as it appeared, an ungenerous advantage of the lady's compassion, seized her son, bore him in her despite to the farthest corner of the apartment, and putting a pistol to the child's temple, called upon his pursuer to desist. * "It is mine only son," cried the commandant, hesitating. "So much the better," observed the seaman, cooly. "I cannot palter," (transiger was the word)" with my duty," said the commandant, hesitating still. The mother shrieked, and the shriek went to the soul of the seaman, who menaced a barbarity that he would have died a thousand deaths ere he could have committed. "You are a cowardly ruffian to have believed me capable of it," said the seaman, who wronged his adversary by the reproach, inasmuch as his determined look fully bespoke the act he threatened. As he spoke, he flung himself against the window, went through it, but fell, and ere he could rise, more than twenty fellows were round or upon him, and the gallant lieutenant was a captive. He was conveyed into the town with shouts of triumph, his captors amusing themselves by adorning him with the numbers of his own proclamations that he had scattered, and, treated with every ignominy and harshness, he was committed for that evening to the military prison. He was hurried to trial, and speedily condemned; but his old friends, the fishermen, remembered his former kindness, and accordingly undertook to rescue him from his retainers. Under a great show of zeal for his speedy execution, they surrounded the guard; and while crying "Death to the spy!" "Down with the English corsair!" contrived to get the lieutenant into their possession. The fishermen and women, therefore, carried off their prey without opposition, or rather drove it before them, pelting and shouting, and in many instances severely wounding one another, that the earnestness of their rage might not be called in question. The soldiers followed, however, somewhat mistrustful, through the narrow lanes and passages, by which the victim and his apparent assassins, but real rescuers, hurried towards the port or harbour. The guard expected to find the mangled body of their prisoner at every step; on the contrary, victim and avengers disappeared. They were no sooner out of sight of the military, than the brawny fishermen, seizing Lieutenant bore him at full speed, each holding a limb, through the suburbs; again putting him upon his feet, and chasing him before them, as they emerged upon the quay. There chasing and abusing, they directed him towards a little pilotboat that lay moored at the extremity of the wooden pier. "There's your home, brother tar," cried they, pointing to the waves. Lieutenant shook the hand of the speaker, plunged in, gained the skiff in a trice, unmoored it, hoisted its sail, and swept out of the harbour, ere a single shot could be brought to bear upon him. THE MYSTERY OF CAPT. WRIGHT'S DEATH AND THAT OF PICHEGRU CLEARED UP. The following curious particulars were communicated to Dr. Warden, after an absence of six weeks from Longwood: "On entering the room I observed the back of the sofa turned towards me; and on advancing, I saw Napoleon lying at full length on it, and before him was a table covered with books; among them some volumes on the French revolution. The heat of the day had occasioned him to dismantle himself of coat and waistcoat. The moment his eye met mine, he started up and exclaimed in English, in a tone of good humoured vivacity, 'Ah, Warden, how do you do?' I bowed in return; when he stretched out his hand, saying, I have got a fever.' I applied my hand to his wrist, and observing both from the regularity of the pulsation, and the jocular expression of his countenance, that he was exercising a little of his pleasantry; I congratulated him on the preservation of his health, and complimented him, at the same time, on the progress he appeared to have made in the English language. "I certainly enjoy,' said he,' a very good state of health, which I attribute to a rigorous observance of regimen. My appetite is such, that I feel as if I could eat at any time of the day; but I am regular in my meals, and always leave off eating with an appetite; besides I never drink strong wines. With respect to the English language,' he continued, 'I have been very diligent. I now read your newspapers with ease, and I must own that they afford me no inconsiderable amusement. They are occasionally inconsistent, and sometimes abusive. In one paper I am called a liar, in another a tyrant, in the third a monster, and in one of them, which I really did not expect, I am described as a coward; but it turned out after all, that the writer did not accuse me of avoiding danger in the field of battle, or flying from an enemy, or fearing to look at the menaces of fate and fortune; he did not charge me with wanting presence of mind in the hurry of battle, and in the suspense of conflicting armies. No such thing; I wanted courage, it seems, because I did not coolly take a dose of poison, or throw myself into the sea, or blow out my brains-I have at least too much courage for that. Your papers are influenced by party principles; what one praises the other will abuse, vice versa. They who live in the metropolis where they are published can judge of passing events and transactions for themselves; but persons living at a distance from the capital, and particularly foreigners, must be at a loss to determine upon the real state of things, and the characters of public men, from the perusal of your journals.' "My unreserved language appeared to meet Napoleon's approbation; and he asked me, to my great surprise, if I remembered the history of Captain Wright? -I answered, 'perfectly well; and it was a prevailing opinion in England, that you ordered him to be murdered in the temple.' With the utmost rapidity of speech, he replied, For what object? Of all men he was the person whom I should have most desired to live whence could I have procured so valuable an evidence as he would have proved, on the trial of the conspirators, in and about Paris. The heads of it he himself had landed on the French coast. Listen,' continued Napoleon, and you shall hear. The English brig of war, commanded by Captain Wright, was employed by your government in landing traitors and spies in the west of France. Seventy of the number had actually reached Paris; and so mysterious were their proceedings, so veiled in impenetrable concealment, that General Réal, of the police, gave me this information, the name or place of their resort could not be discovered. I received daily assurances that my life would be attempted, and though I did not give entire credit to them, I took every precaution for my preservation. The brig was afterwards taken near L'Orient, with Captain Wright, its commander, who was carried before the prefect of the department of Morbeau, at Vannes: General Julian, then prefect, had accompanied me in the expedition to Egypt, and recognized Captain Wright on the first view of him. Intelligence of this circumstance was instantly transmitted to Paris; and instructions were expeditiously returned to consign them to trial. The law of France would have subjected Wright to the punishment of death for crimes of minor consideration. My grand object was to procure the principals, and I considered the English captain's evidence of the utmost consequence towards completing my object.' Napoleon again and again most solemnly asserted, that Captain Wright died in the temple by his own hand, as described in the Moniteur, and at a much earlier period than has been generally believed. "In the same conversation, Napoleon said, 'Your country also accuse me of the death of Pichegru.' I replied, 'It is most certainly and universally believed throughout the whole British empire, that he was strangled in prison by your orders.' He rapidly answered What idle, disingenuous folly! a fine proof how prejudice can destroy the boasted reasoning faculties of Englishmen! Why, I ask you, should that life be taken away in secret, which the law consigns into the hands of the public executioner? The matter would have been different with respect to Moreau. Had he died in a dungeon, there might have been grounds to justify the suspicion that he had been guilty of suicide. He was a very popular character, as well as much beloved by the army: and I should never have lost the odium, however guiltless I might have been, if the justice of his death, supposing his life to have been forfeited by the laws, had not been made apparent by the most public execution.'” London:-Printed by JosEP LAST, 3, Edwardstreet, Hampstead-road; and published by W. M. CLARK, 19, Warwick-lane, Paternosterrow; J. PATTIE, 17, High-street, Bloomsbury, and may be had, by order, of all Booksellers, in town and country. [DESTRUCTION OF THE ARSENAL AND STORE-HOUSE.) BEFORE recording the circumstances which relate to the bombardment of Algiers, in 1816, it will not be improper to notice the situation of the place, the nature and extent of its fortifications, and to give a short account of the attempts previously made to accomplish the results which followed that strikingly brilliant achievement. The town of Algiers is but little more than half a mile square-the inhabitants about one hundred and twenty thousand-surrounded by fortifications on Vauban's plan of a fort. The square covered by fortifications is not equal to a mile. The face of the wall fronting the sea equal to three-quarters of a mile; the sides projecting to the country the same; but the face towards the country about half a mile. At each of the four corners is a circular bastion, projecting far VOL. I. enough to command the aces of the small square batteries issuing from the curtain. The town is built along the sinuous part of a bay, or casual indenting of the coast, not running deep enough into the land to afford shelter; the shore is flat, and the water too shallow to serve for anchorage. The port is in the centre of the wall towards the sea; its construction is altogether artificial: an immensely strong wall is thrown out about 500 yards; at two hundred yards' distance further eastward, a mole one hundred yards long is thrown out: the wall, which is of extraordinary strength and width, is continued eastward, and bending inwards by two angles towards the mole, leaves an entrance, of about one hundred and fifty yards, to an irregular shaped basin, enclosing an. area of about ten acres. 2 A The pier or wall that embraces and forms the basin or port, is of the most massive construction, and its extensive fortifications, rising in tiers like the sides of a ship, present the most formidable offensive works to an assailing enemy. The walls are covered with guns, and the coast, right and left of the town, covered with batteries, as well to protect it against a landing, as to flank and gall an attack on the front of the place by sea. There are also many advanced works of irregular construction, and a citadel in the south-east angle of the city, occupying one of the corner bastions. At the formidable attempt made by Charles the Fifth, with a fleet of one hundred and twenty ships, twenty gallies, and an army of 30,000 men, added to the knights of Malta, he was enabled, by means of the gallies, to land his army and materiel, notwithstanding the flatness of the shore; but the natural consequence of lying on such a shore was, that the first heavy gale of wind drove all the fleet, the whole of which, in half an hour, were dispersed; and in the extremity of danger (except the Maltese, who, by their superior skill and equipment, maintained their position on the coast, to the admiration of the terrified army on shore, to whom they presented a solitary but slight prospect of salvation from the enemy), fifteen gallies and eighty-six ships of the emperor's totally perished: the loss of men consequent on the embarkation, under such circumstances, was immense. Although the Maltese contributed the most extensive co-operation of their navy, only four hundred and nine knights, each attended by two gentlemenat-arms, were permitted to serve in the army. These knights, in the spirit of chivalrous gallantry, to render themselves conspicuous, wore over their armour a surtout of crimson velvet, with the star of their order emblazoned in white on the front of their breast, and served as a rear guard, covering the whole of the embarkation, being themselves the last who went on board. On one occasion, a very formidable sortie having been made by the Algerines, a large body of troops were cut off; but the Maltese, rallying some detachments, repulsed the enemy so vigorously, that the Chevalier Sevignan, standard-bearer of the order, stuck his poignard into the gate of the city, and left it there as a memento. In 1601, the Spaniards made another attack on Algiers, which was supposed to be a fortunate expedition, because they came off without loss; but they effected nothing. In 1602, an English squadron, under Sir Robert Maxwell, was not more fortunate than the Spaniards the year before; but, in 1682, a French fleet bombarded the town, and set it in flames; and next year repeated the attack with increased vigour, procured the release of all the christian captives, and the payment of a heavy fine in money. Among the captives were several English, who, to the disgrace of the French nation, were sent back by Captain Damfreville, the French commissioner; after which, the fortifications were extended and increased. Since the possession of Gibraltar, in fear of our strength, and inclined to conciliatory measures, the depredations of the Algerines were carried on against all other christian powers; but they continued to respect the ships of this country. In 1775, the Spaniards made an unsuccessful attempt with upwards of twenty thousand troops, two hundred horse, forty-seven ships of war, and three hundred and forty transports. In 1784 and 1785, the same nation made two attacks, which only terminated in the expenditure of a vast quantity of ammunition. For a series of years, the pirates on the coast of Barbary had committed great depredations on almost every civilized state; and at length ventured to attack the English flag. Sir Thomas Maitland, the governor of Malta, proceeded, in consequence, to Tripoli, the government of which acceded to all that he proposed; and at Tunis every thing was amicably settled by negotiation. These arrangements, however, proving ineffectual, admiral lord Exmouth, with a portion of the Mediterranean fleet, proceeded, in the early part of the year 1816, first to Tunis, and then to Tripoli. At both these places, the deys appeared disposed to accede to any terms; and his lordship proposed a treaty, for ever prohibiting the making of Christian slaves, and that such prisoners as might be taken in war, should be treated according to the practice of civilized Europe. These stipulations were readily agreed to, treaties were signed, and the fleet returned to Algiers, where lord Exmouth proposed to the dey a similar treaty, against which, however, he made a firm and resolute stand. Lord Exmouth, therefore, departed from the interview with a determination to commence hostilities; on which the dey ordered the British consul, M'Donald, to be confined, and all the English vessels at Oran to be seized. Negotiations, how ever, were resumed, which ended in an agreement that three months should be allowed for obtaining the sanction of the Grand Seignior to the proposed treaty, and the Tagus frigate was appointed to take the dey's ambassador to Constantinople. Scarcely, however, had lord Exmouth reached England, when intelligence arrived of a new and horrible outrage, between three and four hundred Corsican, Neapolitan, and Sicilian fishing-boats, employed in the coral fishery, near Tunis, having been attacked by an Algerine frigate, the fortress of Bona also firing upon them. At the same time, a corps of cavalry from Bona charged them furiously, and the slaughter amongst these poor defenceless creatures was most dreadful. Finding it impracticable to bind the barbarians by treaties, it was at length resolved to take severe vengeance for their cruelty and perfidy; and lord Exmouth accordingly sailed from Plymouth, on the twenty-eighth of July, in the Queen Charlotte, of a hundred and ten guns, with four other ships of the line, five frigates, and several sloops, bombs, &c. Having rendezvoused at Gibraltar, where, he was joined by a Dutch squadron, his lordship proceeded on his voyage on the fourteenth of August. The Algerines, it appears, had, ever since the end of May, been preparing for the expected attack of our fleet, by removing every article of value from the town, which was well defended by about one thousand pieces of ordnance. The batteries were one above another, strongly constructed and fortified; and along a tongue of land, which defends the entrance into the inner part of the harbour, and also the approach to it, was a range of strong batteries, which our ships were obliged to pass, to take their station near the town, for the purpose of bombarding it. Lord Exmouth arrived on the twenty-seventh of August; and, all proposals for conciliation having proved ineffectual, the fleet passed the batteries, and at three o'clock in the afternoon the firing commenced. The Queen Charlotte took her station off the extreme point of the tongue, by which she enfiladed the whole line of batteries along it; and so near was she, that every part of the mole, and what was called the Marine, was visible from her quarterdeck. Both were crowded with spectators, and lord Exmouth waved his hat to them to retire, and signified that he was about to begin hostilities; but they did not attend to, or perhaps did not comprehend the meaning of, his humanely intended warning, and the consequence was, that our first broadside swept off from five hundred to one thousand of them. The most advanced of the Algerine navy was a brig, to which the Queen Charlotte lashed herself: closer in with the shore, in the bosom of the harbour, were two frigates, and the rest of the Algerine vessels behind them. The fury and tremendous nature of the bombardment will never be forgotten. It continued till nearly eleven; the Algerines fighting all the time with the utmost fury, but yet with great skill and effect. About ten, the land breeze came on, and it was deemed advisable to take a larger offing during the night. It was extremely dark; but the darkness was illuminated by a violent storm of lightning, with thunder, and by the incessant fire of the batteries. Next morning the city and harbour exhibited a terrible scene of desolation, four large Algerine frigates, five corvettes, a great number of smaller vessels of all descriptions, the magazines, arsenals, and a large quantity of marine stores, being destroyed; whilst their loss in men was between six and seven thousand the assailants had also to lament a loss in killed and wounded of more than eight hundred. Lord Exmouth now repeated with effect the proposals which had before been rejected, and the result of this splendid achievement was, that the dey agreed totally to abolish Christian slavery; to deliver up all the slaves in his dominions, to whatever nation they might belong; to return all the money that he had received for the redemption of slaves since the commencement of the year; and to make reparation and a public |