were slaughtered in cold blood, simply as a matter of intimidation to the government to which they owed allegiance. The consuls were treated with great barbarity; they were burned alive or blown from the mouths of cannons, and on one occasion on the approach of a French fleet the French consul was thrown towards them from a mortar. The various European governments made frequent attempts to suppress this system of piracy and slavery, but as they were constantly warring among themselves they could not fix upon united action. Each was generally content to see its neighbors preyed upon if it could secure immunity for itself, and consequently the attempts to this end were in the shape of tribute, partly in money and very often partly in cannon, muskets, powder, shells, and other munitions of war. As late as 1771 France bought peace with Algiers, and one of the conditions was that she should send over some cannon-founders to instruct the pirates in their art. Spain, Holland, England, Austria, and the United States of America were among the tributary nations; as late as 1805, all these countries paid tribute to the dey as a condition of not being molested, a condition, it is needless to say, that was speedily violated.
In 1816 England sent a fleet under Lord Exmouth to compel the liberation of British subjects that were then held in slavery. The dey refused to listen to terms, and the result was the bombardment of Algiers, the destruction of its fleet and forts, and the conclusion of a treaty by which Christian slavery should forever cease in the dominions of the dey, all slaves then in bondage were to be liberated immediately, all money received for the ransom of slaves since the beginning of the year was to be returned, and the British consul who had been put in irons was to receive reparation and an apology. But in spite of the treaty, piracy and slavery continued, and after a fresh rupture with England in 1824, which was patched
