e was made to publicly
apologize to the unfortunate McDonell, who had been confined during
the siege half naked in the cell for condemned murderers, loaded with
chains, fastened to the wall, exposed to the heavy rain, and
momentarily expecting his doom. He was now reinstated, and publicly
thanked by the admiral.

It was, indeed, satisfactory to have at last administered some
salutary discipline to the insolent robbers of Algiers; but it had
been well if the lesson had been final. Their fleet was certainly
gone: they had but two vessels left. Their fortifications were
severely damaged, but these were soon repaired. No doubt it was no
small advantage to have demonstrated that their batteries could be
turned and silenced; but it would have been better to have taken care
that they should never mount another gun. Even the moral effect of the
victory seems to have been shortlived, for when, in 1819, in pursuance
of certain resolutions expressed at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle
(1818) the French and English admirals delivered "identical notes" to
the new Dey, that potentate replied after his manner by throwing up
earthworks.

As a matter of fact the same course of insolence and violence
continued after the Battle of Algiers as before. Free European girls
were carried off by the Dey; the British consulate was forced open,
and even the women's rooms searched; Mr. McDonell was still
victimized; and the diplomacy and a little fancy firing of Sir Harry
Neale in 1824 failed to produce the least effect. Mr. McDonell had to
be recalled, and the Dey as usual had his own way. Nothing but
downright conquest could stop the plague, and that final measure was
reserved for another nation than the English.

FOOTNOTES:

[90] Broadley, 85-6.

[91] Playfair, 256.

[92] Lord Exmouth's Despatch, August 26, 1816. See also the American
Consul Shaler's Report to his Government, September 13th, quoted by
Playfair, 269-72. The bombardment destroyed a large part of Mr.
Shaler's house, and shells were perpetually whizzing by his ears. His
report is full of graphic details, and he was always a true friend of
the unlucky McDonell. It is stated that the fleet fired 118 tons of
powder, 50,000 shot, nearly 1,000 shells, &c. The English lost 128
killed and 690 wounded. The admiral was wounded in three places, his
telescope broken in his hand, and his coat cut to strips. Nor was the
Dey less forward at the post of danger.

XXII.

THE FREN