The Sun.
London, England, 1804-03-05 00:00:00

LORD NE-LS.9k TIM bElr of ALGIERS.

. Tire f,llowing Letters have been puhlishea rela-
tive tl this subj:Et, which we give to our Readurs
as we'find them : -

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM AN 'OFFICER IN

LORD NELSON'S "FLEET,

Dated cjf Algiers, Jan. tB, 1804.
" ON the night of the rsth the Sr f-pe)=6, commanded by
Capt. K &At s, anchored at Algiers, having itilr. FALCON, the
Consul General, on board, and a letter from Loid NELso,t
to the Dry, demanding. that Mr. FA LCdiv• should again he
received as CoUsul there, and that all the 'Maltese who have
been lately capturedolay the Dey's Cruizers,'. should be libe-
rated "and given up ay British subjeds. On the following
morning, at day break, a 'salute was fired' from the -Fort,
,which,' however, Capt. K E'A ts did not return, but sent a
Lieutenant on shore with a letter, to request an audience of
the Day, which2-tvas accordingly granted. Capt. KEA s, •
accompanied by Mr.. SCOT r, Chaplain to Lord NELSON,
who the Arabic fluently, and who aided asinterpre-
ter, there waited upon the Dry, and presented Lord N E
sores letter, with a ,suitable and spirited remonstrance on
the occasion. Throughout the interview, which lasted nearly
an hour,. the DEY'.3 condird was extremely I..!:roleni and out-
rageous, and it
,concluded with his positively refusing to re-
ceive
either Mr. F A tcoNback again, or to give up any of
the .Maltese in his possession.
:It On the r7,tlt, in the morning, our Fleet of Ten Sail of
the Line came in sight of Algiters, when Capt. K EA rs again
went on shore to wait upon the Day, who, however, re-
fused to see him, he being.then buSily 'employed on the bat-
teries, and after waiting' tor nearly two hourS, Capt K E isTs
returned on board, and our Fleet entering the Bay, Capt.
KEA r s went on board the Viaory, and cdhnmunicated to Lord
N F Eson all that had passed with the Day.
" Under these circumstances his Lordship did not think it
advisable to attempt further intercourse with the Dry, or
to Make use of any threat he was not prepared to realise, as,
though we could easily in a few hours have destroyed his
whole Fleet, which was then lying in the Mold, .and have
-kno-cked down the town about their -cars, we might have
crippled some of 'our Ships in such a manner as to •render
them unable to resume the blockecte of Toulon at.this season
.of the year, n(hich was deemed-a much more important ob.
• jed..at the present moment. We therefore to-day left Al-
giers on our way to Toulon again.
whole Squadron were more disappointed than I can
possibly express, at not being' permitted to humble the Dry, I
and extirpate for a time this nest of Pirates. Two hours
yvould have done-the business completely, and I trust we
shall one day make- the experiment:. 1 am perfedly con-
vinced, from my own observation, and it was also the opi-
niou of the ablest Officers in the Fleet, that Four Sail of the I
Lino would certainly' destroy all their Works, and all their
Navy. in one morning with very little loss. They have in-
deed, a great number of -guns mounted on their principal bat-
tery, which defends the Mole where. their Fleet is laid up,
and it has a formidable appearance from the .Bay ; • but it is
so injudiciously construded, tha,t Line of Battle Ships can
anchor upon each flank of it, within half pistol shot, where
not a gun could be brought to bear upon them, and in which
situation they would soon lay the whole works in ruins.
" This work is the sole defence of the town from the sea-
side, except an old wall without a single gun mounted upon
• it, and which a few broadsides would crumble into dust.
" The garrison does not-amount to above four thousand
soldiers (it they can be called suet* who have neither dis-
cipline or courage, and who particularly dread the English,
not only from our naval skill, but from an ancient prophetic
tradition they have amongst them, and which they.all firmly
believe, that Algiers is to be tak4i and destroyed by the
English on a Sunday the prophecy,may be easily fulfilled
by us whenever we chuse, and we must shortly take some
decided steps to humble the Dry, unless we are content to
pay him tribute, like most .of the other European-Powers.
No Consul now can ever be sent•back with honour or safety,
• till satisfaction is obtained for the insults we have received."

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM A MERCHANT AT
GIBRALTAR, DATED FEB. 4.

" ON the Ist of this month, the Seaborte Frigate, com-
manded by Captain Boy. LE., arrived here from Lord Nat -
so Fleet, which he left off Majorca, on their way to Tou-
lon, eleven days ago.
" Lord NEL so N has been with his fleet to Algiers. to de-
mand restitution of a number of Maltese, whom the DE Y has
lately captured and made. Slaves of—and also that Mr. FAL-
CON, who had been forced out of the Country in a most:vio-
lent- and unjust manner, should again he received as British
Consul. Both of which requests the DEY refused to com-
ply with. This we were prepared to expect, by Letters re-
ceived a month ago from A Igiers, would be the case. The
DEy is solely guided by some aelive intelligent lew Mer-
chants at Algiers, one of whom is his confidential Secretary. ;
The whole Trade of that Country is in their hands, and trom
their very extensive Mercantile Correspondence, they are per-
fealy acquainted with the politics and character of all the
Goverbnients in Europe. Through their persuasion and in-
fluence Mr. FA L CON wits driven out of the Country, under
the pretence of-some Moorish Women' being found in his
house, though the real cause was his having constantly re-
sisted the attempts that were maJe to induce him to connive
at their covering French property during the War, which hits
been taken by our Cruizers, and which these lews endea-
voured to claim as subjetts of the, DEY. This, and his uni-
tinnily opposing the rapacious demands of the DEY on. G reat•-•
Britain, determined them to get rid of him, in hopes we should
send a less conscientious and more pliant .Consul.
" Our Letters from Algiers, in November, trom one of the
Chief Jews, positively stated, that the Dry was determined
not, to receive 10 r. FALCON, and that they knew .our Govern-
- went would nst dare to ,:rder Lord NELSON to enforce bis being
received, otherwise there can be no doubt, that the sight of a>
British Fleet of seven Sail of
.the Line, led on by the Con-
queror of the Nile, would have obtained a ready compliance
with any terms be rhos' to prescribe, had not the DEY well
• known the temper of our-present Government.:'