Bernstorff proposed to Count Laurvig, the head of the Admiralty, that the squadron should be composed of three men-of-war, two frigates, and two bomb-ketches; and Laurvig, without consulting with his colleagues, decided that this force was sufficient. As Denmark possessed no bomb-ketches, merchantmen were purchased and fitted up for the purpose, which considerably delayed the expedition; and Kaas was not able to leave the Baltic till 1770. On arriving off Algiers, he first hoisted a white flag, and the dey sent off a Christian consul to ask what he wanted. He answered that he demanded peace, reparation for injuries inflicted on his nation, and the expenses of the expedition. The envoy from the Porte, who was landed, was hardly listened to, because he spoke on behalf of a master who was engaged elsewhere, and who was not feared. The negotiation being at once broken off, Kaas began throwing shells into the city, and firing at the batteries, but with so little effect, that the Algerines, in mockery, brought their children down to the beach to fire pistols in reply to the Danish bomb-ketches. After throwing in seventy-four shells, the admiral held a council of war, in which he showed that the ketches were too weak for the duty; that the seams were beginning to open; that the vessels would suffer more harm from the guns of the forts than they inflicted on the ramparts; and it was unanimously decided that they must retire to Mahon and refit. The most important of the cabinet orders issued, however, was the one that abolished the censorship, and rendered the press perfectly free. The king--such was the reason given for a decree which entailed terrible consequences--was of opinion that it was injurious to the impartial examination of the truth, and prevented the uprooting of antiquated errors, if honest-minded patriots, who felt anxious about the general welfare and the true benefit of their fellow-citizens, were unable to express their views and convictions openly through the press, assail abuses, and show up prejudices. Hence his Majesty had determined to introduce unbounded freedom of the press in all the countries beneath his sceptre, so that, henceforth, no one would be obliged to subject books and pamphlets, which he intended to print, to the previous examination and opinion of the censor.