Before he took any steps in fulfilment of his instructions he made the arrangements necessary for an attack, which was to be the alternative if negotiations failed; a result much to be expected at Algiers, which had hitherto withstood so many formidable armaments. He ordered Captain Warde, of the Banterer, to proceed to Algiers, where he was carefully to observe the town and the nature of its defences. Lord Exmouth's instructions on this occasion, and which were written with his own hand, afford an admirable illustration of the forethought with which he provided for every contingency, and which was the chief secret of his constant success.
It were injustice to Captain Warde to state how he performed this difficult and important service in any language but that of the Admiral. In his despatch which accompanied the treaty made with Tripoli, and which he sent to the Admiralty when proceeding on his second visit to Algiers, he writes:—"Previous to my leaving Leghorn, I despatched Captain Warde in the Banterer to Algiers, to make his observations on the anchorage and sea-defences, which service he performed with entire secresy and judgment, and highly to my satisfaction. The accompanying plan of the works, with his remarks after visiting all the forts and arsenal, I found correct in every respect; and when it is considered that he had not the means of taking angles, but was compelled to pace the distances, and trust much to his recollection, to avoid being suspected, I think him deserving of the highest commendation. The soundings round the mole, and the bay to the N.W. of the lighthouse, were all made by him personally in the night without discovery; nor did even the consul suspect the purport of his visit."
Indeed, Captain Warde played the careless idler to perfection. He escorted the ladies of the consul's family everywhere by day, and danced with them in the evenings, covering a keen and constant observation with the appearance of frivolity; while at night he was silently moving outside the port in a boat, taking the soundings with a pole.
It adds to the merit of this officer, that all the previous plans of Algiers were so incorrect, that he was obliged to begin his own from the outlines, as if the place were a new discovery. Lord Exmouth afterwards declared that if he had proceeded to hostilities at his first visit, without having been furnished with Captain Warde's plan and observations, he should have assigned to the ships stations which they could not have occupied. The plan in the Admiralty book of charts, among other inaccuracies, laid down the sea-face of the city as four miles long, instead of one; omitted the bay to the north-west of the lighthouse; represented the pier on which the strong fortifications are built as quite straight from the lighthouse in a southerly direction, whereas it forms a quarter of the compass, bending round to the south-west, or towards the city; and laid the distance between the piers at the entrance of the mole, a mile, instead of sixty, or sixty-five fathoms. Notwithstanding this, and his great disadvantages arising out of the secresy he was compelled to observe, Captain Warde's observations were so accurate and complete, that Lord Exmouth afterwards sent to the Admiralty his original plan, to illustrate the despatches of the battle.
Thus prepared for every alternative, Lord Exmouth, on the 21st of March, made known to the squadron the service upon which they were proceeding in the following General Order:—
"The Commander-in-Chief embraces the earliest moment in which he could inform the fleet of his destination, without inconvenience to the public service.
"He has been instructed and directed by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to proceed with the fleet to Algiers, and there make certain arrangements for diminishing at least the piratical excursions of the Barbary states by which thousands of our fellow-creatures, innocently following their commercial pursuits, have been dragged into the most wretched and revolting state of slavery.
"The Commander-in-Chief is confident that this outrageous system of piracy and slavery rouses in common the same spirit of indignation which he himself feels; and should the government of Algiers refuse the reasonable demands he bears from the Prince Regent, he doubts not but the flag will be honourably and zealously supported by every officer and man under his command, in his endeavours to procure the acceptation of them by force; and if force must be resorted to, we have the consolation of knowing that we fight in the sacred cause of humanity, and cannot fail of success.
"These arrangements being made at Algiers and Tunis, the Commander-in-Chief announces with pleasure that he is ordered to proceed with all the ships not on the peace establishment to Spithead without delay, except the Bombay, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Penrose, which ship is to be relieved by the Albion, daily expected.
(Signed) "Exmouth.
"N.B. This General Memorandum to be entered in the public order-book, and communicated to the respective officers, seamen, and marines of the fleet."
The squadron went in the first place to Algiers, where Lord Exmouth obtained the objects of his mission without difficulty. The Ionian slaves were freely released as British subjects; and peace was made for Naples and Sardinia, the former paying a ransom of five hundred, the latter of three hundred dollars a head. The fleet then sailed for Tunis, where accident gave an entirely new character to the subsequent proceedings. Lord Exmouth had directed the interpreter to tell the Bey, that it would be very agreeable to the Prince Regent if slavery were abolished; but the interpreter, by mistake, said that the Prince Regent had determinded to abolish it. Upon this the negotiation was suspended, and the Divan assembled. Lord Exmouth soon became aware of the mistake, and availing himself of the important advantage which it gave him, he allowed them two hours for deliberation, and retired to the consul's house to await the result. Before the time expired he was sent for, and informed that the Divan had deliberated on his proposal, and would comply with it. Proceeding to Tripoli, he made a similar demand, and it was there submitted to without hesitation.
In the mean time, he had received instructions to claim from Algiers the privilege of selling prizes, and refitting privateers in that port, which had lately been granted by treaty to America. Returning on this errand, he took the opportunity to press, as at the other Regencies, the abolition of Christian slavery; but here he had a more formidable power to deal with. His demand was refused; and when he hinted at the alternative of force, the Dey answered as a man confident in his strength to resist it. Lord Exmouth assured him that he formed a very inadequate idea of a British man of-war, and declared, that if hostilities should become necessary, he would engage with five line-of-battle ships to destroy the place. A very sharp altercation ensued; and Lord Exmouth left the Divan, giving them two hours to consider his proposal. When the time expired, he took Mr. M'Donell, the consul, and walked with him towards the boat; but they were stopped at the gate. After a communication had been made to the Dey, Lord Exmouth was allowed to pass on, but the consul was detained, on the pretext that money was due from Portugal, for which, as well as for England, Mr. M'Donell was accredited. The whole party had been in the greatest danger. The crowd who surrounded them discussed aloud the question of putting them all to death; and the conduct of the captain of the port was extremely suspicious. He was observed to cock his pistol, and Sir Israel Pellew exclaiming, "At least we'll die with arms in our hands!" attempted to draw his sword. Happily, the pressure of the throng prevented him; for in the temper which then prevailed, the appearance of a hostile movement would probably have been fatal. Lord Exmouth was much irritated at this outrage; and when one of the principal officers of state followed, and asked him, as he was just stepping into the boat, to allow them two days to consider his proposal, he replied with warmth "No, not two hours!" Hastening on board, he got the fleet under weigh to attack the place immediately; but the wind was too strong to allow the ships to take their stations, and they were obliged to anchor again.
Two British officers, Captains Pechell and Warde, had gone on shore, not anticipating a hostile movement. They were seized by the people, who dragged them off their horses, rifled their pockets, tied their hands behind them, and in this state marched them through the town to the Dey. But when they reached the palace they were immediately released; and except some trifling articles, which could not be found, all their property was restored. After two or three interviews with the Dey, the object of which appeared to be to investigate the cause of a cut which Captain Pechell had received in the hand, when he was taken off the horse, they were allowed to go to their ships. Such conduct, at a moment when Lord Exmouth was evidently preparing to attack the place, indicated an irresolution which might enable him to gain his object without a battle; and next morning, as a calm, with a heavy swell, prevented the fleet from moving, he sent Captain Dundas, of the Tagus, with renewed proposals. The result was, that Sir Israel Pellew, with Captains Brisbane, Pechell, Dundas, Warde, and others, went on shore; and the Dey agreed to appoint an ambassador, who should proceed first to Constantinople for the sanction of the Porte, and thence to England to treat on Lord Exmouth's proposal. It may be supposed that the Admiral would not have endured this evasion, had he been authorised to act; but he had pressed the demand without instructions, and felt that he would not be justified in resorting to force, if it could be creditably avoided. He was not even certain that his conduct in thus pressing the abolition of slavery would be favourably received; for it was a common remark, that the obstructions to the navigation of the Mediterranean, created by the Barbary corsairs, were advantageous to British commerce. He expressed this doubt in a letter which he sent on shore on the 23rd of June, when the fleet had arrived in the channel:—"It is with great delight I again bring myself nearer to you and the rest of my family, after a longer absence than I had any reason to expect when I left England, and which has at last ended without realizing that for which it was said we were kept so long abroad after peace was signed. I had anxiously hoped I should have been directed to enforce the abandonment of their cruel system of retaining Christians who fell into their hands (in what they term war) in slavery. I hope I have made the path easy for the Government, having obtained by my own exertions the relinquishment from two States, and a promise to treat on that point from the most violent, Algiers, after discussions which did not promise sometimes amicable terminations. But I intreat you to observe the utmost silence on this point, as it may lead me into an awkward situation; for I have acted solely on my own responsibility, and without orders; the causes and reasoning on which, upon general principles, may be defensible, but as applying to our own country, may not be borne out, the old mercantile interest being against it."
Four days previous to the date of this letter, Mr. Brougham had moved in the House of Commons for copies of Lord Exmouth's treaties with Algiers for Naples and Sardinia, and for all the correspondence connected with them. He condemned the principle upon which the treaties had been conducted, because, by ransoming the slaves, we had virtually acknowledged the right of these parties to commit their depredations. He understood that the Algerines, dissatisfied with the Dey for having limited their sphere of plunder, had been pacified only by the assurance, that though restrained from cruising against Neapolitan subjects, there still remained a wide field for their enterprise. The Roman States had already felt the effect of the new direction given to their piracies. He then described the wretched condition of the slaves. In one case, out of three hundred prisoners, fifty had died of ill-treatment on the first day of their arrival, and seventy during the first fortnight. The rest were kept in the most miserable condition, being allowed only a pound of bread a day, and subject to the lash from morning to night. No age, no sex was spared. A Neapolitan lady of distinction, carried off with eight children, six of whom survived, had lately been seen by a British officer in the thirteenth year of her captivity. That it might be seen we did not countenance such proceedings, it was necessary to ascertain what use we had made of our influence in the late negotiations.