Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/604

Rh 566 ALGERIA only by the Arabs and Moors, but also by the maritime Christian powers, particularly the Spaniards. At length Pope Paul III. induced Charles V. to undertake an expedi tion to suppress these depredations, and issued a bull offer ing remission of sins and the crown of martyrdom to all who either fell in battle or were made slaves. The emperor set sail with 120 ships and 20 galleys, having on board 30,000 chosen men. They landed in safety, and were proceeding to attack the town of Algiers when a fearful storm arose, and in one night (28th Oct. 1541) destroyed 86 ships and 15 galleys with all their crews and military stores, so that the army on shore was deprived of the means of subsistence. This was then fallen upon by the Algerines, when many were killed and a great number taken prisoners, Charles himself and the remains of his army escaping with difficulty. Algiers continued to be governed by viceroys or pashas appointed by the Porte till the beginning of the 17th century, when the janissaries solicited and obtained the right to choose their own dey or governor from among them selves. This subsequently led to frequent altercations between the pashas and the deys, the former seeking to recover their lost power, the latter to reduce it. In 1609, the Moors being expelled from Spain, flocked in great num bers to Algiers, and, as many of them were very able sailors, they contributed to raise the power of the Algerine fleet. In 1616 it consisted of forty sail of ships, of between 200 and 400 tons, their flagship having 500 tons. The Algerine pirates now became so formidable to the European powers, that in 1617 the French sent against them a fleet of fifty sail, under Beaulieu, who defeated their fleet and took two of their vessels. In 1620 the English sent out a squadron under the command of Sir Eobert Mansel on the same errand, but it returned without effecting anything. Their depredations becoming still more frequent and trouble some, the Venetians equipped a fleet of twenty-eight sail, under the command of Admiral Capello, with orders to burn, sink, or take all the Barbary corsairs he should meet. In an engagement which speedily took place he signally defeated them, and took and destroyed sixteen of their galleys. They soon, however, regained their former strength; and at length Louis XIV., provoked by the outrages committed by them on the coasts of Provence and Languedoc, ordered, in 1681, a considerable fleet to be fitted out against them, under the command of Vice-admiral Duquesne. He attacked them near the island of Scios, and destroyed fourteen of their ships. This, however, had little effect upon them, and the following year he bom barded the town of Algiers and nearly reduced it to ashes. The Algerines, by way of reprisal, sent a number of galleys to the coast of Provence, where they committed great ravages. In May 1683, Duquesne with his fleet again cast anchor before Algiers, and proceeded to bombard the town. The dey and the people sued for peace ; but Mezo- morto, the Algerine admiral, who was to have been delivered up as one of the hostages, violently opposed coming to terms, stirred up the soldiery against the dey, and caused him to be murdered, and was himself chosen as his suc cessor. The bombardment was renewed, and Mezomorto, reduced to extremities, caused all the French in the city to be cruelly murdered, and the French consul to be tied to the mouth of a mortar and shot off in the direction of the bombarding fleet. Duquesne was so exasperated by this piece of cruelty that he did not leave Algiers till he had utterly destroyed the fortifications, shipping, almost all the loAver, and about two-thirds of the upper part of the town. The Algerines, now thoroughly humbled, sent an embassy to France to sue for peace, which was readily granted them. In 1686 the English concluded a treaty with the Algerincs on favourable terms, and this was several times subsequently renewed; but it was not till the taking of Gibraltar and Port Mahon that England had sufficient check upon them to enforce the observance of treaties. From that time England was treated with greater deference than any other European power. In 1710 the Turkish pasha was expelled and his office united to that of dey. The dey thus became the supreme ruler in the country. He had the charge of the Turkish militia, recruited from Constantinople and Smyrna, bccaiise their children by native mothers could not be allowed to enjoy the same privileges as themselves in consequence of former rebellions against the government. Under the dey there was a divan or council of state, chosen from the principal civic functionaries. Matters continued very much in the same state, and the history of Algiers presents little calling for special notice down to the expedition of Lord Exmouth. The principal States of Europe had had their attention taken up with weightier matters; but on the establishment of the peace of 1815 the English sent a squadron of ships, under Lord Exmouth, to Algiers, to demand the liberation of all slaves then in bondage there, and the entire discontinuance of piratical depredations. Afraid to refuse, the Algerines returned a conciliatory answer, and released a number of their slaves; but no sooner had the ships left than they redoubled their activity and perpetrated every sort of cruelty against the Christians. Among other acts of cruelty, they attacked and massacred a number of Neapo litan fishermen who were engaged in the pearl-fishery at Bona. The news of this excited great indignation in England, and Lord Exmouth was again despatched with five ships of the line and eight smaller vessels, and at Gibraltar he was joined by a Dutch fleet of six frigates, under Admiral Capellen. They anchored in front of Algiers on the 26th Augiist 1816. Certain terms, which were extremely moderate, were proposed to the dey; but these not meeting with acceptance, a fierce bombardment was at once commenced. At first the assailants were subjected to a heavy fire from the enemy s batteries ; but after a time these were one by one silenced, and ship after ship caught fire, till the destruction of the Algerine naval force was complete. Next day the terms proposed to the dey were accepted; Christian slaves to the number of 1211 were set at liberty, and a promise was given that piracy and Christian slavery should cease for ever. The Algerines, however, did not long adhere to the terms of the treaty. They lost no time in putting their city in a more formid able state of defence than before, and this done, they considered themselves in a condition to set the great powers of Europe at defiance. Various injuries had from time to time been inflicted on the French shipping, but that which more directly led to a declaration of war was an insult offered to the French consul by the dey. A debt had been contracted by the French government to two Jewish merchants of Algiers at the time of the expedition to Egypt, and the dey having a direct interest in the matter, had made repeated applications for payment, but without success. Annoyed at this and at what he considered insulting language on the part of the consul, he struck the latter on the face in public. In consequence of this, a French squadron was sent to Algiers which took the consul on board, and for three years main tained an ineffective blockade. At length war on a great scale was resolved on, and a fleet was equipped at Toulon in May 1830 under the- command of Admiral Duperre&quot;. It had also on board a land force, under the command of General Bourmont, consisting of 37,000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, and a proportionate number of artillery. The troops began to land on the 14th June upon the western side of the peninsula of Sidi Ferruch, in the bay of Torre