lf on the 14th of January, 1675, in an attack by
the boats of the fleet upon four corsair men o' war moored under
the very guns of the castle and fort of Tripoli. The exploit was a
successful one, the ships were all burned, and most of their crews
slain. Another encounter with the fleet of Tripoli took place in
February, when the pirates were again defeated, and the bey forced to
grant all the English demands.

In 1677 the fleet returned to England, and with it Mordaunt, who had
during his absence succeeded to his father's title and estates, John
Lord Mordaunt having died on the 5th of June, 1675. Shortly after his
return to England Lord Mordaunt, though still but twenty years
old, married a daughter of Sir Alexander Fraser. But his spirit was
altogether unsuited to the quiet enjoyment of domestic life, and at the
end of September, 1678, he went out as a volunteer in his majesty's ship
Bristol, which was on the point of sailing for the Mediterranean to
take part in an expedition fitting out for the relief of Tangier, then
besieged by the Moors. Nothing, however, came of the expedition, and
Mordaunt returned to England in the autumn of 1679.

In June, 1680, he again sailed for Tangier with a small expedition
commanded by the Earl of Plymouth. The expedition succeeded in throwing
themselves into the besieged town, and continued the defense with vigor,
and Mordaunt again distinguished himself; but he soon wearied of
the monotony of a long siege, and before the end of the year found
opportunity to return to England, where he plunged into politics and
became one of the leaders of the party formed to exclude the Duke of
York from the throne.

Although a close friend of Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney he had
fortunately for himself not been admitted to the fatal privilege of
their private councils, and therefore escaped the fate which befell
them. He continued his friendship with them to the last, and accompanied
Algernon Sidney to the scaffold. But even while throwing himself heart
and soul into politics he was continually indulging in wild freaks which
rendered him the talk of the town.

On the accession of King James he made his first speech in the House of
Peers against a standing army, and distinguished himself alike by the
eloquence and violence of his language. He was now under the displeasure
of the court, and his profuse generosity had brought him into pecuniary
trouble. In 1686, therefore, he quitted England wit