchase the freedom of our countrymen. He
then says, -“I ask, is there within the limits of these United States
an individual who will not cheerfully contribute in proportion to his
means, to carry it into effect By the peculiar blessings of free-
dom which you enjoy, by the disinterested sacrifices you made for
its attainment, by the patriotic blood of those martyrs of liberty who
died to secure your independence, and by all the tender ties of na-
ture, let me conjure you once more to Snatch your unfortunate
countrymen from fetters, dungeons, and death.”
This was followed shortly after by a petition from the American
captives in Algiers, addressed to the ministers of the gospel of every
denomination throughout the United States, praying their influence
to help in the sacred cause of Emancipation. The cause in which
it was written will indispose the reader to any criticism of its some-
what exuberant language. It begins by an allusion to the day of na-
tional thanksgiving which had been appointed by President Wash-
ington, and proceeds to ask the clergy to set apart the Sunday
preceding that day for sermons, to be delivered contemporaneously
throughout the country, in behalf of their brethren in bonds.f
“ Reverend and Respected, -
“On Thursday, the 19th of February, 1795, you are enjoined by the
president of the United States of America to appear in the various tem-
ples of that God who heareth the groaning of the prisoner, and in mercy
remembereth those who are appointed to die.
“Nor are ye to assemble alone; for on this, the high day of continen-
tal thanksgiving, all the religious societies and denominations throughout
the Union, and all persons whomsoever within the limits of the confeder-
* It should be observed, that at this time it was customary to resort to lotteries as
a mode of raising money for literary or benevolent purposes. There were lotteries
for the bonefit of Harvard College.
# History of the War with Tripoli, pp. 69 – 71.
36
ated States, are to enter the courts of Jehovah, with their several pastors,
and gratefully to render unfeigned thanks to the Ruler of nations for the
manifold and signal mercies which distinguish your lot as a people ; — in
a more particular manner, commemorating your exemption from foreign
war; being greatly thankful for the preservation of peace at home and
abroad; and fervently beseeching the kind Author of all these blessings
graciously to prolong them to you, and finally to render the United States
of America more and more an asylum for the unfortunate of every clime
under heaven.
“Reverend and Respected, -
“Most fervent are our daily prayers, breathed in the sincerity of woes
unspeakable; most ardent are the embittered aspirations of our afflicted
spirits, that thus it may be in deed and in truth. Although we are pris-
oners in a foreign land, although we are far, very far from our native
homes, although our harps are hung upon the weeping willows of slavery,
nevertheless America is still preferred above our chiefest joy, and the
last wish of our departing souls shall be her peace, her prosperity, her
liberty for ever. On this day, the day of festivity and gladness, remem-
ber us, your unfortunate brethren, late members of the family of free-
dom, now doomed to perpetual confinement. Pray, earnestly pray, that
our grievous calamities may have a gracious end. Supplicate the Father
of mercies for the most wretched of his offspring. Beseech the God of
all consolation to comfort us by the hope of final restoration. Implore
the Jesus whom you worship to open the house of the prison. Entreat
the Christ whom you adore to let the miserable captives go free.
“Reverend and Respected, -
“It is not your prayers alone, although of much avail, which we beg
on the bending knee of sufferance, galled by the corroding fetters of slav-
ery. We conjure you by the bowels of the mercies of the Almighty, we
ask you in the name of your Father in Heaven, to have compassion on
our miseries, to wipe away the crystallized tears of despondence, to
hush the heartfelt sigh of distress; and by every possible evertion of
godlike charity, to restore us to our wives, to our children, to our
friends, to our God and to yours.
“Is it possible that a stimulus can be wanting? Forbid it, the exam-
ple of a dying, bleeding, crucified Saviour ! Forbid it, the precepts of a
risen, ascended, glorified Immanuel ! Do unto us in fellers, in bonds,
in dungeons, in danger of the pestilence, as ye yourselves would wish to
be done unto. Lift up your voices like a trumpet; cry aloud in the
cause of humanity, benevolence, philosophy; eloquence can never be di-
rected to a nobler purpose; religion never employed in a more glorious
37
cause ; charity never meditate a more evalted flight. O that a live coal
from the burning altar of celestial beneficence might warm the hearts of
the sacred order, and impassion the feelings of the attentive hearer
Gentlemen of the Clergy in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachu-
setts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, –
“Your most zealous exertions, your unremitting assiduities, are pa-
thetically invoked. Those States in which you minister unto the Church
of God gave us birth. We are as aliens from the commonwealth of
America. We are strangers to the temples of our God. The strong
arm of infidelity hath bound us with two chains; the iron one of slavery
and the sword of death are entering our very souls. Arise, ye ministers
of the Most High, Christians of every denomination, awake unto charity /
Let a brief, setting forth our hapless situation, be published throughout
the continent. Be it read in every house of worship, on Sunday, the
8th of February. Command a preparatory discourse to be delivered on
Sunday, the 15th of February, in all churches whithersoever this pe-
tition or the brief may come ; and on Thursday, the 19th of February,
complete the godlike work. It is a day which assembles a continent to
thanksgiving. It is a day which calls an empire to praise. God grant
that this may be the day which emancipates the forlorn captive, and may
the best blessings of those who are ready to perish be your abiding por-
tion for ever ! Thus prays a small remnant who are still alive; thus pray
your fellow-citizens, chained to the galleys of the impostor Mahomet.
“Signed for and in behalf of his fellow-sufferers, by
“RICHARD O'BRIEN,
“In the tenth year of his captivity.”
Not long after this address there appeared in New Hampshire
a publication, entitled, “Tyrannical Liberty men, a Discourse upon
Negro Slavery in the United States, composed at — in New
Hampshire, on the late Federal Thanksgiving Day,” which,
while advocating the cause of the unhappy black slaves in the United
States, reſers pointedly to the condition of our unfortunate white
fellow-countrymen in bonds. “There was a contribution upon this
day,” it says, “for the purpose of redeeming those Americans who
are in slavery at Algiers, – an object worthy of a generous peo-
ple. Their redemption, we hope, is not far distant. But should
any person contribute money for this purpose, which he had cudg-
elled out of a negro slave, he would deserve less applause than an
actor in the comedy of Las Casas. . . . . . When will Ameri-
* From the Eagle Office, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1795.
38
cans show that they are what they affect to be thought, — friends
to the cause of humanity at large, reverers of the rights of their
fellow-creatures 2 Hitherto we have been oppressors; nay, mur-
derers for many a negro has died by the whip of his master,
and many have lived when death would have been preferable.
Surely, the curse of God and the reproach of man is against us.
Worse than the seven plagues of Egypt will befall us. If Al-
giers shall be punished sevenfold, truly America seventy and seven-
fold.”
The excitement of this discussion called forth a work of some
note, entitled, “The Algerine Captive,” which was one of the
earliest productions of our country reprinted in London, at a time
when few American books were read there. It was published
anonymously, but is known to have been written by a gentleman
afterwards Chief Justice of Vermont, Royall Tyler. In the form
of a narrative of personal adventures, extending through two vol-
umes, as a slave in Algiers, the author depicts the horrors of this
condition. In this regard it is not unlike a work entitled “Archy
Moore,” of our own day, wherein are displayed the horrors of Amer-
ican slavery. The author is taken captive by the Algerines while
engaged as surgeon on board a ship employed in the African slave-
trade. After describing the reception of the poor negroes, he says:
– “I cannot reflect on this transaction yet, without shuddering. I
have deplored my conduct with tears of anguish ; and I pray a mer-
ciful God, the common Parent of the great family of the universe,
who hath made of one flesh and one blood all nations of the earth,
that the miseries, the insults, and cruel woundings I afterwards re-
ceived, when a slave myself, may expiate for the inhumanity I was
necessitated to exercise towards these my brethren of the human
race.” (Chap. 30.) And when he is at length made captive him-
self by the Algerines, he records his meditations and resolves.
‘‘ Grant me,” he says, from the depths of his own misfortune,
“once more to taste the freedom of my native country, and every
moment of my life shall be dedicated to preaching against this de-
testable commerce. I will fly to our fellow-citizens in the Southern
States; I will, on my knees, conjure them, in the name of humani-
ty, to abolish a traffic which causes it to bleed in every pore. If
they are deaf to the pleadings of nature, I will conjure them, for the
sake of consistency, to cease to deprive their fellow-creatures of
freedom, which their writers, their orators, representatives, senators,
39
and even their constitutions of government, have declared to be the
unalienable birthright of man.” (Chap. 32.)*
* The comparison between Algerine and American slavery seems to have been
not uncommon at this time. Dr. Franklin's ingenious apologue presents it in a
strong light. As president of the Abolition Society of Pennsylvania, he had signed
a memorial, which was presented to the House of Representatives of the United
States, February 12th, 1789, praying them “to go to the very verge of the power
vested in them to discourage every species of traffic in our fellow-men.” This was
his last public act. In the debates to which this gave rise, several attempts were
made to justify slavery and the slave-trade. The last and almost dying energies of
Franklin were excited. He published in one of the papers at the time an essay, pur-
porting to contain a speech delivered in the Divan of Algiers in 1687, in opposition
to the prayer of the petition of a sect, called Erika, or Purists, or Abolitionists, for
the abolition of piracy and slavery. This pretended Algerine speech was a parody
of one delivered by Mr. Jackson of Georgia. All the arguments adduced in fa-
vor of negro slavery are applied with equal force to justify the plundering and en-
slaving of whites. This remarkable paper is dated only twenty-four days beſore
the author's death. — Sparks's Franklin, Vol. II. p. 517.
The address from the same Abolition Society to the Convention which framed the
Federal Constitution, in 1787, contains the same parallel. “Providence,” it says,
“seems to have ordained the sufferings of our American brethren, groaning in cap-
tivity at Algiers, to awaken us to a sentiment of the injustice and cruelty of which
we are guilty towards the wretched Africans.”— Brissot's Travels, Vol. I. Letter 22.
On still another important occasion the same parallel was recognized. It seems
that complaint was made against England of carrying away from New York certain
negroes, in alleged violation of the treaty of 1783. In discussing this matter in an
elaborate paper preserved in the Secret Journals of Congress, John Jay, Secretary for
Foreign Affairs under the Confederation, says: — “Whether men can be so degrad-
ed as under any circumstances to be with propriety denominated goods and chattels,
and under that idea capable of becoming booly, is a question on which opinions are
unfortunately various, even in countries professing Christianity and respect for the
rights of mankind.” He then says: — “If a war should take place between France
and Algiers, and in the course of it France should invite the American slaves there
to run away from their masters, and actually receive and protect them in their camp,
what would Congress, and indecd the world, think and say of France, if, in making
peace with Algiers, she should give up those American slaves to their former Al-
gerine masters ? Is there any difference between the two cases than this, viz., that the
.American slaves at Algiers are WHITE people, whereas the African slaves at JYew
York were BLACK people?” In introducing these remarks, the Secretary says, “he is
aware he is about to say unpopular things; but higher motives than personal con-
siderations press him to proceed.”— Secret Journals of Congress, 1786, Vol. IV.
pp. 274–280.
And still another writer, in 1794, when the sympathy with the American captives
was at its height, presses the parallel in pungent terms: — “For this practice of
buying and selling slaves,” he says, “we are not entitled to charge the Algerines
with any exclusive degree of barbarity. The Christians of Europe and America
carry on this commerce one hundred times more extensively than the Algerines. It
has received a recent sanction from the immaculate Divan of Britain. Nobody
seems even to be surprised by a diabolical kind of advertisements, which, for some
40
The country was now aroused. A general contribution was pro-
posed for the emancipation of our brethren. Their cause was
pleaded in churches, and not forgotten at the festive board. At all
public celebrations, the toasts, “Happiness for all,” and “Uni-
versal liberty,’” were proposed, not less in sympathy with the ef-
forts for freedom in France, than with those for our own wretched
white fellow-countrymen in bonds. On at least one occasion,” they
were distinctly remembered in the following toast : — “Our brethren
in slavery at Algiers. May the measures adopted for their redemp-
tion be successful, and may they live to rejoice with their friends in
the blessings of liberty.”
Meanwhile, the earnest efforts of our government had been con-
tinued. In his message to Congress, bearing date December 8th,
1795, President Washington had said : — “With peculiar satisfac-
tion I add, that information has been received from an agent deputed
on our part to Algiers, importing that the terms of a treaty with the
Dey and regency of that country have been adjusted in such a man-
ner as to authorize the expectation of a speedy peace, and the resto-
ration of our unfortunate fellow-citizens from a grievous captivity.”
This, indeed, had already been effected, on the 5th of September,
1795.f. It was a treaty full of humiliation for the chivalry of our
country, inasmuch as it stipulated for an annual tribute of twenty-one
thousand dollars to the Algerine government, while it exacted a large
sum in consideration of present peace and the liberation of the cap-
tives. But feelings of pride disappeared in heartfelt satisfaction at
their freedom. It is recorded, that a thrill of joy went through the
land when it was announced that a vessel had left Algiers having on
board all the Americans who had been in captivity there. Their
months past, have frequently adorned the newspapers of Philadelphia. The French
fugitives from the West Indies have brought with them a crowd of slaves. These
most injured people sometimes run off, and their master advertises a reward for ap-
prehending them. At the same time, we are commonly informed that his sacred
name is marked in capitals on their breasts; or, in plainer terms, it is stamped on that
part of the body with a red-hot iron. Before, therefore, we reprobate the ferocity of
the Algerines, we should inquire whether it is not possible to find in some other re-
gion of this globe a systematic brutality still more disgraceful.” — Short Account of
Algiers (Philadelphia, 1794), p. 18.
* At Portsmouth, N. H., at a public festive entertainment, April 3d, 1795, in honor
of French successes. Boston Independent Chronicle, Vol. XXVII. No. 1469.
f United States Statutes at Large (Little and Brown's edit.), Treaties, Vol. VIII.
p. 133; Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II. p. 362.
41
emancipation was purchased at the cost of upwards of seven hundred
thousand dollars. But the money, and even the indignity of tribute,
were forgotten in gratulations on their new-found happiness ; while
the President, in a message to Congress,” presented their “actual
liberation” as a special subject of joy “to every feeling heart.”
Thus did our government construct a Bridge of Gold for freedom.
This act of national generosity was followed by peace with Trip-
oli, which was purchased, November 4th, 1796, for the sum of fifty
thousand dollars, under the guaranty of the Dey of Algiers, who
was declared to be “the mutual friend of the parties”; while, by
an article in the treaty, negotiated by Joel Barlow, -out of tender-
ness, perhaps, to Mahometanism, and to save our citizens from the
slavery which was regarded as the just doom of “Christian dogs,”
— it was expressly declared that “the government of the United
States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian reli-
gion.” # At a later day, all danger to our citizens seemed to be
averted by a treaty with Tunis, which was purchased after some de-
lay, but at a smaller price than that with Tripoli. In this treaty it
was ignominiously provided, that fugitive slaves, taking refuge on
board American merchant-vessels, and even vessels of war, should
be restored to their owners.[
As early as 1787, a treaty of a more liberal character had been
entered into with Morocco, which was confirmed in 1795, S at the
price of twenty thousand dollars ; while, by a treaty with Spain, in
1799, this slave-trading empire eaſpressly declared its desire that the
name of slavery might be effaced from the memory of man.|
But these governments were barbarous, faithless, and regardless of
the duties of humanity and justice. Treaties with them were evanes-
cent. As in the days of Charles the Second, they seemed made mere-
ly to be broken. They were observed only so long as money was
derived under their stipulations. The Barbary corsairs did not leave
the American commerce for a long time unvexed, while even the ships
* December 7th, 1796.
f Article 11; Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II. pp. 380,381; United States Statutes at
Large, Vol. VIII. p. 154.
f Article 6; United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VIII. p. 157. This treaty has
two dates, August, 1797, and March, 1799. William Eaton and James Leander Cath-
cart were the agents of the United States at the latter date.
§ Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II. p. 350; United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VIII.
p. 100.
| History of the War with Tripoli, p. 80.
6
42
of our navy were subject to peculiar indignities. In 1801, the
Bey of Tripoli formally declared war against the United States, and
in token thereof “our flag-staff [before the consulate] was chopped
down six feet from the ground, and left reclining on the terrace.” +
Our ships and sailors once more became the prey of man-stealers.
Colonel Humphreys was again aroused. In an address to the pub-
lic, he said, – “Americans of the United States, your fellow-
citizens are in ſetters | Can there be but one feeling Where are
the gallant remains of the race who fought for freedom Where the
glorious heirs of their patriotism Will there never be a truce be-
tween political parties 2 Or must it for ever be the fate of FREE
STATEs, that the soft voice of union should be drowned in the hoarse
clamor of discord 2 No | Let every friend of blessed humanity
and sacred freedom entertain a better hope and confidence.” The
people and government responded to this voice. And here com-
menced those early efforts of our navy by which it became known
in Europe. By a daring act, Decatur burnt the frigate Philadel-
phia, which, through a reverse of shipwreck rather than war, had
* Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II. p. 384.
f Miscellaneous Works of David Humphreys, p. 75. He also appealed to his
country in a poem (Ibid., pp. 52, 53), which contains an indignant condemnation of
slavery.
“Teach me curst slavery's cruel woes to paint,
Beneath whose weight our captured freemen faint
Where am I ? Heavens ! what mean these dolorous cries 2
And what these horrid scenes that round me rise 2
Heard ye the groans, those messengers of pain 2
Heard ye the clanking of the captive's chain 2
Heard ye your freeborn sons their fate deplore,
Pale in their chains and laboring at the oar 2
Saw ye the dungeon, in whose blackest cell,
That house of woe, your friends, your children, dwell ? —
Or saw ye those who dread the torturing hour,
Crushed by the rigors of a tyrant's power 2
Saw ye the shrinking slave, the uplifted lash,
The frowning butcher, and the reddening gash 2
Saw ye the fresh blood where it bubbling broke
From purple scars, beneath the grinding stroke 3
Saw ye the naked limbs writhed to and fro,
In wild contortions of convulsing woe 3
Felt ye the blood, with pangs alternate rolled,
Thrill through your veins and freeze with deathlike cold,
Or fire, as down the tear of pity stole,
Your manly breasts, and harrow up the soul ?”
43
fallen into the hands of the Tripolitans. Other deeds of hardihood
ensued. A romantic expedition under General Eaton, from Al-
exandria, in Egypt, across the desert of Libya, captured Derne.
Tripoli was attacked three several times, and, at last, on the 3d of
June, 1805, entered into a treaty, by which it was stipulated that the
United States should pay sixty thousand dollars for the freedom of
two hundred Americans detained as captives; and that, in the event
of future war between the two countries, the prisoners captured by
either party should not be made slaves, but should be exchanged,
rank for rank ; and if there should be any deficiency on either side,
that it should be made up by the payment of five hundred Spanish
dollars for each captain, three hundred dollars for each mate and
supercargo, and one hundred dollars for each seaman.* Thus did
our country, after successes not without what is called the glory of
arms, again purchase by money the emancipation of her white citi-
Zelſ).S.
The power of Tripoli was, however, inconsiderable. That of
Algiers was more formidable. It is not a little curious, that the
largest ship of this slave-trading state was the Crescent, of thirty-four
guns, built in New Hampshire ; # though it is hardly to the credit of
our sister State that the Algerine power should have derived such im-
portant support from her. The lawlessness of the corsair again
broke forth in 1812, by the seizure of the brig Edwin of Salem,
which was carried into Algiers and her crew reduced to slavery.
All the energies of our country were then enlisted in the war with
Great Britain ; but even amidst the anxieties of this gigantic contest
the voice of these captives was heard, awakening a corresponding
sentiment in the country, until the government was prompted to seek
their release by an unofficial offer of three thousand dollars a head.i.
The answer of the Dey, repeated on several occasions, was, that
“not for two millions of dollars would he sell his American slaves.” $
The timely treaty of Ghent, in 1815, establishing peace with Great
Britain, left us at liberty to deal with this enslaver of our country-
men. A naval force was promptly despatched to the Mediterranean,
* United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VIII, p.214; Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II.
p. 388.
f History of the War between the United States and Tripoli, p. 88.
f Noah's Travels, p. 69. It was through Mr. Noah, who had been appointed
consul at Tunis, that this offer was made.
§ Noah's Travels, p. 144; National Intelligencer of March 7, 1815.
44
under Commodore Bainbridge and Commodore Decatur. The ra-
pidity of their movements and their striking success had the desired
effect. In June, 1815, a treaty was extorted from the Dey of Al-
giers, by which, after abandoning all claim to tribute in any form, he
delivered his American captives, ten in number, without any ransom ;
and stipulated, that hereafter no Americans should be made slaves or
forced to hard labor, and, still further, that “any Christians what-
ever, captives in Algiers,” who should make their escape and take
refuge on board any of our ships of war, should not be required back
again.”
It is related of Decatur, that he walked his deck with impatient
earnestness, awaiting the promised signature of the treaty. “Is the
treaty signed P” he cried to the captain of the port and the Swedish
consul, as they reached the Guerriere with a white flag of truce.
“It is,” replied the Swede ; and the treaty was placed in Deca-
tur’s hands. “Are the prisoners in the boat P* “They are.”
“Every one of them ’’” “Every one, Sir.” The captive Amer-
icans now came forward to greet and bless their deliverer. It was,
undoubtedly, one of the sweetest moments in the life of this hardy
son of the sea, when he procured freedom for these countrymen, and
contributed so powerfully to overthrow the system of slavery under
which they had groaned. But should I not say, even here, that
there is now a citizen of Massachusetts, who, without army or navy,
by a simple act of self-renunciation, has given freedom to a larger
number of Christian American slaves than was done by the sword
of Decatur Pf
Thus, not by money, but by arms, was emancipation this time
secured for American captives. The country was grateful for
the result ; though the poor freedmen, engulfed in the unknown
wastes of ocean, on their glad passage home, were never able to
* United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VIII. p. 224; Lyman's Diplomacy, Vol. II.
p. 376.
f Mackenzie's Life of Decatur, p. 268.
f Hon. John Gorham Palfrey, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
received twenty-two slaves by inheritance, on the death of his father, in October, 1843.
They were on a plantation in Louisiana. He lost no time in taking the necessary steps
for their manumission. Iłis petition to the legislature of Louisiana, for permission to
set them free within the State, was laid on the table by a unanimous vote. Against
many impediments, and at considerable cost, he persevered in his determination, and,
by a personal visit to the State, speeded the act. Eighteen fellow-men, who had been
slaves, have been established by his beneficence in Massachusetts and New York.
Four others have been allowed to remain, as freemen, in Louisiana.
45
mingle joys with their fellow-citizens.” Nor did the country feel the
melancholy mockery of the conduct of the government, which, having
weakly declared that it “was not in any sense founded on the Chris-
tian religion,” # now expressly confined the protecting power of
its flag to fugitive “Christians, captives in Algiers,” f leaving slaves
of another faith to be snatched as between the horns of the altar,
and returned to the continued horrors of their lot.
The success of the American arms was speedily followed by a
more signal triumph of Great Britain, acting generously in behalf of
all the Christian powers. Her expedition was debated, perhaps
prompted, in the Congress of Vienna, where were assembled, after
the overthrow of Napoleon, the brilliant representatives of the differ-
ent states of Europe, in the presence of the monarchs of Austria,
Prussia, and Russia, to consider the evils proper to be remedied by
joint action, and to adjust the disordered balance of empire. And
here, among other high matters of discussion, was entertained the
project of a crusade against the Barbary States, in order to accom-
plish the complete abolition of Christian slavery there practised. It
was proposed to form “a holy league’’ for this purpose. This was
earnestly enforced by a memoir from Sir Sidney Smith, – the Brit-
ish officer who foiled Napoleon at Acre, — who was president of
an association called the “ Knights Liberators of the White Slaves
in Africa,” — in our day it might be called an Abolition Society, -
thus adding to the doubtful laurels of war the true glory of striving
for the freedom of his fellow-men. §
This project awakened a generous echo in the public mind. Va-
rious advocates appeared in its behalf; and it was especially urged
upon Great Britain, by the agents of Spain and Portugal, who in-
sisted, that, because this nation had abolished the negro slave-trade,
it was her duty to put an end to the slavery of the whiles. ||
* They were lost in the Epervier, which went down at sea, no trace of her ever
appearing.
f Ante, p. 41.
# Ante, p. 44.
§ Mémoire sur la Nécessité et les Moyens de faire cesser les Pirateries des Etats
Barbaresques. Reçu, considéré, et adopté à Paris en Septembre, a Turin le 14 Oc-
tobre, 1814, a Vienne durant le Congrès. Par M. Sidney Smith. See Quarterly Re-
view, Vol. XV. p. 140, where this is noticed. Schoell, Histoire des Traités de Pair,
Tome XI. p. 402.
| Edinburgh Review, Vol. XXVI. p. 451; Osler's Life of Exmouth, p. 302; Mac-
kenzie's Life of Decatur, p. 263.
46
A disgraceful impediment seemed to interfere with it. There was
a common belief that the obstructions to the navigation of the Med-
iterranean, created by the Barbary States, were advantageous to
British commerce, by thwarting and strangling that of other coun-
tries ; and that therefore Great Britain, ever anxious for commer-
cial supremacy, would not seek their overthrow, but would rather
encourage them, - the love of trade prevailing over the love of
man.* This suggestion of a sordid selfishness, which was willing to
coin money out of the lives and liberties of fellow-Christians, was
soon answered.
Lord Exmouth, who had already acquired distinction in the Brit-
ish navy as Sir Edward Pellew, was despatched with a squadron to
Algiers at the beginning of the year 1816. By his general orders
to his fleet, bearing date, Boyne, Port Mahon, March 21, 1816, he
announced the object of his expedition as follows : —
“He has been instructed and directed by his Royal Highness, the
Prince Regent, to proceed with the fleet to Algiers, and there make
certain arrangements for diminishing, at least, the piratical excur-
sions of the Barbary States, by which thousands of our fellow-crea-
tures, innocently following their commercial pursuits, have been
dragged into the most wretched and revolting state of slavery.
“The commander-in-chief is confident that this outrageous sys-
tem of piracy and slavery rouses in common the same spirit of in-
dignation which he himself feels ; and should the government of
Algiers refuse the reasonable demands he bears from the Prince Re-
gent, he doubts not but the flag will be honorably and zealously
supported by every officer and man under his command, in his en-
deavours to procure the acceptation of them by force ; and if force
must be resorted to, we have the consolation of knowing that we fight
in the sacred cause of humanity, and cannot fail of success.”f
The moderate object of his mission was readily obtained. “Ar-
rangements for diminishing the piratical excursions of the Barbary
States '' were established. Certain Ionian slaves, claimed as Brit-
ish subjects, were released, and peace was secured for Naples and
Sardinia, – the former paying a ransom of five hundred dollars, the
* Quarterly Review, Vol. XV. p. 145; Edinburgh Review, Vol. XXVI. p. 449,
where there is a review of a publication entitled “A Letter to a Member of Parlia-
ment, on the Slavery of the Christians at Algiers. By Walter Croker, Esq., of the
Royal Navy. London, 1816.” Schoell, Traités de Pair, Tom. XI. p. 402.
f Osler's Life of Exmouth, p. 297.
47
latter of three hundred dollars, a head, for their subjects liberated
from bondage. This was at Algiers. Lord Exmouth next pro-
ceeded to Tunis and Tripoli, where, acting beyond his instructions,
he obtained from both of these governments a promise to abolish
Christian slavery within their dominions. In one of his letters on
this event, he says, that, in pressing these governments, he “acted
solely on his own responsibility and without orders ; the causes and
reasoning on which, upon general principles, may be defensible ; but,
as applying to our own country, may not be borne out, the old mercan-
tile interest being against it.” “ Thus did commerce, the daughter
of freedom, fall under the foul suspicion of disloyalty to her parent
Lord Exmouth did not do justice to the moral sense of his coun-
try. His conduct was sustained and applauded, not only in the
House of Commons, but by the public at large. He was soon di-
rected to return to Algiers, – which had failed to make any general
renunciation of the custom of enslaving Christians, – to extort by
force such a stipulation. This expedition is regarded by British his-
torians with peculiar pride. There is none in the annals of their
navy, in which the barbarism of war seems so much “to smooth its
wrinkled front.” With a fleet complete at all points, the admiral
set sail, the 25th of July, 1816, on what was deemed a holy war.
On the 27th of August, he anchored before the formidable fortifica-
tions of Algiers, with five line-of-battle ships, five heavy frigates, four
bomb-vessels, and five gun-brigs, besides a Dutch fleet of five frig-
ates and a corvette, under Admiral Van de Capellan, who, on learning
the object of the expedition, solicited and obtained leave to coöp-
erate. It would not be agreeable or instructive to dwell on the scene
of desolation and blood which ensued. The fleet before night fired
nearly one hundred and eighteen tons of powder, and fifty thou-
sand shot, weighing more than five hundred tons, besides shells and
rockets. The citadel and massive batteries of Algiers were shat-
tered and crumbled to ruins. The store-houses, ships, and gun-
boats were in flames, while the blazing lightnings of battle were
answered by those of heaven in a storm of signal fury. The power
of the Great Slave-dealer was humbled.
* Osler's Life of Exmouth, p. 303. It is not a little singular, that Admiral Blake,
in the time of Cromwell, had similar anxieties on account of his attack upon Tu-
nis. In his despatch to Secretary Thurloe, he says, – “And now, seeing it hath
pleased God soe signally to justify us herein, I hope his highnes will not be offended
at it, nor any who regard duly the honor of our nation, although I expect to have the
clamors of interested men.” Thurloe's State Papers, Vol. II, p. 390.
48
The terms of submission were announced by the admiral to his
fleet in an order, dated, Queen Charlotte, Algiers Bay, August 30th,
1816, which may be read with a truer pleasure, perhaps, than any
in military or naval history.
“The commander-in-chief,” he said, “is happy to inform the fleet
of the final termination of their strenuous exertions, by the signature of
peace, confirmed under a salute of twenty-one guns, on the following
conditions, dictated by his Royal Highness, the Prince Regent of
England.
“ First. THE ABOLITION of CHRISTIAN SLAVERY FoR EVER.
“Second. The delivery to my flag of all slaves in the dominions
of the Dey, to whatever nation they may belong, at noon to-morrow.
“Third. To deliver also to my flag all money received by him
for the redemption of slaves since the commencement of this year,
at noon also to-morrow.”
On the next day, twelve hundred slaves were embarked, making,
with those liberated in his earlier expedition, more than three thou-
sand, whom, by address or force, Lord Exmouth had delivered from
slavery.*
Thus ended White Slavery in the Barbary States. It had al-
ready died out in Morocco. It had been quietly renounced by Trip-
oli and Tunis. Its last retreat was Algiers, whence it was driven
amidst the thunder of the British cannon.
Signal honors now awaited the Admiral. He was elevated to a
new rank in the peerage, and on his coat-of-arms was emblazoned a
figure never before known in heraldry, - a Christian slave holding
aloft the cross and dropping his broken fetters. From the officers
of the squadron he received a costly service of plate, with an in-
scription, in testimony of “the memorable victory gained at Algiers,
where the great cause of Christian freedom was bravely fought and
nobly accomplished.” i But higher far than honor were the rich
personal satisfactions which he derived from contemplating the nature
of the cause in which he had been enlisted. In his despatch to the
government, describing the battle, and written at the time, he says,
in words which may be felt by others engaged, like him, in efforts
for the overthrow of slavery : — “In all the vicissitudes of a long
* Osler's Life of Exmouth, p. 334; British Annual Register (1816), Vol. LVIII.
pp. 97–106; Shaler's Sketches, pp. 279-294.
f Osler's Life of Exmouth, p. 340.
f Ibid., p. 342.
49
life of public service, no circumstance has ever produced on my
mind such impressions of gratitude as the event of yesterday. To
have been one of the humble instruments in the hands of Divine Prov-
idence for bringing to reason a ferocious government, and destroying
for ever the insufferable and horrid system of Christian slavery, can
never cease to be a source of delight and heartfelt comfort to every
individual happy enough to be employed in it.””
The reverses of Algiers did not end here. Christian slavery was
abolished ; but, in 1830, the insolence of this barbarian government
aroused the vengeance of France to take military possession of the
whole country. Algiers capitulated, and the Dey abdicated ; and
this considerable state has now become a French colony.
Thus I have endeavoured to present what I could glean in various
fields on the history of Christian Slavery in the Barbary States. I
have often employed the words of others, as they seemed best cal-
culated to convey the exact idea of the scene, incident, or sentiment
which I wished to preserve. In doing so, I have occupied much
time ; but I may find my apology in the words of an English chron-
icler. “Algier,” he says, “were altogether unworthy so long a
discourse, were not the whvorthinesse worthy owr consideration. I
meane the cruell abuse of the Christian name, which let us for in-
citing our Zeale and exciting our charitie and thankfulness more
deeply weigh, to releeve those in miseries, as we may, with our
paynes, prayers, purses, and all the best meditations.”
III. It is by a natural transition that I am now conducted to the
inquiry into the true character of the evil whose history has been
traced. And here I shall be brief.
The slavery of Christians by the Barbary States is regarded as
an unquestioned outrage upon humanity and justice. Our liveliest
sympathies attend these white brethren, – torn from their homes,
the ties of family and friendship rudely severed, parent separated
from child and husband from wife, exposed at public sale like cattle,
and, like cattle, dependent upon the uncertain will of an arbitrary
taskmaster. We read of a “gentleman’’ who was compelled to be
* Osler's Life of Exmouth, p. 432; Shaler's Sketches of Algiers, p. 282.
f Purchas's Pilgrims, Vol. II. p. 1565.
7
50
the valet of the barbarian emperor of Morocco ; * and Calderon, who
has sometimes been called the Shakspeare of the Spanish stage, has
depicted, in one of his most remarkable plays, the miserable fate of
a Portuguese prince, condemned by infidel Moors to carry water in
a garden. # But the lowly in condition had their unrecorded sor-
rows also, whose sum total must swell to a fearful amount. Who
can tell how many hearts have been wrung by the pangs of separa-
tion, how many crushed by the comfortless despair of interminable
bondage 2 “Speaking as a Christian,” says the good Catholic father
who has chronicled much of this misery, “if on the earth there can
be any condition which, in its character and evils, may represent in
any manner the dolorous Passion of the Son of God (which exceeded
all evils and torments, because by it the Lord suffered every kind of
evil and affliction), it is, beyond question and doubt, none other than
slavery and captivity in Algiers and Barbary, whose infinite evils,
terrible torments, miseries without number, afflictions without mitiga-
tion, it is impossible to comprehend in a brief span of time.” f
And here again we may refer to Cervantes, whose pen was dipped
in his own dark experience. In his Life in Algiers, Š he has dis-
played the horrors of the white slave-market. The public crier ex-
poses for sale a father and mother and their two children. They
are to be sold separately, or, according to the language of our day,
“in lots to suit purchasers.” The father is resigned, confiding in
God ; the mother sobs ; while the children, ignorant of the inhu-
* Braithwaite's Revolutions of Morocco, p. 233; Noah's Travels, p. 367.
f El Principe Constante.
f Haedo, Historia, pp. 139, 140. When we consider the author's character as a
father of the Catholic Church, it will be felt that language can no further go. His
History of Algiers, which was published in 1612, contains two copious Dialogues;
the first on Captivity (de la Captiudad), and the second on the Martyrs of Algiers
(de los Martyres de Argel). Besides embodying authentic sketches of the sufferings in
Algiers, they form a mine of classical and patristic learning on the origin and char-
acter of slavery, and also of arguments against it, which could not fail to be ex-
plored with profit by those who are interested in this subject in our day. In view of
this gigantic evil, the good father says, – “Where is charity ? Where is the love of
God? Where is zeal for his glory 2 Where is desire for his service Where is hu-
man pity and the compassion of man for man 2 Certainly, to redeem a captive, to
liberate him from wretched slavery, is the highest work of charity of all that can be
done in this world.”— pp. 140,141. Besides the illustrations of the hardships of White
Slavery which have already been introduced, I refer briefly to the following: —Edin-
burgh Review, Vol. XXVI. pp. 452–454; Croker's Letter, pp. 11–13; Quarterly
Review, Vol. XV. p. 145; Eaton's Life, p. 100; Noah's Travels, p. 366.
§ Trato de Argel.
51
manity of men, show an instinctive trust in the constant and wakeful
protection of their parents, – now, alas ! impotent to shield them
from dire calamity. A merchant, inclining to purchase one of the
“little ones,” causes him to open his mouth, in order to see whether
he is in good condition. The child, still ignorant of the destiny which
awaits him, imagines that the purchaser is about to extract a tooth,
and, assuring him that it does not ache, begs him not to pull it out.
The merchant, who is in other respects a very worthy man, pays
one hundred and thirty dollars for the youngest child, and the sale is
completed. Thus a human being — one of those children of whom
it has been said, “Of such is the kingdom of heaven”—is profane-
ly treated as an article of merchandise, and torn from a mother’s
arms and a father's support. The hardening influence of custom has
steeled the merchant into insensibility to this violation of humanity
and justice, this laceration of sacred ties, this degradation of the im-
age of God. The unconscious heartlessness of the slave-dealer,
and the anguish of his victims, are depicted in the dialogue which en-
sues after the sale.* 4.
“MERCHANT. Come hither, child, 'tis time to go to rest.
JUAN. Signor, I will not leave my mother here,
To go with any one.
MoTHER. Alas ! my child, thou art no longer mine,
But his who bought thee.
JUAN. What 1 then, have you, mother,
Forsaken me !
MoTHER... O Heavens / how cruel are ye 1
MERCHANT. Come, hasten, boy.
JUAN. Will you go with me, brother 2
FRANCISCo. I cannot, Juan, "t is not in my power; —
May Heaven protect you, Juan
MoTHER.. O my child,
My joy and my delight, God won’t forget thee!
JUAN. O father l mother whither will they bear me
Away from you ?
* This translation is borrowed from Sismondi's View of the Literature of the South
of Europe, by Roscoe, Vol. III. p. 381. There is a letter of “John Dunton, Mari-
mer,” in 1637, addressed to the English Admiralty, which might furnish the foundation
of a similar scene. “For my only son,” he says, “is now a slave in Algier, and but
ten years of age, and like to be lost for ever, without God's great mercy and the
king's clemency, which, I hope, may be in some manner obtained.” — Osborne's
Voyages, Vol. II. p. 492.
52
MoTHER.
MERCHANT.
MoTHER.
JUAN.
MoTHER.
AYDAR.
JUAN.
MOTHER.
JUAN.
MoTHER.
CRIER.
Permit me, worthy Signor,
To speak a moment in my infant’s ear.
Grant me this small contentment; very soon
I shall know naught but grief.
What you would say,
Say now ; to-night is the last time.
To-night
Is the first time my heart e'er felt such grief.
Pray keep me with you, mother, for I know not
Whither he 'd carry me.
Alas, poor child /
Fortune forsook thee even at thy birth.
The heavens are overcast, the elements
Are turbid, and the very sea and winds
Are all combined against me. Thou, my child,
Know'st not the dark misfortunes into which
Thou art so early plunged, but happily
Lackest the power to comprehend thy fate.
What I would crave of thee, my life, since I
Must never more be blessed with seeing thee,
Is that thou never, never wilt forget
To say, as thou wert wont, thy Ave Mary;
For that bright queen of goodness, grace, and virtue
Can loosen all thy bonds and give thee freedom.
Behold the wicked Christian, how she counsels
Her innocent child ! You wish, then, that your child
Should, like yourself, continue still in error.
O mother, mother, may I not remain 2
And must these Moors, then, carry me away ?
With thee, my child, they rob me of my treasures.
O, I am much afraid
'T is I, my child,
Who ought to fear at seeing thee depart.
Thou wilt forget thy God, me, and thyself.
What else can I expect from thee, abandoned
At such a tender age, amongst a people
Full of deceit and all iniquity ?
Silence, you villanous woman / if you would not
Have your head pay for what your tongue has done.”
From this scene we gladly avert our countenance, while, from the
bottom of our hearts, we send our sympathies to the poor sufferers.
We ſain would avert their fate ; we ſain would destroy the system of
53
slavery, which has made them wretched and their masters cruel.
And yet we would not judge with harshness an Algerine slave-
owner. He has been reared in a religion of slavery, - he has
learned to regard Christians, “guilty of a skin not colored as his
own,” as lawful prey, - and has found sanctions for his conduct in
the injunctions of the Koran, in the custom of his country, and in
the instinctive dictates of an imagined self-interest. It is, then, the
“peculiar institution ” which we are aroused to execrate, rather
than the Algerine slave-masters, who glory in its influence, and,
“so perfect is their misery,
Not once perceive their foul disfigurement,
But boast themselves more comely than before.”
But there is reason to believe that the sufferings of the white
slaves were not often greater than is the natural incident of slavery.
There is an important authority which presents this point in an inter-
esting light. It is that of General Eaton, who was for some time
consul of the United States at Tunis, and whose name is not with-
out interest from the bold expedition against Derne. In a letter to
his wife, dated at Tunis, April 6th, 1799, and written amidst oppor-
tunities of observation such as few have enjoyed, he briefly describes
the condition of this unhappy class, illustrating it by a comparison less
flattering to our country than to Barbary. “Many of the Christian
slaves,” he says, “have died of grief, and the others linger out a
life less tolerable than death. Alas! remorse seizes my whole soul,
when I reflect that this is, indeed, a copy of the very barbarity which
my eyes have seen in my own native country. And yet we boast of
liberty and national justice. How frequently have I seen in the
Southern States of our own country weeping mothers leading guilt-
less infants to the sales with as deep anguish as if they led them to
the slaughter, and yet felt my bosom tranquil in the view of these
aggressions upon defenceless humanity But when I see the same
enormities practised upon beings whose complexion and blood claim
kindred with my own, I curse the perpetrators and weep over the
wretched victims of their rapacity. Indeed, truth and justice de-
mand from me the confession, that the Christian slaves among the
barbarians of JAfrica are treated with more humanity than the African
slaves among the professing Christians of civilized ſlmerica ; and yet
here sensibility bleeds at every pore for the wretches whom fate has
doomed to slavery.” "
* Eaton's Life, p. 145. The same judgment was passed by John Wesley as early as
54
Such testimony would seem to furnish a standard or measure of
comparison by which to determine the character of White Slavery
in the Barbary States. But there are other considerations and au-
thorities. One of these is the influence of the religion of these bar-
barians. Travellers remark the generally kind treatment bestowed
by Mahometans upon slaves.* The lash rarely, if ever, lacerates
the back of the female ; the knife or branding-iron is not employed
upon any human being to mark him as the property of his fellow-man.
Nor is the slave doomed, as in other countries, where the Christian
religion is professed, to unconditional and perpetual service, without
prospect of redemption. Hope, the last friend of misfortune, may
brighten his captivity. He is not walled up by inhuman institutions
so as to be inaccessible to freedom. “And unto such of your
slaves,” says the Koran, in words worthy of adoption in the legisla-
tion of Christian countries, “as desire a written instrument, allowing
them to redeem themselves on paying a certain sum, write one, if ye
know good in them, and give them of the riches of God, which he
hath given you.” # Thus from the Koran, which ordains slavery,
come lessons of benignity to the slave ; and one of the most touch-
ing stories in Mahometanism is of the generosity of Ali, the com-
panion of the Prophet, who, after fasting for three days, gave his
whole provision to a captive not more famished than himself.
Such precepts and examples doubtless had their influence in Al-
giers. It is evident, from the history of the country, that the
prejudice of race did not so far prevail as to impress upon the slaves
1772. Addressing those engaged in the negro slave-trade, he said, - “You have car-
ried the survivors into the vilest slavery, never to end but with life, -such slavery as
Žs not found among the Turks at Algiers, no, nor among the heathens in America.” —
Thoughts on Slavery (1772), p. 24.
* Wilson's Travels, p. 93; Edinburgh Review, Vol. XXXVIII. p. 403; Noah's
Travels, p. 302; Quarterly Review, Vol. XV. p. 168; Shaler's Sketches of Algiers,
p. 77. It was a remark of Wilberſorce, that the slave-trade had been able to reverse
the ordinary effects of Christianity and Mahomotanism, and to cause the latter to be
the instructer and enlightener of mankind, while the former left them under the undis-
turbed or rather increased influence of all their native superstitions. – Edinburgh Re-
view, Vol. V. p. 212.
f Sale's Koran, Chap. 24, Vol. II. p. 194. The right of redemption was recognized
by the Gentoo Laws. – Halhed's Code, cap. 8, §§ 1, 2. It seems also to have be-
longed to the condition of slavery by the laws of most countries in which that condi-
tion has prevailed. It was unknown in the British West Indies while slavery still
existed there. —Stephens on West India Slavery, Vol. II. pp. 378-384. It is also
unknown in the Slave States of our country.
f Sale's Koran, Vol. II. p. 474, note.
55
and their descendants any indelible mark of exclusion from power
and influence. It often happened that they arrived at eminent posts
in the state. The seat of the Deys has more than once been
filled by humble Christian captives, who have tugged for years at the
Oar. *
Nor do we feel, from the narratives of captives and of travellers,
that the condition of the Christian slave was rigorous beyond the or-
dinary lot of slavery. “The Captive’s Story '' in Don Quixote
does not impress the reader with any peculiar horror of the condi-
tion from which he had escaped. It is often said that the sufferings
of Cervantes were among the most severe which even Algiers could
inflict. But they did not repress the gayety of his temper; and
we learn that in the building where he was confined there was a
chapel or oratory, in which mass was celebrated, the sacrament ad-
ministered, and sermons regularly preached by captive priests.f
At a later day we are furnished with a still more authentic pic-
ture. Captain Braithwaite, who accompanied the British minister to
Morocco in 1727, in order to procure the liberation of the British
captives, after describing their comfortable condition, adds : — “I
am sure we saw several captives who lived much better in Barbary
than ever they did in their own country. Whatever money in
charity was sent them by their friends in Europe was their own,
unless they defrauded one another, which has happened much of.
tener than by the Moors. Several of them are rich, and many have
carried considerable sums out of the country, to the truth of which
we are all witnesses. Several captives keep their mules, and some
their servants ; and yet this is called insupportable slavery among
Turks and Moors. But we found this, as well as many other things
in this country, strangely misrepresented.” $
These statements — which, in the minds of those who do not
* Haedo, Historia de Argel, p. 122; Quarterly Review, Vol. XV. pp. 169, 172;
Shaler's Sketches of Algiers, p. 77; Short Account of Algiers, pp. 22, 25. It seems
to have been intimated, that, according to the Koran, the condition of slavery ceased
when the party became a Mussulman. — Penny Cyclopædia, Art. Slavery; Noah's
Travels, p. 302; Shaler's Sketches, p. 69. It is doubtless true, that, in point of fact,
freedom generally followed conversion; but I do not find any injunction on the sub-
ject in the Koran.
f De los peores que en Argel auia. Haedo, Historia de Argel, p. 185; Navarrete,
Vida de Cervantes, p. 361.
f Roscoe's Life of Cervantes, p. 303.
§ Braithwaite's Revolutions in Morocco, p. 353.
56
place freedom above all price, may seem, at first view, to take
the sting even from slavery — are not without support from other
sources. Colonel Keatinge, who visited Morocco in 1785, as a
member of a diplomatic mission from England, says of this evil there,
that “it is very slightly inflicted, and as to any labor undergone, it
does not deserve the name '’; * while Mr. Lemprière, who was in
the same country not long afterwards, adds, – “To the disgrace of
Europe, the Moors treat their slaves with humanity.” # In Tripoli,
we are told, by a person who was for ten years a resident, that the
same gentleness prevailed. “It is a great alleviation to our feel-
ings,” says the writer, speaking of the slaves, “to see them easy
and well-dressed, and, so far from wearing chains, as captives do in
most other places, they are perfectly at liberty.” # We have al-
ready seen the testimony of General Eaton with regard to slavery
in Tunis ; while Mr. Noah, one of his successors in the consulate
of the United States at that place, has said, – “In Tunis, from
my observation, the slaves are not severely treated ; they are very
useful, and many of them have made money.” $ And Mr. Shaler
has said, - “In short, there were slaves who left Algiers with
regret.”||
A French writer of more recent date asserts, with some ve-
hemence, and with the authority of an eyewitness, that the Christian
slaves at Algiers were not exposed to the miseries which they repre-
sented. I do not know that he vindicates their slavery, but, like
Captain Braithwaite, he evidently regards many of them as better
off than they would be at home. According to him, they were
well clad and well fed, much better than the free Christians who were
there. The youngest and most comely were taken as pages by the
Dey. Others were employed in the barracks; others in the gal-
leys; but even here there was a chapel, as in the time of Cervantes,
for the free exercise of the Christian religion. Those who happen-
ed to be artisans, as carpenters, locksmiths, and calkers, were let
to the owners of vessels. Others were employed on the public
works; while others still were allowed the privilege of keeping a
* Keatinge's Travels, p. 250; Quarterly Review, Vol. XV. p. 146. See also Che-
nier's Present State of Morocco, Vol. I. p. 192; II. p. 369.
f Lemprière's Tour, p. 290. See also pp. 3, 147, 190, 279.
f Narrative of Ten Years' Residence at Tripoli, p. 241.
§ Noah's Travels, p. 368.
| Shaler's Sketches, p. 77.
57
shop, in which their profits were sometimes so large as to enable
them at the end of a year to purchase their ransom. But these
were often known to become indifferent to freedom, and to prefer
Algiers to their own country. The slaves of private persons were
sometimes employed in the family of their master, where their treat-
ment necessarily depended much upon his character. If he were
gentle and humane, their lot was fortunate ; they were regarded as
children of the house. If he were harsh and selfish, then the iron
of slavery did, indeed, enter their souls. Many were bought to be
sold again for profit into distant parts of the country, where they
were doomed to exhausting labor, in which event their condition is
represented as grievous. But special care was bestowed upon
those who became ill, which was done, it is said, not so much from
humanity, as through fear of losing them.*
But, whatever deductions we may make from the current stories
of White Slavery in the Barbary States, – admitting that it was
mitigated by the genial influence of Mahometanism, - that the cap-
tives were well clad and well fed, much better than the free Chris-
tians who were there, — that they were allowed opportunities of
Christian worship, — that they were often treated with lenity and
affectionate care, — that they were sometimes advanced to posts of
responsibility and honor, – and that they were known, in their con-
tentment or stolidity, to become indifferent to freedom, - still the
institution or custom is hardly less hateful in our eyes. “Disguise
thyself as thou wilt, still, Slavery ! thou art a bitter draught ! and
though thousands in all ages have been made to drink of thee, thou
art no less bitter on that account.”f Algerine Slavery was a viola-
tion of the law of nature and of God. It was a usurpation of rights
not granted to man.
“O execrable son, so to aspire
Above his brethren, to himself assuming
Authority usurped, from God not given
He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl,
Dominion absolute; that right we hold
By his donation ; but man over men
He made not lord, such title to himself
Reserving, human left from human free.” f
* Histoire d'Alger : Description de ce Royaume, etc., de ses Forces de Terre et de
JMer, Mazurs et Costumes des Habitans, des Mores, des Arabes, des Juifs, des Chréti-
ens, de ses Lois, etc. (Paris, 1830), Chap. 27.
f Sterne.
f Paradise Lost, Book XII. 64 – 71.
8
58
Such a relation, in defiance of God, could not fail to accumulate
disastrous consequences upon all in any way parties to it; for injus-
tice and wrong are fatal alike to the doer and the sufferer. It is no-
torious that—in Algiers—it exerted a most pernicious influence on
master and slave. The slave was crushed and degraded by it, his
intelligence abased, even his love of freedom extinguished. The
master, accustomed from childhood to its revolting inequalities of
condition, was exalted into a mood of unconscious arrogance and
self-confidence, inconsistent with the virtues of a pure and upright
character. Unlimited power is apt to stretch towards license ; and
the wives and daughters of Christian slaves were often pressed to be
the concubines of their Algerine masters.”
It is well, then, that it has passed away ! The Barbary States
seem less barbarous, when we no longer discern this cruel oppres-
sion |
But the story of slavery there is not yet all told. While the Bar-
bary States had received white slaves by sea, stolen by their corsairs,
they also, from time immemorial, had imported black slaves from
the south. Over the vast sea of sand, “illimitable and without
bound,” in which is absorbed their southern border, — traversed by
camels, those “ships of the desert,” — were brought these unfortu-
nate beings, as merchandise, with gold-dust and ivory, doomed often
to insufferable torments, while cruel thirst parched the lips, and tears
vainly moistened the eyes. They also were ravished from their
homes, and, like their white brethren from the north, compelled to
taste of slavery. In numbers they have far surpassed their Chris-
tian peers. But for long years no pen or voice pleaded their cause;
nor did the Christian nations — professing a religion which sends the
precious sympathies of neighbourhood to the farthest pole of suf-
fering, and teaches universal humanity, without respect of persons—
ever interfere in any way in their behalf. The navy of Great Brit-
ain, by the throats of their artillery, argued the freedom of all their
fellow-Christians, without distinction of nation ; but they did not
* Noah's Travels, pp. 248, 253; Quarterly Review, Vol. XV. p. 168. Among
the concubines of a prince of Morocco were two slaves of the age of fifteen, one
of English, and the other of French extraction. — Lemprière's Tour, p. 147. There
is an account of the fate of “one Mrs. Shaw, an Irishwoman,” in words hardly
polite enough to be quoted. She was swept into the harom of Muley Ishmael, who
“forced her to turn Moor”; “but soon after, having taken a dislike to her, he gave
her to a soldier.”—Braithwaite's Morocco, p. 191.
59
heed the slavery of others, – Mahometans or idolaters, children of
the same Father in heaven. Lord Exmouth did but half his work.
In confining the stipulation to the abolition of Christian slavery only,
he made a discrimination, which, whether founded on religion or
color, was selfish and unchristian. Here, again, we notice the same
inconsistency which darkened the conduct of Charles the Fifth.
Forgetful of the brotherhood of the race, Christian powers have
regarded the slavery of blacks as just and proper, while the slav-
ery of whites has been branded as unjust and sinful.
As the British fleet sailed proudly from the harbour of Algiers,
bearing its emancipated white slaves, and the express stipulation,
that Christian slavery was abolished for ever, it left in bondage be-
hind large numbers of blacks, distributed throughout all the Barbary
States. Neglected thus by exclusive Christendom, it is pleasant to
know that their lot is not always unhappy. In Morocco there are
negroes who are still detained as slaves; but the prejudice of color
seems not to prevail there. They have been called “the grand
cavaliers of this part of Barbary.” “ They often become the chief
magistrates and rulers of cities,f They have constituted the body-
guard of several of the emperors, and have, on one occasion at least,
exercised the prerogative of the Praetorian cohorts, in dethroning
their master. So that, if negro slavery still exists in this state, it
has little of that degradation which is connected with it elsewhere.
Into Algiers France is supposed to have already carried the benign
principle of law — earlier recognized by her than by the English
courts Š — which secures freedom to all beneath its influence.
And now, within the present year, the glad tidings have been re-
ceived, that the Bey of Tunis, “for the glory of God, and to dis-
* Braithwaite's Morocco, p. 350. See also Quarterly Review, Vol. XV. p. 168.
f Braithwaite, p. 222.
f Ibid., p. 381.
§ Somersett's case, recognizing this principle, was decided in 1772. M. Schoell
says that “this fine maxim has always obtained” in France. — Histoire Abrégée des
Traités de Paiz, Tom. XI. p. 178. By the royal ordinance of 1318, it was declared,
that “all men are born free (francs) by nature; and that the kingdom of the French
(Francs) should be so in reality as in name.” See the Oration of Brissot de War-
ville, delivered in Paris, February 19th, 1778, on the necessity of establishing at
Paris a society to coöperate with those of America and London towards the aboli-
tion of the trade and slavory of negroes. It is doubtful, however, whether this “fine
maxim " was recognized in France so completely as M. Schoell asserts. See Ency-
clopédie (de Diderot ot D'Alembert), Art. Esclavage.

60
tinguish man from the brute creation,” has decreed the total abolition
of human slavery throughout his dominions.”
Let us turn, then, with hope and confidence to the Barbary
States The virtues and charities do not come single. There is
among them a common bond, stronger than that of science or
knowledge. Let one find admission, and a troop will follow. Nor
is it unreasonable to anticipate other improvements in states which
have renounced a long-cherished system of White Slavery, while
they have done much to abolish or mitigate the slavery of others not
white, and to overcome the inhuman prejudice of color. The
Christian nations of Europe first declared, and practically enforced,
within their own European dominions, the vital truth of freedom,
that man cannot hold property in his brother-man. Algiers and
Tunis, like Saul of Tarsus, have been turned from the path of per-
secution, and now receive the same faith. Algiers and Tunis now
help to plead the cause of freedom. Such a cause is in sacred fel-
lowship with all those principles which promote the progress of man.
And who can tell that this despised portion of the globe is not des-
tined to yet another restoration ? It was here in Northern Africa
that civilization was first nursed, that commerce early spread her
white wings, that Christianity was taught by the honeyed lips of
Augustine. All these are again returning to their ancient home.
Civilization, commerce, and Christianity once more shed their be-
nignant influences upon the land to which they have long been stran-
gers. A new health and vigor now animate its exertions. Like
its own giant Antaeus, – whose tomb is placed by tradition among
the hill-sides of Algiers, – it has often been felled to the earth, but
it now rises with renewed strength, to gain yet higher victories.
* It is not known that it has been abolished yet in Tripoli.