CHAPTER SEVEN
THE HUMILIATION OF IMPOTENCE. A STUDY IN PIRACY
The "Shadow of God" and "Emulator of Alexander" Writes a Dispatch to "The Amiable James Monroe, Emperor of America"—Courtly Frightfulness, vs. Truculent Pacifism—John Adams has a Pleasant Chat with a Pirate in London—An Algerian Price List of American Sailors—Boston Mariners Left in Turkish Slavery—The Diplomatic Triumph of a Courteous Murderer—Blackmail the Alternative of a Navy—The Portrait of George Washington—Stephen Decatur Demonstrates the Persuasive Value of Gunpowder in Diplomatic Discourse.
During the year 1816 the President of the United States received an amiable and condescending message from a subaltern of the greatest person that ever lived. That is, if we can believe his own modest description of himself, constituting the
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