When the morning broke, the admiral found that he had brought the Dey to reason. Having first beheaded his prime minister, that potentate released the British Consul and the boat's crew he had detained before the action, handed over the ransom money he had extorted from captured subjects of Naples and Sardinia in exchange for their freedom, amounting to no less than 382,000 dollars, and undertook, 'in the presence of Almighty God,' to release all Christian slaves in his dominions, to abandon the enslavement of Christians for the future, and to treat all prisoners of war with humanity until regularly exchanged, according to European practice in like cases. About 1200 slaves, the bulk of them Neapolitans and Sicilians, were embarked on the 31st, making, with those liberated a few weeks before, more than 3000 persons whom Lord Exmouth thus had the satisfaction of delivering from slavery. He sailed away from the city without leaving a single Christian slave, so far as could be gathered, in either of the Barbary States. Charles Yorke's conduct at this engagement was fully recognised by Captain Brisbane, who, when the young midshipman came to leave the _Queen Charlotte_ a few months later, wrote his certificate in the following terms: * * * * * 'These are to certify the principal officers and commissioners of His Majesty's navy that Mr. Charles Philip Yorke served as midshipman on board H.M.S. _Queen Charlotte_ from the 11th day of July to the 16th October 1816, during which time he behaved with diligence and sobriety, and was always obedient to command. His conduct at the battle of Algiers was active, spirited, and highly meritorious. '(Signed) JAMES BRISBANE, '_Captain._' * * * * * Charles Yorke's share in this action, together with his later services, is recorded on a tablet, next to a similar one to Lord Exmouth, in the English chapel at Algiers, by his daughter, the writer of the present memoir. It may be added that he always cherished the memory of the distinguished admiral under whom he served on this occasion, and that in later years he purchased from Sir William Beechy's studio a portrait of Lord Exmouth on his quarter-deck at Algiers, in full dress and orders as the naval fashion then was, which hung on the great staircase at Wimpole. Still in his seventeenth year, Charles Yorke had not yet served long enough for promotion, and was transferred on October 17 of the same year, 1816, to the _Leander_, commanded by Sir David Milne, who had been second in command at Algiers, and was then under orders for the North American station at Halifax, where the _Leander_ shortly sailed. CHAPTER III THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION. 1817-1822