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

to send him to the United States was that the Regency had so often been abused
by the agents of the United States that “he had no confidence in their promises”
and that “he did not believe that the United States would satisfy them [his
specifications of the frigate].” 123
Today, it is well known from the abovementioned
letter Barlow wrote to Pickering that Cathcart’s “departure was the
result of a Machiavellian plot by Barlow” who considered him as “an irritant in
the peace process,” a plot which he carried with the help of Bacri. 124 The
departure of Cathcart was, once more, one of those many deceitful stratagems
Barlow used to cover up on the never-ending delays on the part of the United
States in honoring its financial pledges:
I thought it probable that if he [the Dey] could be engaged, as from his
own mere motion, to send this man [Cathcart] to America on the subject
of the peace presents and annual tribute it would give him a new turn to
his contemplations. He would be looking to America for answers and
arrivals, instead of counting the days in which he was looking for me for
money… 125
As for the plot to send Cathcart away, he wrote:
The Jew [Bacri] hated Cathcart and wished him away. This was
sufficient for the Jew. And I engaged him to hint the matter to the Dey
in such a manner as that he should conceive the project to be his own. …
The plan was properly managed at that time, and Cathcart was sent …
without expense to the U.S. 126
With Cathcart who so far acted as a fair broker between the Dey and the
American agents out of the frame, Barlow gave full liberty to what the Dey
123 Cathcart, The Captives, pp. 264-65.
124 Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary, p. 114-15; Barnby, Prisoners of Algiers, pp. 276-79. About Barlow’s
deed, Parker commented: for “dispens[ing] with the services of the most knowledgeable American in
Algiers,” meaning Cathcart, a modern management expert might give Barlow a D, or may be an F.”
125 NDBW, 1:165, Barlow to Secretary of State, July 12, 1796.
126 Ibid.
329