indeed almost indispensable to the understanding of nine-tenths of the work. Those ingenious persons, therefore, who begin to read novels by the latter end, have had, in this instance, a singular advantage over those who, like us, have laboured regularly on through the dark dialect of Anglified Erse.

If, as we expect, new editions of Waverley, Guy Mannering, and the Antiquary, should be required by the public, we suggest that the glossary should be placed conspicuously at the beginning of the first volume of the series.

ART. VI. 1. Mémoire sur la Nécessité et les Moyens de faire cesser les Pirateries des Etats Barbaresques. Reçu, considéré, et adopté à Paris en Septembre-à Turin le 14 Octobre, 1814à Vienne durant le Congrès. Par W. Sidney Smith.

2. A Letter to a Member of Parliament on the Slavery of the Christians at Algiers. By Walter Croker, Esq. of the Royal Navy. London: 8vo. 1816.

3. Narrative of a Ten Years' Residence at Tripoli, in Africa, from the original Correspondence, in the possession of the Family of the late Richard Tully, Esq. the British Consul; comprising authentic Memoirs and Anecdotes of the reigning Bashaw, Sedi Useph, his Family, and various Persons of distinction; an Account of the Domestic Manners of the Moors, Arabs, and Turks, &c. 4to. London: 1816.

4. Travels in Europe and Africa; comprising a Journey through France, Spain and Portugal, to Morocco, with a particular Account of that Empire, &c. By Colonel Keatinge. 4to. London: 1816.

5. An Account of Tunis, of its Government, Manners, Customs, and Antiquities; especially of its Productions, Manufactures, and Commerce. By Thonias Macgill. Glasgow. Svo.

1811.

Α AT the conclusion of a war, unparalleled in its character and duration, and on the much-wished-for return of a general peace, it was not likely that the maritime powers of Europe would continue to tolerate the system of piracy so long carried on by the Barbary States against the flag of every nation which could not either purchase or command their forbearance. It was, however, a nice question to determine what measures were most prudent to be adopted against those States, if they should hesitate to abandon a system so abhorrent from every feeling of humanity, and so justly regarded with universal indignation.

The result appears to have been that of employing a British admiral, with a squadron of adequate force, to demand, in the first

place,

place, the liberation of all the Christian slaves; and then to negociate, on behalf of the minor powers in the Mediterranean, treaties of peace and amity, leaving the great maritime powers to defend themselves, as they had hitherto done, against any insult that might hereafter be offered to their respective flags. The mission, as might be expected from the known character of the officer employed, was completely successful; the release of every Christian slave was procured; treaties were concluded; and a declaration was obtained from Tunis and Tripoli, that no Christian slaves should in future be made by either of these powers; but that the prisoners taken in legitimate warfare should be exchanged according to the usages of war among European nations.

This arrangement, apparently so satisfactory to all parties, has not met with that general approbation to which it would appear to be entitled; on the contrary we hear an absurd clamour, deprecating all treaties with the Barbary states, bellowing for war and extermination, and exciting to another crusade, by a holy alliance of all the knights of Christendom,' against those infidels. We hardly think that England will be forward to commit her character in so hopeless a scheme-if Europe is again to be visited by another fit of enthusiastic insanity, his Most Christian Majesty is the proper knight-president' to stand forward as the champion of Christendom, and he will, we doubt not, be found at his post.* The cry, however, is for England to take the lead in this new crusade-and it is quite edifying to observe, in some of the documents appended to the Mémoire of the President of the Society of Knights Liberators of the White Slaves in Africa,' with what easy complacency the grandees and ministers of foreign powers impose this quixotic enterprize on England, who of all nations in the western hemisphere should be the last to trouble herself about it. One of the president's correspondents observes, that if the commercial interests of England be against it, the sentiments of the nation and the conduct of the parliament with respect to the blacks, leave no room to apprehend that those interests can form any obstacle to a measure which humanity and religion, as well as the knowledge and civilization of the times, demand;'-that 'on Great Britain, who has contracted the honourable and holy engagement, by occupying Malta, once the bulwark of Christendom, the obligation strictly devolves;'-that, in short, England is responsible for every thing that is done on the seas.'-Another tells him, that England having succeeded to the inheritance of Saint

We will not believe a word of what the Paris Journals say about the fraternal embrace given by the Dey of Algiers to the Consul-General of his Most Christian Majesty, nor of the good understanding between those two potentates; it would be a libel on Louis XVIII. even to suppose such a thing at this moment.

John

John of Jerusalem, it is her duty to clear the sea of those pirates; -and a third, whom nothing short of extermination will satisfy, and who of course is out of humour with Lord Exmouth's treaties, writes, in the Frankfort Gazette, England, which, by a nod, could make all these thieves retire into their dens-England, which possesses Malta and the Seven Islands, will never wash away the disgrace of having rivetted the chains of Europe.'-And this too, after she had broken the chains of all that were in captivity! The real object, we suspect, of these foreigners is to plunge us into another mad crusade, in order that their own governments may profit from the embarrassments, which the imbecility of listening to them would inevitably produce. They know well enough that there is a foolish sort of liberality, a kind of generous knighterrantry about Englishmen, which will hurry them into any enterprize where the name and semblance of humanity are made use of; equally ready to rescue from the gallows a convicted criminal, or release from slavery an unoffending victim.

We should hope, however, that there is still enough of sober good sense and steady policy to prevent this country from being Lurried into new wars and heavy expenses, which she can ill afford, by the cant of foreigners, or the more dangerous ebullitions of a morbid philanthropy at home; a kindliness of disposition which, without meaning ill, would compromise the state, and sacrifice to the feelings of a mistaken humanity, matters of the greatest national importance.

In discussing this question, we may narrow the grounds, by inquiring

1. Can England, consistently with sound policy and good faith, join in the league' for putting down the Barbary powers?

2. Would the cause of humanity be benefited by the extermination of those powers?

3. Is their extermination practicable, and, if so, how is Northern Africa to be disposed of?

It has always been deemed an object of the first importance for England to maintain a commanding attitude in the Mediterranean; and for this very reason it has also been the constant endeavour of France and Spain to expel us altogether from that quarter. The great exertions that have been made, the millions that have been expended, the public anxiety that has been felt by the people of England, for the preservation of the barren rock of Gibraltar, had no object beyond the means, which its possession afforded us, of asserting and maintaining our naval superiority in the Mediterranean. The negociations which took place at the Treaty of Amiens, respecting Malta, and which ended in our retaining possession of that island, had no other object. But Malta and Gibraltar depend

for

for their subsistence on external sources of supply; and those, in time of war, when our fleets are large and garrisons numerous, must not be distant. To look to England alone for a supply of food, for 30,000 seamen and soldiers, exclusive of the inhabitants, would be most dangerous, and might be fatal, both to the garrisons and to the fleet. We will admit, however, for argument's sake, the possibility of a regular and ample supply being sent out from England; still, a plague to which Malta is subject, and an endemic sickness which frequently visits Gibraltar, might render those supplies unavailable.

The places whence provisions are usually drawn, in time of war, are the Black Sea, the Archipelago, Egypt, and the Barbary States. The first three resources failed us more than once in the course of the late long and arduous struggle, and must always be liable to interruption from war or the plague; but the States of Barbary failed us only when they were themselves suffering under the calamity of famine. Rarely has any of them shewn an unwillingness to afford us supplies of cattle and corn, or to furnish our ships of war with fresh provisions, free of all duties, whenever they called at any of their ports; even when at war with Turkey, to which the three states bordering on the Mediterranean are, nominally at least, Pashalicks, they never once attempted to shut their ports against us. In vain did Buonaparte dispatch his emissaries, distribute his bribes, employ his promises and his threats, to induce those states to enter into his views, and to withhold those supplies, which, he well knew, would have been the first step towards crippling our fleet, and transferring to France the naval superiority in the Mediterranean. As far, then, as national interests are concerned, it would be an act of madness for Great Britain to join in the holy league which Sir Sidney Smith and his foreign friends have been projecting.-It would be worse than madness-it would be nothing short of a direct infringement of justice and good faith. Our treaties with them are of longer standing than with any other power, the date of the first with Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli being that of 1662, and with Morocco, 1721; yet these treaties, generally speaking, have been held sacred by them. Among other advantages which Great Britain derives from these treaties, it is stipu lated, that no subject of His Majesty shall be bought or sold or made a slave; not even if taken on board a vessel at enmity with those states, provided he be a passenger; that all British vessels may freely pass the seas without any search, hindrance, or molestation, on producing a pass from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty; that neither the goods shall be seized, nor the men made slaves, belonging to shipwrecked vessels; and that our ships of war shall receive provisions at the several ports, free of duty-if, at

any

any time, any of those stipulations have been violated by the unruly and piratical subjects of those states, immediate reparation has always been made. The British consuls residing at their ports have invariably been respected above those of any other power; though we have heard, indeed, that one of our consuls at Tangier once wrote to the British admiral commanding at Gibraltar, requesting that a longer flag staff night be sent him to erect before his door, and stating that the consular influence in the dominions of Morocco depended chiefly on the length of his pole.

Captain Croker, however, seems to have discovered, on his short visit to Algiers, sufficient grounds to justify our going to war with those detestable pirates,' infidels,' and other hard names by which he is pleased to call them. We think differently, and that his charges against them do not afford a justifiable cause of war: they are as follow. Some Christian slaves were taken by two Algerine pirates which presumed to carry English colours, and, by so doing, decoyed these unhappy beings within their reach!' Others had actually been made slaves while under English passports, and for the very purpose of supplying our armies with grain.' And lastly, ships belonging to the natives of Ponza were taken by the Algerines, though they were furnished with English passports, and had permission to wear the British flag:' and he could state, he says, many other cases in which the honour and the faith of the British nation have been most notoriously insulted by those detestable pirates, such as treating the passports of her governors with contempt, &c. We are willing to suppose that Captain Croker wrote his letter while on shore at Algiers, when his feelings for the misery of his fellow creatures got the better of his judgment; for we can hardly think that an officer, in command of one of His Majesty's ships of war, can be ignorant that every maritime power in Europe sanctions its officers in presuming to carry any colours they please they may decoy, but not fight under false colours; and we dare say that Captain Croker had at that moment a set of colours of all nations on board his ship, supplied by his superiors. He is equally informed, we doubt not, that the only passport mentioned in the several treaties, which have been renewed over and over, is of that particular kind known by the name of ' a Mediterranean pass; that, by special stipulation, such pass shall be under the hand and seal of His Majesty, or whomsoever he shall appoint to be the lord high admiral, or to execute the office of lord high admiral;' that it shall be of a particular form; and that it shall be given only to the subjects of our sovereign lord the King, and to no foreigners.' And, in order to prevent abuses or fraudulent transfers of such pass, the owner or master of each vessel is bound, in the penalty of five hundred pounds, to return the said pass with