tion, and ceding to circumstances, accepted the terms of peace offered to him, by the victor. If he has since equivocated upon that peace, and demonstrated a disposition to renew the war, it Qught rather to be attributed to misrepresentation here, and to a policy in which Algiers has been too long indulged, and in which she has always found her account, than to absolute bad faith in the Bashaw. Holland being at the same time at war with the regency, her squadron arrived here a short time after ours, but their conduct tended rather to aid the Dey in his design of raising the drooping spirits of Algiers, than to forward their object of making an honourable peace. In the course of that summer he sent his fleet to sea in defiance of the Dutch.

It seems that the legitimate proprietors of mankind after restoring the golden age in Europe, and paying due attention to the rights of the citizens of Congo and Mosambique, believed it incumbent upon them to adopt measures for something like marritime liberty, and the suppression of the white slave trade on the coast of Barbary. Great Britain having in all probability good reasons for wishing to prevent such affairs from becoming a general question in the council of sovereigns, detached lord Exmouth here with a powerful fleet in the month of April 1816, who, with much parade and ostentation, concluded peace between Algiers and the kings of Naples and Sardinia. The conditions of this peace, it is true, provided for the gradual emancipation in the course of two years, of the slaves of those two powers, for the consideration of about a million of dollars to be paid by them to Algiers, and becoming their tributaries. It is remarkable that the first positive demonstration of hostility to the United States since the peace, was shown a few days after the conclusion of this treaty. As you were present at this affair, you know that although the pretensions of the bashaw might be unfounded, his conduct and deportment in the negociation which terminated it, was magnanimous and honourable. To the engagements which he made then, he has been most religiously faithful.

On the receipt in Europe of the news of the negociations by lord Exmouth, it excited univeral indignation, and brought upon the British government the imputation of entertaining views relative to Barbary, interested and oppressive to other nations. In consequence, the same nobleman arrived here again with his fleet in the month of May following. What was the exact tenor of the propositions made to the regency on that occasion, cannot be known here, but it appears evident that they contained conditions subversive of those which had been solemnly stipulated one month previous. Such inconsistent conduct might have embarrassed a more enlightened cabinet than that of Algiers. The Dey on this occasion acted with great pru dence, he laid the affair not only before the divan, but also before the soldiers in the barracks, who unanimously agreed to support him. He then replied to lord Exmouth, that as the regency of Algiers was a dependency of the Ottoman porte, he could not re

ply to his proposition before consulting his Suzerain, the grand signor. Lord Exmouth threatened to attack and destroy Algiers, if he persisted in his refusal to agree to his demands, and very imperiously gave him three hours to reply in. The bashaw then reproached him with the puerile inconsistency of his conduct, which precluded any reliance upon whatever engagement he might make with him, and rejected his propositions. Lord Exmouth then retired on board, from whence he again gave notice of his intention to attack the place. The bashaw appears at this time to have regarded a war with England as actually began, and amongst other mea sures of safety, he dispatched couriers to Bona and Oran, with orders to arrest all British subjects or persons under the British protection in those places. These orders were executed with excessive rigour at the former place, where was a great number of Italians engaged in the coral fisheries, under British license and protection. These persons resisted the orders of the Algerine gor vernment, and in consequence many of them were massacred. This affair was however settled without hostilities. Lord Exmouth finding that he could not intimidate, agreed to allow the time necessary to consult the Ottoman government upon the points of dis pute. Thus did Omar, by his correct judgment and firmness, extricate himself from a difficulty which seemed to threaten his government with the most serious consequences.

Omar on his accession to sovereign power, had not neglected to send ambassadors to Constantinople, to explain and disavow the hostile conduct of his predecessor. He had been long engaged in collecting presents of great magnificence for the same destination, and a British frigate was now placed at his disposal to convey those presents to Constantinople, which would seem to indicate that the late arrangement was at least a friendly one. Shortly af ter this affair, arrived a Capidgi Bashi, or commissary of the Porte, with the caftan and sabre, with which the deys of Algiers are usually invested by the grand seignor after their election, and which is a recognition of their legitimacy. This in his actual situation was a very agreeable occurrence.

The last treaty, or convention, concluded by lord Exmouth does not appear to have been more satisfactory in Europe than the first, and as the national honour of Great Britain had been most cruelly committed in it, the ministry determined on a third expedition to Algiers. The massacre at Bona consequent to the orders of the bashaw to arrest all persons then under British protection, was a principal pretext for this war. Those orders were a common measure of safety, rendered necessary by the wanton menaces of the British commander. Those people resisted an order of the Algerine government to arrest and secure their persons: they were consequently reduced by force of arms, as they would have been in any other country in similar circumstances. Therefore this cannot be regarded as a just cause of war; and lord Exmouth had declared himself satisfied with the reparation made

him for the insults received by him and his officers, from the populace of Algiers in May; as a proof of this, he exchanged swords with the bashaw, and accepted a present of a horse from him. There was therefore no new cause of war, and if these transactions are ever fully made public, they must place the British government in a very ridiculous point of view. Whether the Turkish practice of confining ambassadors and other public agents in the castle of the seven towers on the breaking out of war-that which is sometimes adopted by civilized governments, of waylaying, and murdering them, in order to seize their papers-or finally, the unsteady, and uncandid conduct of Great Britain towards Algiers since the month of April 1816-be a sufficient excuse for the dey in violating the laws of nations in the person of the British consul, by arresting, and confining him in chains previous to the battle-I leave to the judgement of those who are better versed in such matters than I am. A proof that this outrage was not regarded in a very serious light at the time, is that no adequate reparation to the consul was insisted upon by the British negociator, for the indignities which he had suffered, and his name was not even mentioned in the public despatches which gave an account of the battle and subsequent peace. During the battle of the 27th of August, the conduct of Omar was that of a brave and judicious man; perhaps the only fault he committed was that of not firing upon the enemy's ships before they took their positions. He was always at the post of danger, and continued the fight until any longer resistance was vain. In the subsequent negociation, he maintained the same calmness of temper that he is so remarkable for, requesting of the British negociator that he would as a favour, inform him once for all, the extent of the claims of his government upon him.

It must be admitted that the man who always shows himself equal to the circumstances in which fortune places him, cannot want capacity. The results of the battle of the 27th August afforded Omar an opportunity of demonstrating the firmness of his mind, and of developing his great abilities for business. The Algerines may with justice, be characterised as a turbulent, factiousand superstitious banditti. Their fleet was destroyed, their military works laid in ruins: their political existence seemed to be actually eclipsed. They had long entertained the opinion that their chief was unfortunate, a prejudice which a dey of Algiers seldom survives for any length of time, and on this occasion they shew the most unequivocal disposition to sacrifice him to their despair. Omar, aware of his danger, visited the barracks, and harangued the soldiers. He represented to them, that although their misfortunes were great, they were not irreparable; that they had still great resources, by a prudent use of which, with courage, and patience, many things might be restored upon a footing even better than ever. That by disunion amongst themselves every thing might be inevitably lost. That if they believed him to be an obstacle to

the restoration of the power of Algiers, he then offered himself to them as a victim. This discourse, together with a judicious distribution of presents, and the influence of his friends, most effectually quelled a fermentation, which if neglected, might have terminated in the most violent excesses, and the total ruin of the Turkish domination in Algiers. In the mean time he brought workmen and materials from the remotest part of his dominions, and through the most indefatigable activity, superintending every thing in person, he actually replaced Algiers by the middle of December following, in a better state of defence than it ever was. At the same time he cleared the port of all the wrecks; purchased and equipped four capital cruizers; laid a sloop of war upon the stocks: and took such other measures as must in a short time render the maritime power of Algiers, more efficient than ever; for as it never can be regarded in any other light than as a piratical power, light fast sailing cruizers are obviously more to be dreaded than heavy frigates; as being less tangible, and equally mischievous to commerce. Of the subsequent negotiations with us, you are informed. You know that the Bashaw supported his reputation there as a man of capacity and honor.

I shall finish this long article by noticing several traits in the character of Omar, which attest his clemency, and do much honor to his dispositions as a man.-In the latter part of the year 1815 a conspiracy was formed against him, at the head of which was Abdalla, then minister of Marine. This man had been a chief of banditti in the neighbourhood of Smyrna; subsequently here, the confidant and instrument of the sanguinary cruelties of Hadgi Ali, whom he afterwards murdered with his own hands as a partizan of Omar, who in consequence promoted him to the post of high Chamberlain; and afterwards to that of Vic Ric Hadgi, or minister of Marine. It is not known that Abdalla possessed a single respectable quality. In him avarice, cruelty, vindictiveness, and brutal ignorance, were associated with inordinate ambition. Fortunately the plan to murder the Dey and place the supreme power in the hands of this monster was discovered in time, and he was arrested on the 12th of December of that year. Instead of taking his life, which is the usual course in such cases in Algiers, this wretch was embarked with his family and effects for the Levant, at the expense of the Regency, by order of the Bashaw, and his real property given to his brother, who is a man of respectable character. The man who succeeded him in the administration of the Marine, was not either distinguished by any respectable quality. Ignorance and brutality were his leading characteristics. In the battle of the 27th of August he was accused of connivance with the enemy, and his head was demanded with clamorous violence. Omar ordered him confined. The British negociator afterwards appeared disposed to consider this minister as the author of the indignities which had been heaped upon the British Consul and his family, to which Omar with great magnanimity, reVOL. X.

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plied, that his minister had acted according to orders which he had received from him. Never did the affairs of a Dey of Algiers more imperiously demand a victim than on this occasion. Yet Omar refused to take his life, and on the first occasion embarked him with his family for the Levant.

On his accession to supreme authority Omar had sent for his mother and a remaining brother, who arrived here in the summer of 1816. It appears that he must have regarded his situation here as precarious, for his brother returned immediately after the battle, and in the month of February following he embarked his mother and his eldest son, on board of a Swedish vessel chartered for the purpose, to return to Mitylene. On the departure of this vessel, he sent for the Swedish Captain in company with the Consul; he made the former a very magnificent present, and recommended to his particular care and attention, his mother and son, as the dearest objects of his solicitude. On this occasion he could not restrain his tears which, flowed in abundance. Here I take leave of Omar. It is possible that the two former instances of clemency, may be differently accounted for upon principles of state policy, but the latter cannot be misinterpreted. This impartial sketch of a character, can only be appreciated by considering what a Dey of Algiers usually is. To the most brutal violence, atrocity, and insolence, has succeeded in the person of Omar, at least a semblance of propriety, decency, and decorum. Yours, S.

OUTLINES OF GEOLOGY.

ART. III.-1. Outlines of Geology; being the Substance of a Course of Lectures delivered in the Theatre of the Royal Institution in the Year 1816. By William Thomas Brande, Secretary to the Royal Society of London; Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, &c. &c. &c. 8vo. 7s. 6d. Murray. 1817.

2. A Journal of Science and the Arts. No. V. Edited at the Royal Institution. Murray. 1817.

[MR. BRANDE'S outlines of Geology have but recently reached this country; the fifth number of the Journal of Science and the Arts, we have had for some time. The following review of these publications is not very favourable to Mr. Brande's labours, but it is so manifestly drawn up with competent knowledge of the subject, that our readers interested in the modern Science of Mineralogy, will be glad to see an English estimate of Mr. Brande's pretensions.]

[From the British Critic.] PREFIXED to the second of the publication which we have placed at the head of our article, is an Essay "on the advancement of science as connected with the rise and progress of the Royal Institution;" and we think it right to state in the outset, that it is solely to the said essay, or retrospect, or eulogium, for we know not well how to fit it with an appellation, that our remarks are to be directed. Our object too in fixing upon this pro