Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

where they were to cruise for the American ships,” assuring them that they
would “catch a dozen of them in a month provided they would follow his
directions.” 44
A correspondence from Dey Hassan Pasha to King George III dated
March 27, 1794 presented the events from an Algiers’ point of view. 45 The
letter looks as if it were an ultimatum to Britain. According to the Dey, Algiers
accepted to make a truce with Portugal, on demand of the British, on the
condition that it would be followed by a peace treaty. But a Portuguese envoy
notified him that it was not accepted because it was made by the British “to
please themselves.” The Dey asserted the British did respect their engagement
and as reparation they had to open the port of Gibraltar for Algiers too or close
if for the Portuguese. The Dey also complained about some misdeeds of the
Portuguese and British cruisers that shot and damaged Algerian vessels “for
pleasure” as he reported them saying and added:
but if you say that as Christians you will Absolutely Protect them Your
Friendship becomes useless to us… and if we newly learn that the
Portuguese ships have entered Your Port We will break the Peace and
send away Your Consul.” 46
As might be expected, Britain did not take the Dey’s ultimatum seriously.
Besides, the King did not reply to “several letters which Hassan Bashaw had
44 Extract from Joel Barlow’s letter of February 23, 1796 in James Monroe, The Writings of James
Monroe, Including a Collection of his Public and Private Papers and Correspondence, edited by
Stanislaus M. Hamilton, vol. 2 (New York/London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1899), p. 489.
45 The letter was reproduced for the first time in American writings in Parker’s Uncle Sam in Barbary;
Parker refers to the source of the letter as “PRO FO 95 1/3, items 192 and 193. Item 192 is a formal
Arabic document with the Dey’s Tughra, his official signature; 193 is the [English] translation.” For
the latter see Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary, pp. 231-32; also reproduced in Appendix 8.
46 Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary, p. 232.
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