Thus far I have followed the history of military expeditions. War has been our melancholy burden. But peaceful measures were employed to procure the _redemption_ of slaves, and money sometimes accomplished what was vainly attempted by the sword. In furtherance of this object, missions were often sent which could not be disregarded. These sometimes had a formal diplomatic organization; sometimes they consisted of fathers of the Church, who held it a sacred office to open the prison-doors and let the captives go free.[62] It was through the intervention of superiors of the Order of the Holy Trinity, dispatched to Algiers by Philip the Second of Spain, that Cervantes obtained his ransom; in 1580.[63] Expeditions of commerce often served to promote similar designs of charity; and England, forgetting or distrusting all her sleeping thunder, sometimes condescended to barter articles of merchandise for the liberty of her subjects.[64] [62] To the relations of these missions we are indebted for works of interest on the Barbary States, some of which I am able to mention. Busnot, _Histoire du Règne de Muley Ismael_, à Rouen, 1714. This is by a father of the Holy Trinity, and was translated into English. J.B. de la Faye, _Relation, en Forme de Journal, du Voyage aux Royaumes de Tunis et d'Alger pour la Rédemption des Captifs_, à Paris, 1726. _Voyage to Barbary for the Redemption of Captives in 1720, by the Mathurin-Trinitarian Fathers_, London, 1735. This is a translation from the French. Braithwaite's _History of the Revolutions in the Empire of Morocco_, London, 1729. This contains a journal of the mission of John Russel, Esq., from the English government, to obtain the liberation of slaves in Morocco. The expedition was thoroughly equipped. "The Moors," says the author, "find plenty of everything but drink, but for that the English generally take care of themselves; for, besides chairs, tables, knives, forks, plates, table-linen, &c., we had two or three mules loaded with wine, brandy, sugar, and utensils for punch."--p. 82. [63] Roscoe, Life of Cervantes, p. 43. [64] Witness an illustrative record. "The following goods, designed as a present from his Majesty to the Dey of Algiers, to redeem near one hundred English captives lately taken, were entered at the custom-house, viz.: 20 pieces of broadcloth, 2 pieces of brocade, 2 pieces of silver tabby, 1 piece of green damask, 8 pieces of Holland, 16 pieces of cambric, a gold repeating watch, 4 silver ditto, 20 pound of tea, 300 of loaf-sugar, 5 fusees, 5 pair of pistols, an escrutoire, 2 clocks, and a box of toys."--Gentleman's Magazine, 1734, Vol. IV. p. 104.