[Footnote 41: Hume says, (vol. vii. p. 529, chap, lxi.,) "No English fleet, except during the Crusades, _had ever before sailed in those seas_." He forgot, or was not aware of the expedition of Sir John Mansel already mentioned, (_ante_, p. 224,) which was elaborately debated in the Privy Council as early as 1617, three years before it was finally undertaken, and which was the subject of a special work. See Southey's Naval History of England, vol. v. pp. 149-157.] [Footnote 42: Thurloe's State Papers, vol. iii. p. 527.] [Footnote 43: 2 Carlyle's Letters and Speeches of Cromwell, vol. ii. p. 235, part ix. speech v.] [Illustration] To my mind no single circumstance gives a higher impression of the vigilance with which the Protector guarded his subjects than this effort, to which Waller, with the "smooth" line for which he is memorable, aptly alludes, as _telling dreadful news To all that piracy and rapine use_. His vigorous sway was followed by the effeminate tyranny of Charles the Second, whose restoration was inaugurated by an unsuccessful expedition against Algiers under Lord Sandwich. This was soon followed by another, with a more favorable result, under Admiral Lawson.[44] By a treaty bearing date May 3d, 1662, the piratical government expressly stipulated, "that all subjects of the King of Great Britain, now slaves in Algiers, or any of the territories thereof, be set at liberty, and released, upon paying the price they were first sold for in the market; and for the time to come no subjects of his Majesty shall be bought or sold, or made slaves of, in Algiers or its territories."[45] Other expeditions ensued, and other treaties in 1664, 1672, 1682, and 1686--showing, by their constant recurrence and iteration, the little impression produced upon those barbarians.[46] Insensible to justice and freedom, they naturally held in slight regard the obligations of fidelity to any stipulations in restraint of robbery and slaveholding. [Footnote 44: Rapin's History of England, vol. ii. pp. 858, 864.] [Footnote 45: _Recueil des Traitez de Paix_, tom. iv. p. 43.] [Footnote 46: Ibid. pp. 307, 476, 703, 756.] During a long succession of years, complaints of the sufferings of English captives continued to be made. An earnest spirit, in 1748, found expression in these words:-- O, how can Britain's sons regardless hear The prayers, sighs, groans (immortal infamy!) Of fellow-Britons, with oppression sunk, In bitterness of soul demanding aid, Calling on Britain, their dear native land, The land of liberty![47] But during all this time, the slavery of blacks, transported to the colonies under the British flag, still continued. [Footnote 47: The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 531.]