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.
Private effort often secured the liberation of slaves. Friends at
home naturally exerted themselves, and many families were straitened
by generous contributions for this purpose. The widowed mother
of Cervantes sacrificed the entire pittance that remained to her,
including the dowry of her daughters, to aid the emancipation of her
son. An Englishman, of whose doleful captivity there is a record in
the memoirs of his son, obtained his redemption through the earnest
efforts of his wife at home. "She resolved," says the story, "to use
all the means that lay in her power for his freedom, though she left
nothing for herself and children to subsist upon. She was forced to
put to sale, as she did, some plate, gold rings, and bracelets, and
some part of her household goods, to make up his ransom, which came
to about one hundred and fifty pounds sterling."[65] In 1642 four
French brothers were ransomed at the price of six thousand dollars.
At this same period the sum exacted for the poorest Spaniard was "a
thousand shillings," while the Genoese, "if under twenty-two years of
age, were freed for a hundred pounds sterling."[66] These charitable
efforts were aided by the co-operation of benevolent persons. George
Fox interceded for several Quakers, slaves in Algiers, writing "a book
to the Grand Sultan and the king at Algiers, wherein he laid before
them their indecent behavior and unreasonable dealings, showing them
from their Alcoran that this displeased God, and that Mahomet had given
them other directions." Here was the customary plainness of the Quaker.
Some time elapsed before an opportunity was found to redeem them; "but
in the mean while they so faithfully served their masters, that they
were suffered to go loose through the town, without being chained or
fettered."[67]
[65] Memoirs of Abraham Brown, MS.
[66] Relation of Seven Years Slavery: Osborne's Voyages, Vol. II.
p. 489.
[67] Sewel's History of the Quakers, p. 397.
As early as the thirteenth century, under the sanction of Pope
Innocent the Third, an important association was organized to
promote emancipation. This was known as the _Society of the Fathers
of Redemption_.[68] During many successive generations its blessed
labors were continued, amidst the praise and sympathy of generous
men. History, undertaking to recount its origin, and filled with a
grateful sense of its extraordinary merits, attributed it to the
inspiration of an angel in the sky, clothed in resplendent light,
holding a Christian captive in the right hand and a Moor in the left.
The pious Spaniard who narrates the marvel earnestly declares that
this institution of beneficence was the work, not of men, but of the
great God alone; and he dwells, with more than the warmth of history,
on the glory filling the lives of its associates, surpassing far that
of a Roman triumph; for they share the name as well as the labors of
the Redeemer of the world, to whose spirit they are heirs, and to
whose works they are successors. "Lucullus," he says, "affirmed that
it were better to liberate a single Roman from the hands of the enemy
than to gain all their wealth; but how much greater the gain, more
excellent the glory, and more than human is it to redeem a captive!
For whosoever redeems him liberates him not alone from one death,
but from death in a thousand ways, and those ever present, and also
from a thousand afflictions, a thousand miseries, a thousand torments
and fearful travails, more cruel than death itself."[69] The genius
of Cervantes has left a record of his gratitude to this Antislavery
Society,[70]--herald of others whose mission is not yet finished.
Throughout Spain annual contributions for it continued to be taken
during many years. Nor in Spain only did it awaken sympathy. In
Italy and France also it labored successfully; and as late as 1748,
inspired by a similar catholic spirit, if not by its example, a
proposition appeared in England to "form a _society_ to carry on the
truly charitable design" of emancipating sixty-four English slaves in
Morocco.[71]
[68] Biot, De l'Abolition de l'Esclavage Ancien en Occident, p. 437.
[69] Haedo, Dialogo I. de la Captividad: Historia de Argel, pp
142-144.
[70] Roscoe, Life of Cervantes, p. 50. See his story of _Española
Inglesa_.
[71] Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XVIII. p. 413.