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CHAPTER XXIV.

Capture of a Spanish slave vessel-Remarks on the traffic in slaves Beys of Tripoli and Tunis agree to the proposals of Admiral Penrose-Army of occupation withdrawn from France-State of Spain and Portugal-Death of the King of Sweden-Accession of BernadotteCondition of Holland-Death of George III.-Holy Alliance-Abated efforts of Spain to regain her Colonies-Mutiny of the troops at Cadiz -State of Sicily-Naples-Policy of the Holy Alliance-Russia and the Porte-Death of Napoleon at St. Helena-Recall of the squadron from the Cape of Good Hope-Coronation of his Majesty King George IV.-Death of Queen Caroline-The King goes to DublinReturns to his capital, and visits his continental dominions-State of Hayti-Death of Christophe-Boyer assumes the sovereignty of the island of Hayti-Progress of war westward-South America-West Indies Insurrection of the Negroes at Barbadoes-Alarm for Jamaica -Piracy-Gallant conduct of Captains Walcott and Roberts in the capture of the Zuragozana-War with Algiers renewed-Capture of the Tripoli by the Cameleon-Sir Harry Neale brings the Bey to terms-Peace again made.

THE Mediterranean, in a moral, religious and political point of view, may be considered as the centre of the world, the cradle of arts, sciences, and literature. The eyes of Europe, Asia and Africa are constantly fixed on it. The Catholic, the Protestant and the Mahometan all trace the foundation of their creeds from its eastern extremity. In latter ages, the polished nations on its shores have been held in subjection by the temporal power of the Popes; but the Court of Rome has had its day, and Papal bulls and anathemas are now unknown or disregarded.

The banner of Mahomet, which waved from the Thracian Bosphorus to the confines of China, and, westward, far beyond the modern discovery of the mouth of the Niger, seems to have passed the zenith of its glory. The Beys of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli,-after tyrannizing for ages over European commerce, living on plunder, and holding Christian captives in the most shameful slavery,-have been chastised by Britain, and finally subjugated by France.

The Turks, after holding possession of Constantinople for nearly 400 years, are both wavering in their faith and receding from the gigantic power of Russia; while Greece, their tribu

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tary state, is torn from them, and erected into a sepárate, if not an independent, kingdom.

The British navy, contrary to the wishes of its government and people, has been instrumental, by an irresistible destiny, in humbling the Ottoman flag. The Pasha of Egypt, so long the tributary of the sublime Porte, has shaken off the yoke; and the armies of Russia, penetrating through the defiles of Mount Caucasus, threaten the ancient institutions of Persia. Thus, in every direction, has the crescent of Mahomet been trampled under foot by princes who, although not always acting in concert, seem to be impelled by an invisible power towards the same end. The crisis, it must be admitted, is awful, and sinks all other earthly considerations into the most perfect insignificance.

On the 7th of November, 1816, Rear-admiral Penrose officially informed the British consuls within the limits of his command, that, in consequence of the victory obtained by Lord Exmouth at Algiers, the Beys of Tripoli and Tunis had acceded to the proposals made to them, and that not a Christian remained in Barbary against his consent; and the rear-admiral had had the satisfaction of sending 83 Roman subjects to Cività Vecchia.

In 1818, the army of occupation, which, by the treaty concluded with the Allies in 1815, was stationed in various frontier towns of France at the expense of that kingdom, was withdrawn by the consent of the parties to the treaty; and it was hoped that the severe lesson taught by the Revolution had not been lost either on the King or the French people.

In Spain, the long reign of bigotry and ignorance has produced its necessary fruits; and the continued disorganized state of the country gives rise to the most gloomy anticipations for the future. Such are the results of a political and ecclesiastical system, that reached its maturity in the feeble reigns of Charles IV. and his little less unworthy son Ferdinand VII. Spain, which once lent its assistance to the British colonies of North America to throw off the yoke of its parent state, has now, by the same natural reaction, lost her own. It is true she has her islands both in the East and West Indies, but her continental dominions in the New World are torn from her for ever.

An expedition was assembled in the harbour of Cadiz, by the Spanish government, for the purpose of regaining the revolted colonies in South America, but want of money to pay the troops, and other causes, gave rise to a mutiny among them. Spain, having no ships of her own to send out, borrowed or bought some from Russia, which, however, proved to be unfit for sea; the soldiers and sailors refused to embark in

them; and this put an end to the expedition. Elio, the governor of Valencia, in his endeavours to stifle the popular feeling that began to appear in the south, committed crimes shocking to humanity, and for which he soon after atoned with his life.

Portugal was hardly in a better condition than Spain. The provinces which she possessed in Brazil came to a friendly separation, and are governed by a member of the same family.

The King of Sweden died on the 5th of February, the last of his race. He was succeeded by Charles John (Bernadotte), the fortunate general of Bonaparte.

Holland, though feeble from the effects of the persecutions and conscriptions of the French, was regaining strength. United with Belgium, and put in possession of the colonies which had been wrested from her by England, and restored by an act of generosity, she began to revive; and, though she never could have been a great maritime power, she might, under the guarantee of Russia and Prussia, have been always opulent, respectable, and happy, but she has not proved so.

On the year 1819 we have nothing to remark, except discoveries, of which we shall speak hereafter.

On the 29th of January, 1820, his Majesty, King George III., expired at Windsor, in the 82d year of his age, and the 60th of his reign.

The political movements of the members of the Holy Alliance at Laybach, with reference to the revolutions in Spain, Portugal, and Naples, were watched with the most unceasing interest by the people of England, both in and out of parliament, and it is probable that on no subject did the whole country, from the king to the lowest of his subjects, ever feel more perfectly unanimous, than in their distrust of the motives of the members of that unnatural confederacy. We had not fought against liberty: for the 22 years that we were in arms, we wished all the nations of the earth the same freedom which we ourselves enjoyed: and we hailed with joy the dawn of their emancipation from oppression. Our squadron, it is true, cruised in the bay of Naples, and the Vengeur, a British ship of the line, conveyed Ferdinand to Leghorn, on his way to Laybach, at the invitation of the Allied Monarchs, but this was all; and the British government declared its decided neutrality, unless Austria and Prussia should have sought to aggrandize themselves at the expense of the disturbed countries. The Austrian army found no obstruction on its way to Naples, which city it entered early in the year, and reestablished the royal authority.

A new expedition was planned by the Spanish government,

to regain her transatlantic colonies. This, likewise, proved a failure. Fever and the plague carried off the greater part of the troops: the remainder were, afterwards, reorganized and strengthened by fresh levies to the extent, altogether, of 16,000 men, when another mutiny, more alarming and better organized than that of the preceding summer, very nearly overturned the Spanish monarchy. This great movement was chiefly p-lanned and executed by the Colonels Riego and Quiroga. On the 1st of January, 1820, these officers proclaimed the Constitution of 1812, as adopted by the Cortes. Corunna, Vigo, Ferrol, and Pontevedra, where military were stationed, followed the example. Abisbal himself joined the supporters of the Constitution; and Ferdinand was forced to submit to the will of the army, because he had refused to ratify the promises which he had made on his restoration to freedom. Portugal followed the example of Spain, and the whole Peninsula was in arms for a like object,-a representative government.

The beautiful and fruitful island of Sicily, under the influence and protection of Great Britain, had shown the most pleasing symptoms of a renovated vigour; and the form of a British constitution had been established there, under the able superintendence of Lord William Bentinck. Its total failure was ably accounted for by his lordship in the House of Commons, on the 19th of January, and adds one more instance of the often repeated axiom, that the British constitution will only flourish on the British soil, or in British colonies.

In the year 1820 the city of Constantinople and the whole of Turkey exhibited the most alarming symptoms of internal commotion, and, while the government displayed the greatest weakness of council, Ali Pasha, of Albania, a daring leader, defied the armies and the authority of the Sultan, and, though defeated and compelled to retreat, long held out with an obstinacy peculiar to the Albanian race. He shut himself up in the fortress of Janina, where the Turks blockaded him, but were obliged, at the end of the year, to raise the siege, and Ali again took the field with another army. Serious discussions commenced about the same time between Russia and the Porte, on the old subject of Moldavia and Wallachia. Great disorders ensued in Constantinople, where the Russian ambassador, Count Strogonoff, was insulted by the mob and the Janissaries.

The naval establishment at St. Helena, for the safe custody of Bonaparte, had long, and we think unjustly, been complained of, as an intolerable expense to the country. Economy is no doubt desirable in a state; but it is possible to carry it too far, and this Great Britain will no doubt find, should she

reduce her naval forces in peace to so low an ebb as to destroy their elasticity, and prevent their rising when the emergencies of war call for their services. The custody of Bonaparte, it was triumphantly stated by the advocates for economy and reform, cost us £400,000 per annum: true; but this money, "though cast upon the waters," was not thrown away. An active squadron between the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena gave employment to between 2,000 and 3,000 officers and men; rendered them expert in their profession; and, being all volunteers, they were available to any service that might have occurred. The flag of a rear-admiral was flying on the station, in a ship of the line, and a strong squadron of frigates and sloops of war kept a constant watch round the island, and held frequent communication with the Cape of Good Hope and with England. The burden, however, of supporting this expense, was effectually removed from us by an unexpected event. Napoleon, from long inactivity, and a want of that stimulus to action which had been the employment of his early life, added to a deep sense of the privation of liberty under which he laboured, had contracted a disease which he seems to have had no wish to conquer, and which, on the 5th of May, terminated his earthly career. As the enemy of this disturber of the human race, I have ever held him up as a bold, bad man. The sufferings which he inflicted on mankind were dreadful, and, when it is remembered that his object was the gratification of his selfish ambition, I cannot easily forgive him, nor can I think these evils counterbalanced by any benefit he was enabled to confer on his country. Of his detention at St. Helena much has been written, and much contradictory evidence given, by men, too, of honour: but this I may say, that it is proved that he was well treated by Sir George Cockburn, Sir Pulteney Malcolm, Admiral Plampin, and Admiral Lambert. Of the military part of his guardianship I can say nothing. The safety of Europe required that he should be debarred from holding any communication with his friends, and the order was complied with to the letter; but what was this privation compared to the sufferings of the unhappy English, treacherously detained by him in the time of peace, and sent to Verdun? It was quite impossible to be sufficiently guarded against the spirit of intrigue which pervaded the residence at Longwood. Equally impossible was it to remove unreasonable grounds of complaint: no supplies were sufficient for the table; no vigilance could guard the avenues to secret intelligence. The situation both of the governor and the admiral was one of extreme anxiety; and, perhaps, no man who did his duty could have obtained the approbation of Napoleon Bonaparte.