The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-16 00:00:00

OCCUPATION OF ALGIERS.

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LETTER OF MARSHAL BOURMONT TO THE EDITOg OF TAE
I
• . GAZETTE DU MiDL
, .
Viiirfio, July 26.
t o 8 write.
tohi v emieT erespveeic respectingthe r
occupation
he getter Whk fi l.
Y 6
dlof d ii
Algiers, i( i c h a
° rf'
.°n%' r
hasten to answer it by informing you of all that I know on the
subject. Had I less confidence in you than I have, I shontd.
be as little reserted; for tl7e have ntithitig id tdtlai 611 a qunsg
timi iii which we agted With fritnkneSS rid eirrgy:
Before undertaking the conquest dr AlgierS) the devii:n-
meet of the King instructed General Guilleminot, then Atli.
bassador of France at Constantinople, to request of the Porte
to exert its authority over the Dey, and to punish the offence
he had offered the King, in the person of his Consul.
The Turkish Government replied that it had long since lost
all authority over . Algiers, and that it had no means of ob.
taining from the Dey the redress of the grievances complained
of by France.
This declaration, of course, implied that the Porte consi-
dered Algeria independent de facto, that a nominal supremacy
over that State was all that remained to the Turkish Govern-
ment. Previous events proved besides that all the Christian
Powers regarded the Dey of Algiers as a Prince independent
of the Porte, since all had waged war on him, without the in-
terference of the Sultan in the conflict, and had concluded
treaties with Algiers without his assent.
It might, nevertheless, be possible that General Guille-
minot, who continued as our Ambassador in Constantinople
after the revolution of July, had been authorized by the Mi_
nister for Foreign Affairs to ascertain what compensation the
Sultan might require for his nominal right to the sovereignty
of Algiers. If such were the case, it would be an additional
proof of the intention of Charles X. to consolidate his con-
quest, by indemnifying the Porte for the cession of its
rights, and thereby rendering the colonization more prac-
ticable. The despatches which General Guilleminot may
have received at the time were not communicated to me,
but I am convinced that the Cabinet of Charles X. never
intended to abandon Algeria. Moreover, General. Guille.
minot could not receive such a despatch from the Ministry of
Charles X. before the month of August, 1830, after the events
of July; and then lie may have probably deferred making the
required overture until he should have consulted the new Go-
vernment.

When Tahir Pacha came to Toulon to offer the good offices
of the Porte, and to punish the Dey of Algiers, his offers were
rejected however, and the expedition sailed for Africa. The
Government, it is true, had then a double motive for pressing
the expedition, for had it waited to hear the propositions of the
Envoy of the Sultan, the conquest could not have taken place
in 1830, and all the expenses incurred to prepare the arma-
ment would have been a dead loss. No engagement was en-
tered into, and in acting as we did, the expenses were more
than covered by the treasure, the artillery, vessels, and goods
captured at Algiers.
Finally, on the Ist of August, 1830, the whole cost of the
expedition amounted to only 32,000,000 f. (1,280,0001. ster-
ling). We found in the treasury of the Dey 48,600,0001.
(1,944,0001.) in gold and silver specie, and we took 1,900
pieces of cannon, frigates, armed corvettes, gunpowder, iron,
copper, wool, linen, and other goods for 20 odd millions
(800,0001. more, in all 2,744,0001.) Thus, all the expenses
cleared, the Treasury must have had a surplus of about
40,000,000 f. (1,600,0000, a sum which, in my opinion, was
more than adequate at the time to preserve the country, to
place the colonization on a fixed and solid basis, and to lay
for France the foundation of an immense prosperity. Such
has ever been my personal opinion.
I can assure you, that when I left Paris for the conquest of
Algeria, the King's object was to avenge an insult offered to
France, and to destroy piracy and the slavery of Christians,
should the Almighty permit our arms to be crowned with suc-
cess. The question of restoring Algiers to the Porte after
its conquest, was never once agitated in the Council of Charles
X., for every body knew that piracy and slavery would re-
commence the moment when Algiers should be restored to that
Power. The Council deliberated on the question of coloni-
zation, but without adopting any plan. It debated whether
Algiers should be made a military colony, or thrown open to
French colonists exclusively, or to natives of all nations whose
shores were bathed with the Mediterranean, or to all
foreigners without distinction, who should acknowledge and
obey the authority of the French Government. This cer-
tainly did not denote an intention to abandon the country.
The account of the taking of Algiers only reached Paris on
the 10th of July, and, on the 25th, the capital witnessed the
commencement of the disturbances, which led to the abdica-
tion of Charles X., and the surrender made by Louis XIX.
of his rights to the throne in favour of the Duke of Bordeaux.
I have no reason to believe that, during that interval, the
Cabinet of the Tuileries evinced any desire to abandon the
conquest, and thus defeat the object the King had proposed to
himself in ordering the expedition.
But it is evident that Charles X. persevered in his first in-
tentions, since, after receiving intelligence of the fall of
Algiers, orders were transmitted to Admiral Rosamel to
proceed, with a squadron, to Tunis and Tripoli, and require
from those two regencies-Ist, The redress of the grievances
that France had complained of. 2d, A pledge that
they should never have a greater number of vessels in
the service than they possessed at that time (which engage-
ment was specified in a declaration signed by Admiral Ro-
samel). 3dly, Never to wage war on any Christian nation,
unless the latter were at war with the Porte. 4thly, Not to
allow, in any case, their vessels to capture those of Christian
nations, or to reduce Christians to slavery. The Beys of
Tunis and Tripoli bound themselves, besides, to protect the
lives, liberty, and property of Christians wrecked on the
coast of both regencies, and agreed, in the event of a
single man of the crews being put to death by the natives,
to pay as an indemnity the price of the vessel and cargo,
and, if two men were killed, double the value of the vessel
and cargo.

Admiral Rosamel returned to Algiers, with those treaties
signed. They were forwarded to Paris, but I am not aware
of their having been published by the new Government, al-
though they certainly contained stipulations advantageous for
the trade of Christian nations and honourable for France.
Count dc BOURAIONT.